APS uses Oracle Opower to boost customer satisfaction via load shaping program
Arizona Public Service Company uses Oracle Opower to create a time of use tool that advances energy-saving goals and increases customer satisfaction.
“This program was part of a 150-megawatt demand response portfolio—that is a power plant that didn’t have to run. That's meaningful and valuable performance.”
Arizona Public Service (APS) aims to provide 100% clean energy—energy that doesn’t emit harmful greenhouse gases—to customers by 2050. Living in the desert, APS customers were already accustomed to time of use (TOU) rates. However, to operate a clean and reliable grid, APS leaders knew they needed to help customers understand how to adjust their habits by shifting their usage to off-peak hours, when renewable energy is abundant on the grid. Oracle Opower and APS partnered to create TOU Plan Coach, a behavioral load-shaping tool. After launching the program with 40,000 customers, APS shifted over 250 megawatt-hours of energy to off-peak periods in about two months. Plan Coach survey data showed a 13% increase in participants’ satisfaction with APS, and dissatisfaction decreased 33%.