Exploring the utility customer of the future

Tune in to the utility customer expectations podcast

The COVID-19 crisis and the related economic downturn are an external disaster that all utility companies are contending with now.

How can utilities overcome these disruptions? In this podcast episode, we share how it’s important for utility companies, now facing a higher bar for consumer engagement, to advance and take advantage of new digital ways to communicate and interact.

Hear how the 3Ds are reshaping the power industry and transforming customer expectations. And, we also discuss the interconnectivity of the customer and utility journey and how the current pandemic situation is affecting the customer experience.

A new frontier: Consumer engagement for utility

Will data-rich smart homes be the next frontier of consumer engagement? Some utility companies say yes. Big technology and subscription service delivery have raised the bar on consumer expectations. And the bidirectional flow of data to and from smart homes can offer a more personalized utility customer experience.

Based on the findings from our recent report on the utility customer of the future, this infographic provides insight into the utility customer of the future—as well as the drivers, disruptors, and destinations that interrelate along the customer and utility journeys.

From ratepayer to transumer: A customer’s journey

As part of its examination of the utility consumer of the future, our Deloitte Insights article examines the journey to smart platforms that can deliver an elevated human experience.

Typically, the journey starts with a unidirectional commodity transaction between ratepayers and the utility. As energy choice grows and electrons gain attributes such as “greenness” and time-varying rates, utilities can start offering consumers a customer experience.

The most significant development in the journey often occurs when a smart home’s resources enable a bidirectional flow of energy and data between the utility and prosumers. Finally, some utility pilots are exploring peer-to-peer trading among customers we refer to as transumers in transactive markets.

Beginning with prosumers, the wealth of data can enable a more personalized approach, accounting for the different values that people assign to various energy attributes. By connecting these attributes to individual stories during key moments that matter, the utility can deliver elevated human experiences.