HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 04/29/2025 - Memorandum from Mariel Miller re Utilities Behavioral Energy and Water Efficiency Strategies OverviewUtilities
222 Laporte Ave
PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522
mamiller@fcgov.com
MEMORANDUM
Date: April 14, 2025
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager
Gretchen Stanford, Utilities Deputy Director
From: Mariel Miller, Water Conservation Manager
Subject: Utilities Behavioral Energy and Water Efficiency Strategies Overview
This memo provides an update on Fort Collins Utilities’ customer behavior programs. This was
prompted by discussion during the Water Efficiency Plan update presented at the City Council
Work Session on Feb. 25, 2025, but includes information on energy reports as well as the larger
CIS system, which will integrate both reports, as well as other customer engagement services,
and is planned for launch in late 2025.
BOTTOM LINE
Utilities’ behavioral programs for conservation are a common, cost-effective strategy that
advance the community toward local policy goals. Behavioral programs include messages that
give customers personalized insights, such as how much water and energy they use, how that
amount compares to similar households based on certain determinants like occupancy and
displays their unique trends. These programs are aligned with Council priorities #6 – Reduce
climate pollution and air pollution through best practices and #7 – Protect community water
systems in an integrated way to ensure resilient water resources and healthy watersheds.
Utilities’ energy and water behavioral programs also demonstrate our commitment to enhancing
our customers’ digital experience.
BACKGROUND
Utilities began implementation of behavioral programs in 2009 for both energy and water use.
The user interface included the “smiley” or “frowny” face icons indicating a residential
customers’ efficiency (example water report shown on the following page), beginning with a
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simple printed and mailed report. As
implementation evolved, so has Utilities’
strategy for delivery, including email delivery
(unless no email address is provided or a
customer elects to receive a printed copy)
and supporting an online customer portal.
The portal will soon combine three different
offerings (billing, water, and energy) into
one as a result of Utilities' new Customer
Information System (CIS). Utilities sends
behavioral reports to most residential
electric (52,000) and water (29,000)
customers (these numbers differ due to a
smaller water service area). The reports are
educational in nature and intend to provide
a benchmark for customer water and energy
use. These reports catch people’s attention and can lead to conversations about better
understanding their use through the portals or to prompt participation in an energy or water
program to reduce their use.
Communicating household use comparisons, with imagery like the water score shown above,
can be described as using injunctive norms to motivate behavior, a type of social norming.
Social norms are the unwritten rules of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that are considered
acceptable in a particular social group or culture. Social norms impact individual behavior and
decision-making, from everyday interactions to significant life choices. Humans are social
beings that sometimes look to groups to how to act and can be motivated to conform if they
perceive themselves as not aligning to the norm(s). Many utilities that provide water or energy
reports to their customers use social norming to influence conservation behaviors and have
found they reduce consumption for those who use more than the average customer in their
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same cohort (i.e. similar household). These analyses have been confirmed through rigorous
local household analysis and various third-party impact evaluation studies across the industry.
One study1 from 2021 used the same water reports Utilities sends to measure conservation
behaviors in water customers in California. The study states, “Findings affirm the ability of
injunctive norms messaging to encourage conservation behavior in particular and support the
use of such messaging in ‘nudge’-style campaigns moving forward.”
The outcome of this practice at Utilities has resulted in a cumulative 2-2.5% less energy and
water use each month, which means significant overall savings. For residential water reports,
the annual average savings for Utilities is 53 million gallons, making up over 50% of Water
Conservation’s annual residential programs’ total water savings. Using less energy and water
also reduces customer bills.
RESPONSES TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. How are household comparisons generated and how can customers make them
more accurate? The home water reports are based on comparing usage to similar
households in Fort Collins, not nearby neighbors. Several parameters are used to
determine comparisons, including, but not limited to, grouping households by size of
home and type of heat for energy reports, and estimated number of occupants in the
home and estimated yard size for water reports. Utilities uses publicly available
information to initially estimate these data points. Customers can update home
characteristics, including occupancy, to improve the accuracy of their household
comparisons (e.g. a duplex with one water account, might need to update the occupancy
to include the number of people in each household, in order to be compared more
accurately) within MyEnergy and MyWater portals at fcgov.com/utilities/portals.
1 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749597818305636
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2. How can customers stop receiving reports? To opt-out of receiving energy reports,
customers can call Customer Service at 970-212-2900 or email myenergy@fcgov.com.
For water reports, customers can call Customer Service, email savewater@fcgov.com,
or unsubscribe from the link within the emailed report itself or in the MyWater customer
portal.
3. How can customers receive an alternative report – one that doesn’t compare to
similar households? To change from a similar household comparison to a self-
comparison (an alternative option that allows customers to track energy use against past
consumption rather than to similar households), customers can email
myenergy@fcgov.com or savewater@fcgov.com. Often, households with electric heat
will opt-in to receiving a self-comparison due to unique heating equipment and
conditions.
4. How can customers change their portal login? To change the portal login email,
customers can call Customer Service and request to change the verified email on file for
the MyEnergy portal or email savewater@fcgov.com for the MyWater portal.
Following the launch of the new CIS, customer self-service and communications to staff will be
centralized on one customer portal and all changes and requests for billing, service, energy and
water use will happen there. This will streamline the customer process for much of the
communication described above.
PARTICIPANT ENGAGEMENT
Recently completed program evaluations related to home reports provide the following insight:
88% of community members who received an energy report indicated they read the
information “every time” or “most of the time”
81% of recipients of water reports indicated they look at “most or all of the water reports”
62% indicate the reports “prompt them to be more efficient”
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Within the last 12 months, the water reports have had an average open rate of 63%, which is
considered very high compared to other promotional/informational email campaigns. These
results support using behavioral reports as an effective way to distribute information related to
energy and water use, as well as other relevant Utilities information and news.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Utilities will continue rolling out behavioral engagement programs through our forthcoming
customer portal platform, VXengage, provided by VertexOne. The transition to the VertexOne
CIS platform will significantly enhance customer experience by introducing a streamlined single
sign-on feature. This functionality will enable Utilities customers to access three distinct usage
and cost-related platforms through one unified login. Through VXengage, customers will be
empowered to manage their services independently, with convenient self-service capabilities
that include the ability to start, stop, and transfer service, as well as view and pay bills and
monitor their account status with greater ease and efficiency. Moreover, the platform delivers
energy and water usage insights which can help spur action by equipping customers with the
information they need to make informed decisions, reduce consumption, and connect with
available support resources to better manage their utility usage.
NEXT STEPS
Behavioral programs, including water and energy reports, will continue as a relevant strategy for
efficiency-focused efforts. Staff recommends continuing the use of injunctive norms (i.e. smiley
and frowny faces) in reports, with customers having the option to request a self-comparison
report, if preferred, or to opt-out of receiving reports altogether. A discussion regarding the
reports and alternatives, as well as the CIS system launch, will be scheduled for a future
Council Work Session later in 2025.
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