Demand-side management programs have enormous potential to help utilities meet surging energy demand—but their success depends on customers showing up. Program awareness and enrollment remains a persistent challenge for utilities: only about half of customers with smart thermostats are aware of available demand response programs, and only 20% of these participate.
Closing the participation gap is where Uplight’s Customer Engagement capabilities come in. Our APIs, Widgets, and Applications work across the entire Demand Stack—helping utilities surface personalized insights, streamline enrollment, and guide customers toward participation in energy efficiency, time-varying rates, and demand flexibility programs.
As a part of the Demand Stack, we offer utilities:
- APIs that share extensive energy data and insights.
- Widgets that surface these same insights, like customer energy usage disaggregation, into a utility’s channel of choice with an Uplight-designed user experience.
- Applications, like Portals or Energy Reports, that surface a collection of Widgets to customers to motivate action.
Applications offer a turnkey experience—customers can learn about their usage, see recommended actions, and enroll in programs, all in one place. Under the hood, these applications are built from Widgets, which are modular, research-informed components (Bill Comparison, Disaggregated Usage) that utilities can also embed directly in their own digital channels.
For maximum flexibility, APIs offer Uplight’s data and insights without any pre-designed interface—letting utilities build custom experiences or unlock new use cases to meet customers wherever they already are.
What Can Uplight APIs Do?
Utilities can leverage the following Uplight APIs to deliver personalized insights, enable a smooth enrollment process, and manage communications:
- Enrollment APIs allow customers to enroll in Uplight programs from applications and websites.
- Eligibility APIs surface which programs a given customer qualifies for.
- Usage and Disaggregated Usage APIs provide energy data, including a household-level breakdown of where energy is being consumed across heating, cooling, appliances, and more.
- Bill Forecast and Bill Compare APIs surface forward-looking cost projections and historical comparisons.
- The Actions API surfaces the most relevant energy-saving steps, utility programs, and energy-efficient products for customers based on their usage profile.
- Communication Preferences APIs allow customers to manage how and when they hear from their utility.
How Utilities Are Using APIs
Uplight is seeing utility clients seek out APIs for a growing range of use cases. A few high-value examples include:
Improving call center experience: When a customer calls about a high bill, a call center rep can instantly see that customer’s disaggregated usage to understand what’s driving the bill and have a more helpful conversation.
Targeting for additional utility programs: To identify customers best-fit for programs beyond Uplight’s scope, utilities can leverage customer data, including disaggregation usage or home energy appliance adoption.
Streamlining program enrollment: During a customer’s application for one eligible program, cross-surfacing other programs they qualify for within the same flow reduces friction and increases the value delivered in a single interaction.
Expanding enrollment channels: A Northeastern utility’s customers can now enroll in managed charging programs through the Optiwatt app, thanks to an API integration through Uplight. The API enables a customer to quickly check their eligibility, enroll, and connect their device–all without leaving the enrollment flow.
Powering chatbot support: As utilities explore AI-driven customer service, APIs can feed real customer data—such as usage trends, program eligibility, or recommended actions—into chatbot experiences to cross-promote programs and improve customer experience.
Customer expectations for digital experiences are rising. Utilities can put Uplight’s APIs to work to meet customers where they are, streamline and improve customer experiences, and boost program enrollment to scale impact.
