Normative Comparison FAQs
- Why are you comparing me to my neighbors?
- How did you select my neighbors?
- Why are you trying to make me feel bad?
- I have special circumstances. Why don’t you take these into account?
- How do you know the comparisons are valid?
- How can I improve the accuracy of my neighbor comparison?
- Are you comparing me to customers at other utilities?
- What is the difference between neighbors and similar homes?
Note: Depending on each utility's setup and configuration, customers may see "similar homes" terminology in the user interface instead of "neighbor comparison" terminology. Utilities can choose to use one type of terminology or the other based on how they think their customers will react to Oracle Utilities Opower products.
Why are you comparing me to my neighbors?
We are joining other utilities and cities across the country to provide this information because it has been proven to effectively help customers save energy and money. We compare your energy use to the use of similar size homes that are close to yours and use the same heating fuel. We do this to provide you with education and context, and to offer an idea of what you could realistically save.
How did you select my neighbors?
Our goal is to provide you with a comparison that is valid and meaningful. We compare your household to other real households in your area, not a theoretical home with similar characteristics.
To provide valid comparisons, we've chosen specific homes with characteristics that typically lead to similar energy needs, such as home size, heating source, and dwelling type. Most importantly, we only include homes that appear to be occupied at the time of the neighbor comparison.
Why are you trying to make me feel bad?
We are not trying to shame or judge you. If we have offended you, it was not our intent. Rather, we hope that the information we provide can offer valuable insights and context about your home’s energy use so that you can save energy and money. We have joined other cities and utilities across the country to provide these reports because they have been proven to help households effectively save.
I have special circumstances. Why don’t you take these into account?
We do take some special circumstances into account based on information in your home profile. For example, we can account for what type of heating you use. But there are a few reasons why we can’t take all special household characteristics into account for the neighbor comparison.
We can only compare your usage based on what we know about you and your neighbors. We base your comparison on reliable data that is gathered for households in your area. However, a variety of lifestyle choices and household changes don’t have a system of record. For example, we don’t have a way of knowing if you have guests visiting, work from home regularly, or just bought new windows. For this reason, we base your comparison on the major, known factors that drive energy consumption.
Some attributes are not a good basis for comparison. For example, you might wonder why we don’t compare your home to only homes of a similar age. Similarly aged homes don’t necessarily have similar energy needs. Older homes may typically be less efficient, but they are also more likely to have been renovated. New homes may be more efficient in some ways, but they may have more features that use energy (jetted spas, heated floors, central AC, and other similar types of features).
We want the comparison to be meaningful. We hope that the neighbor comparison can offer valuable information and context about your home’s energy use so that you can save energy and money.
Even without taking into account everything that's special about your circumstances, the program can still be a useful informational tool and allow for measurement of your own performance over time.
How do you know the comparisons are valid?
Our comparisons include 100 similar, nearby, occupied homes. Our research shows that for almost all residents, this 100-home average indicates typical usage.
How can I improve the accuracy of my neighbor comparison?
There are a few ways you can improve the accuracy of your neighbor comparison. You can take a Home Energy Analysis survey to tell us more about your home. The answers you provide may impact the tips you see and/or how you compare to your neighbors. I can also help you update your profile.
Note to CSRs: Depending on your utility's setup and configuration, your customers may not have access to the Home Energy Analysis. In such cases you should still be able to make basic changes to a customer's home information. See Updating a Customer's Home Profile for details. Contact your supervisor if you have any questions.
Are you comparing me to customers at other utilities?
No, you are only compared to other customers in your utility.
What is the difference between neighbors and similar homes?
Depending on each utility's setup and configuration, customers may see "similar homes" terminology in the user interface instead of "neighbor comparison" terminology. Utilities can choose to use one type of terminology or the other based on how they think their customers will react to Oracle Utilities Opower products.
The table below gives a few examples of how and where such differences in terminology may appear. The variation is most likely to appear in features that compare a customer's energy use against that of other customers.
|
Product or Feature |
Terminology |
|---|---|
|
Neighbor comparison in print or email Home Energy Reports |
Neighbor comparison: "8% less electricity than efficient neighbors." Similar homes: "8% less electricity than efficient similar homes." |
|
Neighbor comparison in the Oracle Utilities Opower web portal. |
Neighbor comparison: "Who are my neighbors?" Similar homes: "What homes are compared?" |
These variations are not extensive and only appear in a few places. If you are not sure which variation is used by your utility, check with your supervisor.