Uplight’s Updates and Alerts are proactive messages that keep customers updated about their energy usage and notify customers if they are trending towards a higher-than-typical bill. These alerts are part of Uplight’s Energy Efficiency and Electrification solution, which helps utilities deliver exceptional customer experiences across channels while driving cost-effective energy savings and program enrollments at scale.
Uplight sends personalized and action-oriented messages directly to customers’ email inboxes between billing cycles, helping customers manage their energy usage more effectively. There are three types of proactive communications that customers can receive: High Bill Alerts, Weekly Updates, and Bill Summaries.
High Bill Alerts
Energy costs are top of mind for residential and business customers alike, and high bills can cause concern and frustration. High Bill Alerts help utilities communicate early to customers that they are trending toward a higher than usual energy bill, preventing high bill shock and motivating customers to course correct. High Bill Alerts are triggered when customer energy usage increases and will likely result in a higher than expected bill, perhaps due to temperature or seasonal conditions. This advanced notice prepares customers and deflects high bill calls by arming customers with strategies and recommendations to better manage their consumption and lower their bills.
High Bill Alerts show results. A Southeastern utility implemented Uplight’s High Bill Alerts to educate customers about bill changes and reduce call center calls. This led to a 38% drop in high bill-related calls compared to the same quarter the previous year, translating to direct operational savings for the utility and yielding a customer satisfaction rate of up to 75%.
Weekly Updates and Bill Summaries
Weekly Updates and Bill Summaries are scheduled emails that provide AMI customers with information about their energy usage:
- Weekly Updates are designed to provide a consistent touchpoint to educate customers about their energy usage and empower ownership over energy management. This email is sent weekly between billing cycles. The content is personalized to the customer and allows for positive reinforcement, which helps customers gain a deeper sense of security in their costs.
- Bill Summaries provide a comprehensive reflection on the previous month’s energy cost and usage to deepen bill understanding and offer recommendations. This email is delivered after each billing cycle, including a useful breakdown of energy usage patterns such as end-use disaggregation and bill comparisons. It also offers personalized behavioral tips and program cross-promotions. Bill Summaries are only available for residential customers.
To ensure a cohesive customer journey and consistent touch points for all customers, Weekly Updates are skipped in the week the Bill Summary is sent or in weeks where a High Bill Alert is triggered. As a result, customers receive consistent informational touchpoints that lead up to the comprehensive performance summary at the end of the month.
What Sets Uplight’s Updates and Alerts Apart?
Uplight’s emails exhibit high engagement. On average, Uplight’s emails have a 66% email open rate— nearly twice as much as the industry average. About 78% of open emails are read, indicating that customers are interested in managing their energy usage, even when their bill is on track.
Uplight’s outbound communications educate and engage, but also result in clean energy action. Our ‘Top Actions’ feature leverages customer data to create personalized recommendations over time, driving deeper engagement. This recommendation system utilizes a wealth of data such as usage and billing data, home and business profiles, account, and program participation data to determine the best action fit and estimate savings for each action.
Our business and residential updates and alerts help customers stay on top of their energy bills, ultimately driving customer satisfaction while reducing strain on utilities and the energy grid.
