Date: November 2024

Time varying rates (TVR) can effectively build load flexibility, promote electrification, further enable decarbonization, and empower customers with new tools to manage their energy bills. However, educating and recruiting customers onto these rates remains a hurdle. Puget Sound Energy (PSE) overcame this hurdle as part of its two-year TVR pilot. In partnership with Uplight and GridX, PSE delivered a multichannel customer engagement strategy that included personalized Rate Education Reports, self-service rate comparison tools, and post enrollment Rate Coach emails. GridX’s rate engine enabled accurate shadow billing and “what-if” analysis capabilities to model impacts from behavior change and energy efficiency improvements. This approach made rate offerings relevant and built confidence that customers could succeed on a new Time-of-Use (TOU) rate. PSE exceeded recruitment targets for each of the three residential rate designs and yielded pilot opt-in rates that surpassed similarly designed TVR pilots.

Speakers:
Clint Stewart,Puget Sound Energy
Sam Hartnett,Uplight
Dr. Long Lam,Brattle Group