Utility Week

22 www.utilityweek.co.uk/fLeX C O N S U M E R S S m a r t m e t e r s e political side of the smart meter rollout is, frankly, a mess. It is rife with delays, which are creating undue problems for energy suppliers. However, those issues aside, most agree the technology itself will be a game-changer in increasing trust in the energy retail space. As Gillian Cooper, head of retail energy markets at Citizens Advice, points out, much of the government's business case for the smart meter rollout hinges on consumer benefits. " ese benefits are based on consumers having a better understanding of and engagement with their energy usage." " e case for downloading an energy company app is not as strong, especially with so many web frameworks allowing a mobile website to do pretty much the same as an app. As we move to more and more dynamic pricing and smarter homes, so the app requirements may change again." For other energy suppliers, an app is central to their model. Pure Planet has taken an app- based approach to energy, and this, sales and marketing manager Phil Edelin claims, gives consumers control over, and engagement with, the energy they use. e reason the company took this tack is that it wants to make Britain renewable – mitigating climate change and improving air quality. "Our approach to this has been a low-cost digital model, that passes on the benefits to consumers through low prices that make renewables affordable," he says. " e app provides a simple way to join, manage and engage with home energy as well as a platform to get service through our AI WattBot, community support and dedicated service team. In addition, we are enabling people to learn more about sustainability and renewables through our blogs and forthcoming tools." PA Consulting's Hopcroft insists smart meters offer a "once in a generation opportunity to change the sector". " ey will create new more active relationships between customers and their energy supply that will drive transformation," he says. " ey will address the problem of a lack of transparency that has undermined trust and, along with clear and simple tariffs, will help to increase customer confidence." So far, 13 million devices have been installed across the UK, in a bid to have every home offered a meter by 2020. Studies suggest smart meters do have the ability to increase consumer trust. Hedgehog Lab's Lind says smart meters are going to play a "much bigger part in the connected home of the future". " e functionality of SMETS1 meters is limited," he says. "You can see your consumption increasing throughout the day but there are no actions that come off the back of that information; they tell you when you're using energy, but they don't tell you why or how to use less." ere are companies that do offer this. Verv, for example, attaches directly to the electricity meter in a home via a current clamp, enabling the hub, and "listens" to the electricity usage of the entire residence. However, Lind sees a future where the smart meter, which is free to consumers, is the "dashboard of the entire house". "It will be connected to lights, appliances and home assistants, giving customers much greater control over their energy use as well as access to a wealth of consumption data, pricing information When was the last time you picked up the phone to your energy supplier? Was the reason for the call positive or negative? If there are multiple answers to the first question, I would be very confident when betting on the answer to the second. From my experience working alongside several large energy suppliers in the UK and Europe, I know that when the phones ring in their contact centres it is rarely good news on the other end. People phone for different reasons, but 90 per cent of those will be negative reasons. Amazon's Voice Evangelists will tell you, they believe the next evolution is to use our voices rather than our fingers. is belief has led them to the creation of their Amazon Echo device and their voice assistant Alexa. Alexa allows for the giving and receiving of information in a natural and easy manner of a voice assistant. Normally taking the form of a speaker, this clever tool sits on a bench or worktop and waits patiently for a question to answer. It is here where a huge amount of potential can be found for energy providers to offer a new channel of communication to their customers as well as lightening the load on their contact centre teams. An early adopter of voice interface technology is our client Northumbrian Water Group (NWG). Working as an innovation partner with Hedgehog Lab, NWG ran a series of workshops to understand what kind of information their customers would want to get from their Amazon Echo. Perhaps a bill is incorrect, perhaps something has stopped working, maybe there's maintenance on their street which is causing disruption. ese are common occurrences and, as inherently frustrating as they are, that frustration is then amplified by having to pick up the phone to try to speak to someone. Over the past few years, the ways in which people communicate with each other has changed dramatically. We connect more rapidly, interact with more immediacy and do so more short-handedly. Not only do we expect this of our friends, colleagues and family, but also from the companies we buy from. Alongside this, customers are more digital than ever before and this completely flies in the face of what you'd traditionally think of when discussing interactions in utilities. Previously it's been paper bills, contact centres and handwritten letters, but things are different now. We moved on to laptops and then from there to mobile screens, but as Voice assistants are the way forward for better customer relations, says Ben Lind. It's good to talk

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