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Utility products & services for C&I customers: Energy management software poised for growth

Utility products & services for C&I customers: Energy management software poised for growth

ATLANTA – The proportion of utilities providing their commercial and industrial (C&I) customers with energy management analysis/usage tracking software or Web-based programs has more than doubled over the past two years – from 17% to 36%, according to the findings of Chartwell’s latest utility products and services study based on interviews with 70 investor-owned, government-owned and cooperative electricity and gas providers.

Other products/services garnering considerable utility attention include green power programs, onsite renewable power technologies and outbound outage notification. For example, 14% of utilities report they are planning or considering an outbound outage notification program for C&I customers. Twelve percent say they are planning or considering programs that aid C&I customers in installing or using onsite renewable energy systems such as photovoltaics.

The data and an in-depth analysis of the data are presented in Chartwell’s latest report, Products, Services & Programs for C&I Customers Data Summary & Report 2006. The report duscusses the rates at which utilities offer or are planning to offer 15 different products/services such as green energy, energy audits, load mangement and financing programs.  It also examines customer participation rates, prices and other issues.

Chartwell has been conducting utility surveys regarding products, services and programs since 1997, allowing Chartwell analysts to report on trends in the growth or decline of various products and services. For example, the rate at which utilities offer their C&I customers green power for a fee has leveled off after growing in each of the previous years of the survey. However, with 17% of utilities reporting that they are considering a green power program for C&I customers, growth potential still exists, states Products, Services & Programs for C&I Customers Data Summary & Report 2006.

The report includes both analysis of the data and the raw survey results from each of the 70 survey respondents. Also available is a fully sortable Excel database including all survey responses.

Products, Services & Programs for C&I Customers Data Summary & Report 2006 and the accompanying Excel database are available only to Chartwell’s Premier Members or members of Chartwell’s Products, Services and Programs Research Series. Membership also includes a data summary and report outlining the findings of Chartwell’s utility survey regarding products, services and programs for mass market (residential and small business) customers, as well as regularly released topical reports on issues such as new home construction programs, sales of or rebates on green energy technologies like photovoltaics, and utility marketing and product development efforts.

For information regarding membership, contact Bill Grist at (404) 237-9099, (800) 432-5879 or bgrist@chartwellinc.com A free table of contents and summary of the report can be obtained from Senior Research Analyst Jennifer Allen at jallen@chartwellinc.com.