U.S. households with time-of-use (TOU) electricity billing are more satisfied with their electricity service, according to new research by Parks Associates, revealed at the 2014 Smart Energy Summit.
Among energy consumers with free nights or weekends, 53 percent are “very” satisfied with their overall electricity services, but only 34 percent without this TOU service are very satisfied.
Smart Energy Summit, February 17-19 in Austin, features keynotes from Austin Energy, Nest, Lowe’s, Comcast, and ecobee. 2014 Smart Energy Summit sponsors are Speed Wire, Percepscion, Alarm.com, Earth Networks – WeatherBug, ecobee, EcoFactor, Lowe’s, Opower, People Power, PlanetEcosystems, Qualcomm, Technicolor, Z-Wave, AlertMe, Schneider Electric, and Tendril.
“Consumers are notoriously reluctant to adopt variable-rate plans for fear it will increase their costs; Parks Associates research finds over one-half of consumers expect their electric bill would increase under these plans,” said Tom Kerber, director, Energy and Home Controls Research, Parks Associates. “But once a home with a TOU plans adapts consumption patterns to off-peak times, consumers will see lower electricity bills, which could contribute to higher satisfaction.”
Parks Associates research shows 5 percent of U.S. broadband households switched to a TOU plan in the last 12 months in an effort to lower their monthly bill. Households using TOU plans have higher electricity bills on average.
“The connected home is changing the consumer relationship to all home services, including energy, security, and controls,” Kerber said. “This week at the 2014 Smart Energy Summit, we are discussing research and current market trends with more than 250 industry leaders to identify new strategies to engage consumers in energy-related and smart home services.”
The Dallas-based firm provides consumer energy research and hosts the Smart Energy Summit each spring. Materials from the summit are available by contacting Holly Sprague at [email protected] or 720.987.6614.
