Last winter, National Grid launched a new program aimed at weatherizing homes faster than ever. Using Oracle Utilities Opower disaggregation technology, National Grid identified households most in need of weatherization upgrades and sent them personalized program offers within Opower Home Energy Reports.
In just four months, National Grid achieved a 2.9X higher rate of home weatherization among customers who received those offers.
National Grid is working to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, and its current plan calls for doubling the rate of energy efficiency retrofits by 2030. “The road to decarbonization goes through weatherization,” said Chris Porter, Director of Customer Energy Management at National Grid. “These home upgrades deliver comfort, bill savings, and enable our customers to take full advantage of emerging clean heating technologies.”
Freezing out carbon and costs
The Northeast is home to more old housing stock than any other region in the United States. In winter months, the heat leaked from these homes contributes to increased carbon emissions and spending on utility bills. While weatherization upgrades can deliver deep, lasting energy savings, the cost and complexity of these projects can hinder a household’s willingness to pursue them.
National Grid has shown its behavioral energy efficiency program is one powerful solution to that problem. It reaches 1.2 million Massachusetts customers with energy reports, alerts, and web tools. Last winter, select customers received personalized reports highlighting their heating use and National Grid’s weatherization program. The reports used behavioral science techniques like descriptive norms, benefits framing, and salience to influence customers to take action.
Between December and April, customers who received those reports completed National Grid-sponsored weatherization projects at a rate 2.9X higher than customers who did not receive them. That means Opower helped National Grid weatherize over 300 additional Massachusetts homes in one heating season. Emails with personalized offers generated a 75% higher click rate than emails with static content offers, and customers who clicked were 10X more likely to complete a weatherization project.
“The success of this initiative shows the power of leveraging data analytics and the utility experience to connect people with energy products and services that deliver real and lasting benefits,” added Porter. “And this is just the beginning. Over the next three years, National Grid is pursuing some of the most ambitious building decarbonization goals in the country. Data-driven innovations like this will continue to be essential to our success.”
State-level decarbonization goals are causing utility energy efficiency policies to evolve. Some policies favor utility investment in structural programs like building electrification and home retrofits over behavioral energy efficiency programs. However, a team of former utility commissioners at The Analysis Group published a study in 2020 that found behavioral programs like National Grid’s deliver as much carbon reduction as structural programs, 5X faster, and at 1/4th the cost. The report also noted that behavioral and structural programs deliver the most carbon reductions when run together.
“Energy providers across the United States need to influence customer action like never before in order to deliver on their decarbonization commitments,” said Paul McDonald, senior director of Opower product strategy for Oracle Energy and Water. “National Grid’s behavioral program nearly tripled their pace of weatherization program adoption. That’s amazing evidence that behavioral and structural efficiency programs work best together.”
