Electric Gas Comparison

The Electric Gas Comparison module is included in the Email High Bill Alert AMI for business customers who have both gas and electric service.

On this page:

• Electric Gas Comparison
• • Requirements
  • • Utility Requirements
    • Customer Requirements
  • User Experience
  • User Experience Variations
  • • Usage
    • Subheading

Requirements

Utility Requirements

Same as listed in the product-wide requirements.

Customer Requirements

Same as listed in the product-wide requirements. Additionally, customers must have the following for this module to generate:

• At least one electric and one gas service point.
• Bill forecast information available for both fuels.

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User Experience

The Electric Gas Comparison module includes two bar graphs. Each graph compares projected use to use from the same billing period of the previous year. One graph shows electricity use and the other shows gas use. If a business customer has the cost view, a dollar amount is displayed above each graph bar. If the customer has the usage view, usage is displayed above each graph bar.

Heading: The module heading tells the customer that they are viewing a breakdown of both electricity and gas data. By default, the heading reads, "Electricity and gas breakdown".

Subheading: The subheading tells the customer whether they are projected to spend more than they did during the same period last year. The message varies depending on how much they spend this billing period compared to the same period last year. For example, "You're projected to spend more on electricity and gas than the same time last year."

Bar Chart: Two graphs are displayed side by side. The graph on the left displays projected electricity costs for the current period, compared to the same period last year. The graph on the right displays estimated gas costs for the current period, compared to the same period last year. The dollar values for each bar are displayed above the bar.

Legend: Below the chart, a legend displays the color and shading used for each time-period.

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User Experience Variations

This section describes the user experience variations in the Electric and Gas Comparison module.

Usage

If the customer receives a usage version of the email, this module shows usage instead of costs. Electricity is displayed in kWh, and gas is displayed in therms.

Subheading

The subheader changes based on whether a customer spends more or less than they did during the same period last year. The customer most have spent at least 10% more than the previous year to be considered "spending more" during the current bill period. This 10% threshold for the comparison states is not configurable. These subheader variations are possible:

• Customers spends 10% more on both fuel types: "You're projected to spend more on electricity and gas than the same time last year."
• Customer spends 10% more on one fuel type, but not the other: "You're projected to spend more on <fuel type> than the same time last year."
• Customer spends less: "You're projected to spend less on electricity and gas than the same time last year." Note that this occurs only when the customer's bill forecast exceeds their personal cost threshold, even though they did not spend more.
• Customer spends about the same: "You're projected to spend about the same on electricity and gas than the same time last year." Note that this occurs only when the customer's bill forecast exceeds their personal cost threshold, even though they did not spend more.

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