Summary of BGE’s Pilot of
Innovative Direct Mail Campaign
January 27, 2012
Background and pilot goals
 On May 21, 2010, BGE filed with the Maryland Public
Service Commission a request for approval of a Pilot
Program featuring an innovative direct mail campaign
(BGE Home Energy Report) designed to
 Better inform participants about their existing energy consumption
 To encourage customers to use less energy
 To increase participation in the energy efficiency components of BGE's
Smart Energy Savers Program®
Background of Pilot Program




BGE tested a targeted direct mailing to 25,000 BGE residential
customers using energy reports based on a program developed by
OPOWER
BGE sent seven test mailings (beginning October 2010 to September
2011) to 25,000 customers (every other month)
The pilot customers were randomly drawn from BGE’s entire residential
customer base and included both electric only and gas and electric
customers
To fully test the campaign’s effectiveness, a control group of 25,000
customers was also selected
 These customers did not receive the direct mailings
A sample of the direct mail letter


The basic layout
of the letter did
not change
throughout the
pilot
The tips changed
based on the
customer’s energy
usage and
program
participation
Bi-fold FAQ sent the first month
Methodology for Measuring the Pilot’s Results
Limited Income
Non Limited
Income
Total
Control Group

Low Usage
1,076
5,000
Moderate Usage
807
5,000
High Usage
617
12,500
6,076
5,807
13,117
Total Pilot
Program
Households
2,500
22,500
25,000
25,000*
BGE tracked a number of elements to gauge the pilot’s results
 To measure participation and energy saving impacts, OPOWER, the
vendor implementing this pilot for BGE, compared a test and control
group
 To measure customer satisfaction with the Home Energy Reports, a
telephone survey was conducted.
*The Control Group was broken into similar usage cells.
Pilot Results: Energy Saved



Total Home Energy
Report pilot participants
saved about 1.2% on
average when compared
to the non-participants
or control group
Initial savings peaked at
approximately 1.6%
The gray area within the
chart corresponds to a
95% confidence interval
for each month
Pilot Results
•
•
•
•
Monthly results show a slight dip in the energy savings during the summer
months
• OPOWER has seen this drop with other utilities that have summer
cooling loads
• OPOWER believes customers may be less apt to participate in significant
energy savings during extremes in heat
OPOWER believes summer energy savings could be increased through
targeted changes in the Home Energy Report content
OPOWER has experimented in other programs with changing the panels in
the Home Energy Report to highlight other graphics, tables, tips and
introducing seasonal messages
BGE’s pilot was for 12 months
• OPOWER has seen increases in results for programs that continue to
provide Home Energy Reports beyond this period
Those with higher energy use saved
the most
Category
Low
Medium
High
Annual Average
<8,000 kWh
8,000 kWh –
11,000 kWh
>11,000 kWh
Savings Rate
0.65%*
0.93%*
1.29%
Limited income customers (those receiving energy assistance) were also
analyzed to measure the energy savings of the Home Energy Report
recipients compared to those non-limited income customers receiving the
Home Energy Report.
Limited income customers saved more, 1.91% when compared with nonlimited income customers at 1.14%.
*Due to small sample sizes, certain averages are not statistically significant
Very low opt-out rate
Additional program participation was seen
by Home Energy Report recipients
Customer satisfaction with the Home
Energy Reports
Conclusion




The Home Energy Report pilot was well received by
pilot participants
The majority of Home Energy Report recipients read
the reports and found them useful for providing energy
saving tips and BGE Smart Energy Savers Programs® in
which they could participate
Customers saved a cumulative 1.2% during the pilot
period compared to those not receiving the reports
Limited income customers saved a cumulative 1.9%,
which was more than non-limited income customers
Appendix
Pilot Statistics
• Total savings – 3,478 MWH
• Incremental savings from additional program
participation – 177 MWH
• Total cost per kWh – $0.09
• Pilot TRC – 1.08 (does not include incremental savings
from additional participants)
• Users reported taking over 500 tip actions