The ultimate guide to CDPs for utilities & energy
Learn everything there is to know about CDPs in utilities & energy, including global trends, key insights, use cases, how leading utilities & energy companies are leveraging personalization, and a framework for evaluating CDP vendors.
Why are utilities & energy companies adopting CDPs?
Utilities and energy providers face increasing pressure to meet evolving customer expectations, particularly around transparency. While most customers have limited alternatives, the real challenge is maintaining trust and satisfaction.
Industry leaders in utilities & energy differentiate themselves with personalization
Exxon Mobile delivers personalized offers and savings to rewards members to help them save millions
Excel Energy provides more transparency to customers around energy consumption and power outages
PG&E is investing in custom journeys and personalized recommendations for households
utilities & energy use cases
Acquisition campaigns
Drive new customer sign-ups for utility or renewable services by using location and usage data to target households moving into new areas or considering a provider switch.
Suppression campaigns
Reduce wasted ad spend by suppressing current customers from acquisition campaigns using CRM data, reallocating budget toward untapped high-value prospects.
Retargeting campaigns
Re-engage users who explored renewable energy options but didn’t convert by serving dynamic ads highlighting cost savings and environmental benefits, increasing conversions.
Seasonal promotions
Drive adoption during high-demand periods by highlighting home efficiency upgrades or renewable energy benefits, increasing sign-ups for energy plans.
Conversion APIs
Share online and offline conversion data with ad platforms, enabling algorithms to better identify and target users with a higher likelihood of converting to improve campaign performance.
Media networks
Monetize customer insights by offering anonymized energy consumption audience segments to partners, such as smart home device manufacturers, driving incremental revenue.
Upsell & cross-sell campaigns
Recommend smart home energy solutions, home efficiency upgrades, or solar panel installations to increase revenue per household.
Seasonal energy savings campaigns
Provide tips and promotions on energy-saving products during peak seasons to improve satisfaction and reduce energy strain.
Renewable adoption campaigns
Encourage customers to transition to renewable energy plans with educational content and exclusive incentives.
Reactivation campaigns
Offer special discounts or bill credits to win back former customers who switched providers.
Loyalty rewards campaigns
Offer bill credits, tiered discounts, or VIP customer incentives to reward long-term service users.
Localized promotions
Target specific regions with infrastructure upgrades, special energy programs, or local rebates to drive adoption.
Dynamic home page content
Display tailored energy-saving tips, usage insights, or plan upgrades based on the user’s energy profile to increase engagement and satisfaction.
Energy usage tracking
Provide real-time energy monitoring updates via personalized dashboards to boost app engagement and encourage efficient energy consumption.
Next best action
Recommend impactful actions such as switching to renewable energy, enrolling in autopay, or upgrading to energy storage to drive engagement and revenue.
Proactive bill reminders
Notify users about upcoming payments, usage overages, or expiring discounts to reduce billing-related churn and improve satisfaction.
Efficiency goal tracking
Set monthly energy-saving goals and reward customers for achieving them, promoting satisfaction and eco-friendly behaviors.
Gamified sustainability rewards
Incentivize energy-saving habits by offering badges, points, or discounts for milestones like reducing usage or enrolling in renewable plans.
Localized service updates
Provide location-based notifications about outages, infrastructure upgrades, or new renewable energy options to increase transparency and build trust.
Energy storage optimization tips
Offer personalized recommendations for optimizing home battery storage usage to improve efficiency and adoption of advanced energy solutions.
Personalized recommendations
Suggest tailored renewable energy plans, smart home integrations, or efficiency upgrades based on user consumption patterns and environmental preferences to drive adoption and long-term engagement.
What utilities & energy companies should consider when evaluating a CDP
90%5 of marketers say their traditional CDP does not do what they need, so why do they keep buying them?
| Category | Traditional CDP | Composable CDP |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Operates as a separate entity, removed from your company’s data | Integrates directly within your company’s data infrastructure |
| Security & data storage | Data is stored and maintained in the CDP’s data infrastructure | Data is stored and maintained in your existing data infrastructure |
| Data access | Supports user and event data | Supports both online and offline data |
| Data modeling | Uses predefined models that may not fully capture energy usage patterns or renewable adoption trends | Supports tailored models to handle energy consumption, smart meter data, and renewable energy preferences |
| Audience management | Supports broad segmentation but struggles with identifying eco-conscious households or high-usage customers | Enables granular segmentation using data like peak energy usage patterns and green energy program participation |
| Customer journey customization | Provides standard templates for campaigns like energy efficiency tips or billing reminders | Powers fully adaptable journeys for events like renewable plan adoption, smart thermostat promotions, and outage alerts |
| Identity resolution | Relies on out-of-the-box algorithms that may not unify profiles across smart meters utility accounts and mobile apps | Supports custom algorithms to unify profiles across household data, energy devices, and billing platforms |
| Pricing | Bundled pricing: dependent on monthly tracked users (MTUs) & feature add-ons | Unbundled: individually priced features with no MTU billing |
| Average implementation time | 6-12 months | 1-4 months |
- ArchitectureIntegrates directly within your company’s data infrastructure
- Security & data storageData is stored and maintained in your existing data infrastructure
- Data accessSupports both online and offline data
- Data modelingSupports tailored models to handle energy consumption, smart meter data, and renewable energy preferences
- Audience managementEnables granular segmentation using data like peak energy usage patterns and green energy program participation
- Customer journey customizationPowers fully adaptable journeys for events like renewable plan adoption, smart thermostat promotions, and outage alerts
- Identity resolutionSupports custom algorithms to unify profiles across household data, energy devices, and billing platforms
- PricingUnbundled: individually priced features with no MTU billing
- Average implementation time1-4 months
- ArchitectureOperates as a separate entity, removed from your company’s data
- Security & data storageData is stored and maintained in the CDP’s data infrastructure
- Data accessSupports user and event data
- Data modelingUses predefined models that may not fully capture energy usage patterns or renewable adoption trends
- Audience managementSupports broad segmentation but struggles with identifying eco-conscious households or high-usage customers
- Customer journey customizationProvides standard templates for campaigns like energy efficiency tips or billing reminders
- Identity resolutionRelies on out-of-the-box algorithms that may not unify profiles across smart meters utility accounts and mobile apps
- PricingBundled pricing: dependent on monthly tracked users (MTUs) & feature add-ons
- Average implementation time6-12 months
Why Hightouch for utilities & energy?
Your CDP vendor should mold to your data — not the other way around. Hightouch is purpose-built to handle the complexity of utilities & energy.
Leverage any data point in your warehouse – not just users, accounts, and events.
Build and activate audiences directly from your warehouse.
Integrate with your existing data infrastructure on your warehouse.
Leverage any data point in your warehouse – not just users, accounts, and events.
A complete CDP for utilities & energy
Members
Overlap
Eco-conscious consumers exploring upgrades
2,988 members
1,974 members
Smart meter interest (no sign-up) 2,988
Solar consultation requests 1,974
Member overlap 378 or 12.65%
Customer Data Platform resources
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What is a Composable CDP?
Learn why Composable CDPs are seeing such rapid adoption, how they work, and why they're replacing traditional CDPs.
Free CDP RFP template: streamline your vendor evaluation
Building a tailored CDP RFP is key to choosing the right platform for your business. Use our free template and evaluation framework to focus on the most important features and values for your goals.
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