Seizing Customer Opportunities
Jeff Miller leads Americas Power & Utilities Strategy Realized practice at EY-Parthenon.
Greg Guthridge is the EY Global Energy & Resources Customer Experience Transformation Leader. Contributor Barbara Porter is a Managing Director and leads EY’s Customer Service practice in the U.S., focused on Customer Experience Transformation.
Consumers are at the center of the journey toward a new energy future and the challenge of engagement lies not only in enabling more informed energy choices but transforming this awareness into action. Recent EY Research reveals both the opportunity and the challenge that confronts utility company leaders working to engage consumers: while sixty-five percent of energy consumers know what they should do to make sustainable energy choices, seventy percent hesitate to invest extra time or money.
As the energy transition speeds up, consumers are swamped with increasingly complex decisions, which have made sustainable energy practices more onerous. Consumer fatigue is setting in at a key moment and the reasons: the overwhelming nature of complex information and choices, and the perceived high costs and effort involved.
For example, over the next three years, only a third of U.S. consumers will consider purchasing new energy products or services such as energy-efficient home appliances, rooftop solar panels, battery storage, or an electric vehicle. Meanwhile, the majority of consumers say they are waiting for lower costs, easier-to-implement energy solutions, and better experiences.