Email-Wide User Experience Variations

This section discusses some common email-wide variations. Additional variations of the Email High Bill Alert AMI are possible, depending on the modules included, the order of the modules, and the variations of each module.

For details about how each module can vary, see the User Experience Variation sections that are included in each of the individual module topics.

Dual Fuel Email Alert

Dual fuel customers receive a single alert that includes details about both electricity and gas use. The dual fuel alert contains the same insights as the single fuel alert, as well as an electricity and gas comparison module that compares projected electricity and gas use to the customer's use for each fuel type from the same billing period of the previous year. A dual fuel customer will receive a high bill alert only when both fuels exceed either their personalized threshold (if set) or the default thresholds for both fuels as set by the utility.

Multi-Service Email Alert

Customers with water and electric service can receive a single alert that includes details about both electricity and water costs. The multi-service alert contains the same insights as the single service alert, as well as a multi-service comparison module that compares projected electricity and water costs to the customer's costs for each service from the same billing period of the previous year.

To include water information in alerts, utilities must have the Oracle Utilities OpowerDigital Self Service - TransactionsCloud Service.

Usage Versus Cost

Cost information can be included in the High Bill Alerts AMI if a utility's rates have been modeled. This means that the cost of energy or resource use, and the calculators used to generate that cost, are modeled in the Oracle Utilities Opower system. As a result, the appearance of the alert changes to display the increase in use in terms of cost. For example, the forecast section shows the customer's projected cost for the billing period, instead of the customer's projected use percentage as compared to last year. Additionally, the messaging varies slightly to use the term bill instead of usage. If rates are not modeled, the alert displays projected use in terms of the applicable units of measure.

Budget Billing

Budget billing is a type of billing in which the customer pays a set amount of money each month for their bill. The utility will look at the amount the customer spent last year, add a percentage to this amount to cover the cost of inflation, and divide the amount over twelve months. Budget billing customers receive a message on the alert encouraging them to lower their usage since their costs may increase when their payment amount is adjusted. Budget billing customers can set a personalized threshold for usage.