Pre-Season Welcome Letter

The pre-season welcome letter is a print welcome communication sent to customers to introduce them to the Behavioral Demand Response Cloud Service before their first peak event notification is sent. The letter is designed to prepare customers for upcoming peak events and motivate them to save energy.

Note:

Channel fees apply to all print communications. See Requirements and Limitations for more information.

User Experience

The pre-season welcome letter tells the customer what peak events are, and informs them of upcoming notifications. Content appears on both the front and back of the letter, which can refer to either hot-weather events, or cold-weather events, depending on the season.

The following are examples of the front and back of the letter for an electric customer during a hot-weather event.

Front of the letter:

Back of the letter:

The pre-season welcome letter is composed of the following:

• Header and Footer: The heading of the welcome letter includes the logo of the utility, the date that the letter was sent, and the customer's name and address. The footer contains the utility's website address, customer service telephone number, customer service email address, and the utility's logo.
• Introduction: The introduction provides a full-color sentence that generates interest from the customer about upcoming peak events during the season.
• Main Content: The main content of the welcome letter defines peak events, describes why peak events are important, and encourages customers to participate in peak events by connecting the customer to a larger community of energy savers.
• Timeline: The timeline describes the three stages of the peak event: Before, During, and After. The timeline contains images to help the customer better understand the process.
• Tips: The tips section uses the entire back page of the letter. Three tips are displayed that will help customers stay comfortable during the peak event. The tips are accompanied by images that represent the tip described.
• Learn More: The Learn More section encourages the customer to learn more information about peak events as well as to find more tips that will help them save energy. The section contains a link that customers can follow to their utility's website.

User Experience Variations

The user experience varies for customers depending upon their service types, available data, costs, and locale. Note that this section indicates the primary user experience variations, not all possible variations.

Gas Fuel

For gas-only customers, the pre-season welcome letter includes language, illustrations, and tips that are related to gas. For example, the introductory paragraph talks about how gas costs are high during cold-weather season, and the tips are related to energy efficient actions that are more typical of such season.