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Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, the transition to clean energy remains a key priority for the nation’s utilities. Perhaps no place in the world is under more pressure than Southern California. Demand on the electrical grid is high in Southern California, and many residents are familiar with the effects of aging and inadequate infrastructure.
Many utilities now consider sustainability important to their overall strategy. But the vast majority of consumers don’t think much about clean energy, as evidenced by the countless examples of conservatives elected on anti-environmental platforms.
For the past four years, my team at J.D. Power and I have analyzed customer perceptions of and support for the utility’s climate change programs and goals in our annual Sustainability Index. Without a doubt, we’ve found that very few customers are aware of their utility company’s clean energy goals. According to this year’s index, only 22% of customers knew that their utility had such a goal, an even lower number than last year.
As a consumer, I experienced one aspect of this phenomenon last year when I went through the arduous process of learning about and applying for California and federal rebates on the energy-efficient heat pump system I installed in my home. I wrote about the ordeal in the Times and heard from consumers who had similar experiences, but I have yet to receive any response from my business. Heat pumps are a cornerstone of clean energy transition efforts, but utilities are increasingly leaving it up to consumers to install, use, and understand their benefits.
When we took a closer look at our combined electric and gas bills, we found that our total spending in 2024 was 3% lower than the same period in 2022, before we started installing the system. Additionally, as the average unit price of electricity increased by more than 20% during this period, adjusted heating costs decreased by more than 23%. Additionally, air conditioning can now be used during the intense summer heat, which was not the case before the switch.
But before you can start understanding the scope of these benefits, you can download tons of data from Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s data hub to organize and graph your energy usage and utility bill trends. I had to build a spreadsheet. -See all federal greenhouse gas equivalent calculations. Does anyone think the average consumer would go through all of this?
This experience exposed the gulf between how utilities communicate about environmental responsibility and how consumers put it into practice. The truth is, if utilities are to meet their sustainability goals, many of which call for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, they will need customers to change their behavior. Probably. However, few customers are aware of these priorities, and given that most customers value affordability far more than sustainability, there is a disconnect between utilities and customer goals. There is a complete disconnect.
However, these goals can be aligned if companies articulate and promote them clearly and convincingly. We are experiencing a historic transformation that has the potential to reinvent heating, cooling, travel, and more. Smart grid technology puts individual homeowners at the center of energy storage and transmission systems. None of this will happen without massive consumer buy-in.
Utilities are launching bold outreach strategies, investing in customer education on how to introduce new technologies to save money (and pollution), and making it easier for consumers to help meet their environmental goals. must be. But most utilities instead waste their time talking about lofty sustainability goals that lack the substance or support needed to make them a reality.
Utilities have a huge opportunity to help their customers save money, improve their experience, increase their own revenue, and meet their clean energy goals. This starts with understanding your customers and communicating effectively with them.
Andrew Heath is vice president of utility intelligence at J.D. Power.
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