EcoPinion Survey Finds Great Recession Not Over For Low Income Households

Low Income Customers Seek More Payment Options and Different Terms

Washington, DC … DEFG, a management consulting firm specializing in energy (http://defg.local/), released today EcoPinion Consumer Survey No. 20 focused on low income utility customers. The national survey included 723 adults (18 years or older) with annual household incomes under $50,000.

“The great recession is not over for American households earning less than $50,000 per year,” stated Jamie Wimberly, CEO of DEFG. “That’s not good news, but there are some encouraging signs in this survey. Many low income customers have smart phones, and they are interested in mobile app and daily cost information to allow them to take control of the household budget.”

The smart grid can offer useful information to customers, and the challenge is how to package the information so that people find it useful, easy to use and practical to their daily lives.

The primary findings from the consumer survey are:

• Four in ten low-income households have trouble paying electric and heating bills at least once in a while, and many relied on payment assistance this past year (one in eight) or payment arrangements with the utility this past year (one in five).
• Low income customers have access to smart phones and there is a lot of support for mobile applications that would educate customers and help them to enroll.
• The two most practical and useful programs that a utility company could offer to anyone having trouble paying their bills were payment related: “offer extended payments” and “offer more frequent payments without fees.”
• There is a ripening opportunity to better serve low income customers by leveraging daily smart grid information. Customers want to better manage their energy spend, and they appear ready for daily information.
• Payment assistance and payment arrangements may work at cross purposes with utility energy conservation and energy efficiency programs.
• The respondents who claim the greatest difficulty in paying utility bills are much less likely to say it is easy to save money on utility bills. This represents a cycle of dependence that must be addressed with education and new offerings.
• There is a need to look at payment assistance, payment arrangements and alternatives to both. Utilities need to examine all the costs (time spent, cost to serve, etc.) to determine the best path to getting customers back in control.

“There is an opportunity for utilities to take an integrated and strategic approach to comprehensively reconsider payment assistance, payment arrangements and energy savings programs,” stated Nat Treadway, Managing Partner of DEFG. “We support the need for utilities to experiment with new offerings. The smart grid can offer useful information to customers, and the challenge is how to package the information so that people find it useful, easy to use and practical to their daily lives.”

Download EcoPinion Survey