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By Patty Durand

SGCC Executive Director

 

Across the country, consumers are incorporating couponing into their shopping routine to ease household food costs and keep their grocery bill in check. It isn’t uncommon to see shoppers carrying binders with pages of laminated inserts to catalogue coupons by type, value, and expiration date. Examining coupons before and as they shop, some consumers even let the coupons dictate which stores they go to and what products they buy. These consumers show immense satisfaction upon seeing the line-item showing how much they saved at checkout, even if it is only a few dollars.  

 

It’s undeniable: for much of the 99%, saving is in. And it makes me wonder whether consumers would use smart meter usage information and smart grid-enabled programs to help them control and ease the rising costs of energy.

 

The Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative recently talked in-person, one-on-one to residential energy consumers nationwide about their individual values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors toward energy, the environment, and the smart grid. These Consumer Voices 2012 Study findings built upon the segmentation framework introduced last year by SGCC’s Consumer Pulse and Market Segmentation research program, wherein over 2,000 residential customers were divided into five distinct market segments. Both studies suggest that one segment of the population—the DIY & Save segment—is as motivated to save a few dollars on their energy bill as they are on their grocery bill. 

The DIY & Save segment makes up about 16% of the U.S. population. They tend to be largely white, middle-income families with 20% having three or more children at home. Most are homeowners who believe that it is important to personally know that

their home is energy-efficient and they have done all to lower their energy costs. While the majority of consumers in the DIY & Save segment believe that saving energy helps the environment, they are primarily motivated to save energy in order to save money.

 

The attitudes and behaviors of individuals in this segment are guided by the belief that every penny counts. For that reason, smart grid-enabled programs like critical peak pricing and time-of-use appeal to most DIY & Save consumers. The SGCC Consumer Pulse and Market Segmentation Study revealed that 66% of consumers in the DIY & Save segment would likely participate in a critical peak pricing program if it was offered by their utility; 64% of the segment reported that they would likely participate in time-of-use pricing. These two values contrast with overall national averages of just 62% and 49%, respectively.  

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Financial benefits of these pricing programs motivate these consumers with the opportunity to save money beyond the efforts they’ve already made to save energy in their home. Rewards, rebates, and bill credits are considered equivalent to coupons. They incentivize consumers to conserve or shift their energy usage to times of the day when it’s not so expensive. 

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