November 2018 saw Enervee convene a number of its growing utility partners for a two day review, celebration and look ahead, at its new offices in Culver City, and in Santa Monica.
After a reception which took place in the lobby that had previously seen Tom Hardy morphing into Venom (and scaling the building into Enervee’s offices), and which saw Enervee reiterate the environmental importance of the IDEAL solution to energy efficiency via what must be the world’s largest TV screen, delegates and team moved to Santa Monica for further discussions and reflections, before then spending the second day in Santa Monica’s Viceroy hotel with a series of presentations from the Enervee team.
Kicked-off by Enervee’s Chief Growth Officer, Alex Katzman, the day included sessions on a wide range of subjects and achievements, all of which reinforced the argument that Enervee’s IDEAL Customer Platform represents an innovative and flexible response for utilities looking to a future of empowered customers alongside a wide range of dramatic changes to the industry. The presentations also repeatedly made the point that Enervee’s suite of services is only just getting started in terms of providing innovative end-to-end solutions and opportunities, as utilities look across the gamut of change in front of them.
Here are our top six key take-outs from the Spark 2018 (we couldn’t keep it to five).
1. PG&E. Enervee’s longest-standing partner — and for good reason.
PG&E has played an important part in the growth of Enervee — it was its’ first partner client back in 2015. Since then, the relationship has grown to the point now that PG&E is the first utility to commission and report on a groundbreaking study, directed to uncover and quantify the true value of the IDEAL Marketplace, in terms of energy savings and wider effects on the utility. Through commissioning and publishing the study, PG&E continues to be instrumental in Enervee’s development and growth. Talking of which…
2. Market transformation is closer than many think.
Todd Malinick from Research Into Action delivered a detailed review of his work looking to quantify the benefits of Marketplace for PG&E. Looking at data over the last three years, and using sophisticated yet established techniques to dissect those data, Todd’s and RIA’s conclusions were vivid and clear — Enervee’s IDEAL Customer Platform has the potential to deliver considerable savings at incredibly competitive cost. Specifically, Enervee delivers savings in the absence of any traditional mechanisms or incentives, such as rebates. Instead, Enervee’s platform animates the market through making efficiency transparent and relevant for all consumers. The full report can be read here. And Enervee’s Anne Arquit Niederberger’s blog post on its findings can be read here.
3. Market-based savings is also closer than many think
With a market transformation approach, challenges naturally arise regarding any form of quantification and evaluation of savings delivered. On this topic, Enervee was able to share its progress on developing dynamic market-based savings. Using machine learning, and relying on Enervee’s already market-leading data on product and appliance performance, Enervee’s approach will allow every choice made to be measured against a baseline alternative that is relevant both to that specific moment in time, and the specific consumer. This represents an exciting opportunity to deliver an evaluation method which matches the scale and innovation around the effects already documented from the Enervee Score and other unique aspects of Marketplace.
4. This time it’s personal
While Enervee’s trove of product data is hugely valuable in terms of making energy efficiency visible and relevant for consumers, the company has long known that the data that reflects how consumers react to that new level of visibility and market transparency is even more valuable. Understanding how consumers respond to specific elements on Marketplace allows detailed and unique profiles to be built, which in turn can empower utility partners to provide unparalleled levels of personalization and relevance for their customers. It’s specifically Enervee’s unique ability to span both product and audience data that opens up this opportunity. With wholesale upgrades to Enervee’s consumer tracking and reporting capabilities, this new era of personalization is upon us.
5. Yes, you read it right. It’s Jeopardee
One of the sessions of Spark 2018 focused on partner client successes and milestones reached throughout the year. Led by the Customer Success team, this was probably the hardest session to cram so much information into. So it fell to the team to come-up with a memorable and imaginative way to both report to — and engage — the partners in the room. The answer — a special edition of Jeopardy. Or rather Jeopardee. A series of answers revealing success stories, to which Enervee clients had to identify the correct question. This alone was a key takeaway. But more interesting was the revelation that while all the partner clients in the room for Spark 2018 may be superb at their day jobs, they all proved themselves to be less than effective contestants — when it came to the final double jeopardee round, every single team gambled everything and lost. It represented a cautionary tale for all who took part — trusted energy advisors do not necessarily make great game show contestants.
6. While less may sometimes be more, more is…always more.
Enervee had a lot to share with its utility partners at Spark 2018. With 10 sessions presenting on topics from market-based savings to customer satisfaction, and from personalization and new reporting dashboards to the product roadmap into 2020 and beyond, it’s no wonder everyone left both tired but excited by what lies ahead. While everyone hopefully left with a thousand ideas on how to further unlock the potential of energy savings and satisfaction from Marketplace, and further cement their utility reputation as a trusted energy advisor, one opinion was consistent across the room — it was a lot of content to share in a day. As Enervee CEO Matthias Kurwig pointed out at the top of one of his slots; ‘Note to self — beware single-day events which have double-sided agendas.’
