Home Energy Reports FAQs

Why don’t I receive reports?

There are several possible explanations for why you haven’t received a report.

  • You may not have been selected as a program participant: We randomly selected participants for this program, and so not everyone will receive a report. We are currently testing the effectiveness of this program and may expand it in the future.
  • You may not have lived at your current premise long enough: The program can only be provided to households where we know how much energy has been used in the past.
  • Your house may appear to be vacant: If you have been away from home for a very long time or use a very small amount of energy, we may think your house is empty.
  • You may generate some of your own power: For homes that generate a significant percentage of the power that they use, we can only determine your net energy usage. Therefore, your home does not provide a good comparison for homes that do not have local generation capability.
  • You may be on a medical rate assistance program (sometimes applicable to customers in the U.S.): We do not provide reports to customers who are on rate assistance programs for medical or financial reasons. (Depending on the country or region you live in, this may or may not be applicable you.)
  • You may just be ineligible this month: Due to the timing of meter reads or some other factor, it is possible that you didn’t receive a report this month but that you will soon. I can check for you in our database to see whether or not you have been selected as a program participant.

  • You may no longer be part of the reports program. Thank you for your interest in the program. We hope it’s been able to provide you with information about your energy use so you can make more informed choices and save money. Although this particular program is ending for some customers at this time, the feedback and experiences you share will us help determine what types of efficiency programs to offer in the future. You will no longer receive paper reports in the mail, but there are other ways you can continue to learn about your energy use.

    Note to CSRs: This is an opportunity to highlight other energy saving programs offered by your utility. For example, if your utility is participating in other Oracle Utilities Opower programs, the customer may be able log in to the Oracle Utilities Opower web portal to see a neighbor comparison, tips, and other information similar to the paper reports. Your utility may also offer the option to receive Email Home Energy Reports and alerts. Outside of Oracle Utilities Opower offerings, your utility may offer rebates, online materials, and other efficiency programs to help customers save. Talk to your supervisor about the best way to promote these resources to customers.

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Is my report available by email?

Let's check if your report is available by email or not. Sign in to your account on the Oracle Utilities Opower web portal and go to the Account and Settings area. Depending on your utility's setup and configuration, you may be able to choose to receive both email and paper reports, or receive just email reports.

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What is the purpose of the Efficiency Zone module?

Note: This FAQ is only applicable to customers on Home Energy Reports v3, which includes the Efficiency Zone module.

The efficiency zone compares your energy use to a target zone. It includes multiple insights to deepen your understanding of how you use energy relative to that zone, and to help you save energy and money.

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What is the purpose of the Benchmark module?

Note: This FAQ is only applicable to customers on Home Energy Reports v3, which includes the Energy Benchmark module.

The benchmark provides a dynamic, personalized, at-a-glance view of your energy use, and a preview of what you can expect to see in the rest of the report.

The benchmark takes on different states depending on how efficient your behavior is compared to similar homes within the billing period:

  • Fair: The customer is using more than Similar Homes.
  • Good: customer is using more than Efficiency Zone / Efficient Neighbors threshold, but less than Similar Homes.
  • Great: The customer is using less than the Efficiency Zone / Efficient Neighbors threshold.

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What is the purpose of the What Uses Most module?

Our research has shown that even customers who want to become more efficient often are held back by misconceptions as to how energy use is distributed throughout their homes. We've seen that household-level energy breakdowns are useful in helping customers figure out where to focus their energy efficiency efforts for max energy and bill savings.

The What Uses Most module highlights the top five energy uses in your home for the report period and pairs it with a related energy-savings tip to help understand how you are using energy in your home and how you can save. All estimates are based on your past energy use, weather patterns, and home characteristics.

Note to CSRs: See Disaggregation FAQs for more information about how the What Uses Most breakdown is calculated.

Can you remove the What Uses Most module from my report?

We've seen that household-level energy breakdowns are useful in helping customers figure out where to focus their energy efficiency efforts for max energy and bill savings.

I cannot remove the module from your report; however, you can opt out of this program and stop receiving reports altogether.

Note to CSRs: See Can I opt out of this program?

If the goal of this program is to save resources, why are you wasting paper?

Our research shows that paper reports are extremely effective in helping people save energy and lower their bills. However, we may offer the option to receive your report by email instead of mail. I can check now if you’re interested, and if this option is available, I can sign you up.

Note to CSRs: This option is only available if your utility supports Email Home Energy Reports and the customer is eligible to receive them. See Managing Home Energy Report Preferences for details.

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Can I switch to paperless reports?

The paperless option is only available if your utility provides an Email Home Energy Report program. Would you like me to see if you are eligible for paperless reports?

Instructions for CSRs:

Can I opt out of this program?

The purpose of the program is to help you. Over time participants have been shown to save energy and money, and we want to help them do the same. However, you can opt out in a number of ways. The options available will depend on your utility's setup and program design.

Would you like me to opt you out now? I can also provide you with instructions to opt yourself out at a time that is convenient for you.

Instructions for CSRs:

Action

Steps

Opt the customer out of the program

 See Managing Home Energy Report Preferences.
Provide the customer with self-service opt out instructions

From the web: The recommended method is to use the Digital Self Service - Energy Management Web PortalAccount and Preferences section to change your preferences. If you unsubscribe in this way, you will be able to subscribe again in the future.

Note: Some utilities choose to host their own account services. If your utility does not offer the Digital Self Service - Energy Management Web Portal as part of their program, contact your utility for more information about account management.


Why did I receive a report after I was opted out?

Due to the time required to create a Home Energy Report and mail it to you, another report may have already been in process when you requested to opt out. This means you might receive one additional report after opting out, depending on the timing of your request. Rest assured that you will not receive any more reports after that.

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