Tilak Subrahmanian

VP, Energy Efficiency, Eversource Energy

Supernova Award Category: 

Next Generation Customer Experience

The Company: 

Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 company providing retail electricity and natural gas service across Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The large utility was founded in 1966 and owns and operates the energy grid infrastructure for its service territory including power generation, 4200 miles of transmission lines, 72,000 miles of distribution lines, and end-customer electricity and natural gas delivery to more than 3.7 million customers.  Eversource is a leader in customer engagement and energy efficiency, with repeat awards from the U.S. EPA and DOE, and American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

The Problem: 

Eversource energy efficiency programs already achieve unprecedented targets every year, saving customers nearly 900 GW hours of electricity, 7.2+ million CCF (100 cubic feet) of natural gas, and $140+ million in reduced annual energy costs.  Eversource sought to increase customer engagement by providing personalized energy usage information via digital channels (e.g., website and mobile apps), enabling customers to continually and cost-effectively decrease energy use while modernizing their experience with Eversource.  Eversource’s vision for a comprehensive common customer engagement platform focused on delivering end-to-end targeted customer experiences and simplified transactions completed anytime, anywhere with a mobile device. It was vital that Eversource be able to deliver personalized energy efficiency insights to each customer—tailored to the customer type, segment and operating utility—while still providing a consistent user experience across all customers and utilities.

The Solution: 

Eversource uses C3 IoT’s big data and predictive analytics software solutions as its customer experience platform. Using the C3 IoT Platform, the utility integrates all customer data from 12+ source systems (e.g., billing, meter data, weather, customer profiles, demographics, marketing history, energy efficiency history) into one unified cloud image. The platform applies AI and machine learning models in near-real time to predict customer behaviors, design actions to engage with the right customers, drive engagement campaigns, and engage customers through online portals.  Through the online portal, Eversource customers view their energy consumption, implement new energy saving ideas, and track savings over time. C3 IoT seamlessly integrates all Eversource efficiency programs across multiple Operating Companies, including energy audits and efficiency rebates, enabling customers to quickly implement energy measures through a unified and personalized interface.

The Results: 

With C3 IoT, Eversource “provides the right message to the right customer at the right time,” increasing CSAT, reducing cost to serve, and driving greater energy efficiency. Eversource has enabled its customers to better understand their energy usage and costs, reduce energy consumption, receive custom energy savings recommendations, and easily access rebates and incentives. By providing immediate, self-service access to detailed information, customer engagement and loyalty increases while customer churn and the number of call center inquiries regarding program or billing issues decreases. The robust customer experience platform provides a convenient way for customers who prefer to engage with Eversource through a digital channel.  The C3 IoT Platform serves as a centralized customer data repository and analytics engine across Eversource Energy’s whole business. First applied to energy efficiency, Eversource expanded its use of the platform to power customer-specific insights on its website, business intelligence reports for regulatory reporting and ad-hoc analyses, and marketing campaigns based on machine learning analytics.

Metrics: 
  1. Eversource is the No. 1 energy efficiency utility in the USA. Their programs saved nearly $200M in energy costs for their customers in 2016.
  2. In 2017, Eversource is aiming to achieve engagement in their online portals from 10% of their population, up from 2% in 2016.
  3. Home energy report participation was 30% in 2016.
  4. Customer satisfaction with being informed on ways to lower energy bills was >60% in 2016 (JD Power survey).
  5. Customer satisfaction with support for managing costs was >50% in 2016 (JD Power survey).
  6. Eversource was able to increase CSAT by nearly 50% in an initiative to proactively engage at-risk customers on outages.
The Technology: 

C3 IoT delivers a comprehensive platform for rapidly developing and operating big data, predictive analytics, and IoT applications, as well as a family of configurable and extensible SaaS products developed with and operating on its platform. The C3 Type System, a data object-centric abstraction layer that binds all C3 IoT Platform components, significantly increases productivity by enabling app developers, data scientists, and business analysts to all work on the same framework.

Disruptive Factor: 

Eversource manages millions of customers across three states. Being able to integrate data from all systems (20+) into one unified cloud image with big data and predictive analytics has enabled end-to-end digital engagement, higher ROI engagement campaigns, increased CSAT and energy efficiency, and a consistent user experience across 3.7M customers.

Shining Moment: 

Eversource is recognized as the No. 1 energy efficiency utility in the U.S. by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

About Eversource Energy

Eversource is New England's largest energy provider, proudly serving more than 3.7 million electric and natural gas customers in CT, MA and NH.