A Vision

The VISION: Technology advancement related to energy use and demand will match—or even eclipse—the consumer electronics industry in innovation, time to market, and consumer acceptance

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RESEARCH is critical to achieve this vision

The QUESTION posed: What are the 5 key studies that we’d recommend doing that would most accelerate the adoption and implementation of Emerging Energy Technologies in California?

Wheel of Research

Environmental Surveillance & 

Analysis 

Problem /  Opportunity Defini;on 

Iden;fica;on & Assessment of Alterna;ves 

Tes;ng & Refining 

Alterna;ves 

Performance Monitoring & Evalua;on 

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What are characteris+cs of our market? 

What major trends influence these characteris+cs? 

How are we doing compared to others? 

What technologies exist and how are they being used? 

Environmental Surveillance & Analysis

Secondary data and in-depth qualitative research represents a real opportunity to gain insights into the market early in the technology development process

Can be useful to guide primary research as well as providing insights into primary research findings

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Environmental Surveillance & Analysis—Published Data

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Need  Approach  Results 

A utility needed profiles of the major industries it serves. Industries profiled included:

•  Government •  Food processing •  Food stores &

warehouses •  Restaurants •  K-12 Education •  Higher Education •  Hotels •  Retail

• Research used published government data, industry association sources, news items and key interviews.

• Information was compiled about each industryʼs market, players, and energy consumption, as well as about energy efficiency technologies and strategies.

• How decisions are made is important, but not discussed in published sources. Limited interviews provided perspective on how purchasing and energy management decisions are made.

• Completed profiles gave the utility information about the industriesʼ markets, challenges, energy use, and progress in reducing energy use.

• How the utility can work with customers in each industry was described in the industry profiles.

• The profiles allowed the utility to design appropriate programs for its customers by industry and market to them more effectively.

Environmental Surveillance & Analysis—Competitive Intelligence

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Need  Approach  Results 

The client provides energy efficiency programs to member utilities. One of these utilities was interested in launching a new program with its largest industrial customers. The client wanted to collect profile information about the set of customers in order to have an idea up front about how large and diverse the set was.

• Used published sources to gather basic data such as sector, NAICS code, ownership, locations, identity of executives, and number of employees.

•  Mapped the locations of the customers within the state the utility serves.

•  Estimated the energy usage of the customers in the target state. The estimates relied on government data of average energy use per employee by NAICS code.

• Findings identified what types of commercial and industrial customers the utility was interested in working with and how large the customers were.

• Client was able to assess whether it could offer off-the-shelf programs or if it would have to develop a custom program.

Environmental Surveillance & Analysis—Technology Assessment

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Need  Approach  Results 

A building products company had aligned itself with a supplier that had a energy-harvesting switch for lighting control. The client was concerned that new wireless power transmission technology posed a competitive threat.

• Literature, patent and internet research to identify technical information on energy harvesting and wireless transmission.

•  In-depth conversational interviews with leading experts to expand the secondary information to include the current state of the art.

 One of the wireless power transmission technologies only existed in a university research lab and was not close to commercialization.

 The three technologies of interest had distinctly different operating parameter ranges and were concluded to be more complimentary than competitive.

Big enough to merit dispropor;onate aCen;on (e.g., 10 to 30%) 

Bigger in poten+al profitability than size  (e.g., 50 to 70%) 

Growing over ;me 

Different demographically and therefore can be differen;ally reached 

Dis+nctly different in its problems / wants / needs 

Problem / Opportunity Definition–Market Segmentation Research

Market segmentation forms the foundation of marketing strategy

Good market segmentation research provides a company with clear direction on which group or groups represent the best target

A profitable target is . . .

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Market Segmentation—Example

Proac;ves 16% 

Eco‐Ra;onals 12% 

Cost Conscious 17% 

Pragma;cs 21% 

Skep;cals 21% 

Indifferents 13% 

Six consumer segments were iden+fied according to consumer preferences for different components of 

electricity management programs*   

8 * Accenture, Understanding Consumer Preferences in Energy Efficiency, 2010

Segment Characteristics*

Proac+ves (16%)  Pragma+cs (21%)  Cost‐Conscious (17%) 

Adop;on ACributes 

•  Highest willingness to take ac;on to reduce the use of major appliances in their home 

•  Lowest interest in the reduc;on of their impact on the environment 

•  Higher preference for in‐person contact at their home to get general informa;on about electricity management programs 

•  Lower acceptance of u;lity control 

•  Higher sensi;vity to electricity bill savings 

•  More ready to switch products and brands 

•  Less prompt in adop;ng new technologies 

•  Highest sensi;vity to electricity bill savings 

•  Higher impact of social pressure to drive them to take ac;on 

•  Higher posi;ve percep‐;on of people enrolled in an energy  manage‐ment program 

•  More likely to be dis‐couraged from adop;ng programs if their bill more complicated or requires more ;me to manage their usage 

•  Higher level of trust toward u;li;es 

Demo‐graphics 

•  Higher propor;on use electricity to heat homes 

•  More o[en men  •  More o[en women 

9 * Accenture, Understanding Consumer Preferences in Energy Efficiency, 2010

What are opportuni+es / problems? 

What is the range of alterna+ve solu+ons? 

What opportuni+es exist for new products or services? 

Which opportuni+es should be pursued? 

Who well is a new technology (product or service) likely to perform? 

Identification / Assessment of Alternatives

Identify innovation strategies that minimize risk and maximize performance

Dramatically increase the ROI of an innovation strategy

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Identifying What People Are Willing to Do—An Example

0.0%  2.0%  4.0%  6.0%  8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 

Become community ac;vist for energy efficiency 

Walk, bike, carpool, or use mass transit 

Select most energy‐efficient models when replacing appliances 

Car coolant is recovered and recycled 

Weatherize home using caulk or weatherstripping 

Use warm or cold water when washing clothes 

Clean / replace air filters as recommended 

Reduce amount of waste you produce 

1.3% 1.5% 1.7% 2.1% 

3.6% 4.5% 4.6% 4.7% 4.9% 

7.8% 8.9% 

9.8% 10.0% 10.3% 

11.9% 12.2% 

Willingness to Do 

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Identifying What People Are Willing to Do—An Example

0.0%  2.0%  4.0%  6.0%  8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 

Become community ac;vist for energy efficiency 

Walk, bike, carpool, or use mass transit 

Select most energy‐efficient models when replacing appliances 

Car coolant is recovered and recycled 

Weatherize home using caulk or weatherstripping 

Use warm or cold water when washing clothes 

Clean / replace air filters as recommended 

Reduce amount of waste you produce 

Easy / No Cost 

Hard / Some cost 

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Which alterna+ve strategies, products, services should we 

introduce / invest in? 

What changes should be made to product / service configura+ons? 

What is the best marke+ng mix to employ? 

Testing / Refining Concepts

Identify specific strategies that have the greatest potential for success and fit the needs of targeted customers

Research and modeling aids in the development and launch of highly successful new products, services, and campaigns

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Testing Alternative Concepts—An Example

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U+lity Customers 

Ini+ally prefer… 

One‐+me Incen+ve (32%) 

Monthly Plan (37%) 

Neither Plan/DK (31%) 

Their level of preference is… 

Not Asked 

In the end, their preferred choice is… 

Somewhat/Very Strong (40%) 

Not Strong (60%) 

Somewhat/Very Strong (39%) 

Not Strong (61%) 

One‐Time Incen+ve (6%) 

Monthly Plan (2%) 

Neither/DK (23%) 

400 

Thereby projec+ng One‐Time Incen+ve Cool Customers… 

26%

18%

6%

50%

One‐Time Incen+ve (18%) 

Monthly Plan (16%) 

Neither/DK (4%) 

One‐Time Incen+ve (26%) 

Monthly Plan (<1%) 

Neither/DK (5%) 

Amongst unaware Cool Customers as well as possibly interested Non-Cool Customers, the one-time incentive is selected by a ratio of nearly 2:1 over the monthly plan after all information has been presented. At the same time, this does not serve as a mandate in that a notable number still prefer neither option even at the end of the survey. Furthermore, the majority of disinterested Non-Cool Customers continue to prefer neither option.

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Testing Alternative Concepts—An Example

INCENTIVE THAT WOULD ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION 

Total  (n=300) 

Unaware Cool Customers (n=100) 

Interested Non‐Cool Customers (n=100) 

Disinterested Cool 

Customers (n=100) 

$4 per Summer month plan plus $1.00 per cycling event 

20%  19%  28%  11% 

One‐;me sign‐on incen;ve  40%  45%  45%  30% 

Neither op;on  35%  30%  22%  54% 

Don’t know/refused  5%  6%  5%  5% 

Should the new program, strategy, product, policy, etc. be con+nued, discon+nued, 

revised, or expanded 

Did the new program, strategy, plan, policy, etc. achieve its objec+ves? If not, why not? 

What are the cumula+ve effects of the new program, strategy, plan, policy, etc.? 

Performance Monitoring

Provide one-time or ongoing feedback to drive future strategies

Advance information on market direction key to understanding potential for new technologies / products / services

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Performance Monitoring—An Example of Effect of Advertising

Before—% Engaged

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 

After—% Engaged

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 

Performance Monitoring—Effect of Advertising

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 $‐    

 $2.00  

 $4.00  

 $6.00  

 $8.00  

 $10.00  

 $12.00  

 $14.00  

 $16.00  

 $18.00  

Engaged in energy 

conserva;on 

Believe metering adds value 

Understand benefits of metering 

Prefer in‐home 

metering 

Aware of U;lity's meter 

Intend to install U;lity's meter 

 $5.92    $6.39    $6.85   $8.33  

 $10.38  

 $16.62  

Value of Adver;sing 

In this case, adver;sing that moves a prospect from “Prefer Metering” to “Are aware of U;lity’s Program” is worth the difference between $10.38 and $8.33 (or 

$2.05) for each conversion 

Conclusions

California’s long-term energy efficiency strategic plan clearly acknowledges that . . . • The development, enhancement, deployment, and operation of

more and better energy efficiency related technology is fundamental to achieving California’s energy efficiency vision and goals

• The time frame of California’s goals demands a targeted focus on moving innovative technologies more quickly into the marketplace

• Since most demand-side technologies involve a human interface, increased knowledge of human attitudes and behavior is necessary

Establishing a robust and vibrant evaluation and user feedback loop using a range of market research tools is crucial to advancing the deployment of these technologies to the general public

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