LEXINGTON, Mass. — FirstFuel Software announced that it has been selected by Southern California Edison (SCE) to deliver a first-of-its-kind Continuous Engagement program using advanced analytics to help scale energy efficiency delivery. The program is part of the IDEEA365 initiative, a larger California program designed to help investor-owned utilities adopt new ideas and technology that can enhance energy efficiency delivery.

The FirstFuel program will use extensive smart grid data from more than 10,000 mid-sized commercial buildings across multiple business types to help more of SCE’s customers participate and benefit from energy efficiency programs. While many of the largest buildings are well known to have substantial energy savings, FirstFuel’s analysis has shown that mid-sized buildings can provide 40 percent of the total savings potential in an average commercial portfolio. SCE, like many utilities, has been interested in solutions that would help improve its efficiency services to this segment.

FirstFuel will help SCE account management teams to channel customers to the right programs and the right efficiency incentives — both immediately and progressively over time. Specifically, FirstFuel’s analytics will help SCE and its customers better understand where the best opportunities are for efficiency, on a building-by-building basis, and help customers to reduce their energy usage through continuous engagement. The multi-channel program will use FirstFuel’s energy web platform, email alerting, and SCE’s commercial customer service teams to deliver energy performance intelligence directly to customers. FirstFuel and SCE aim to reduce the cost of customer service while simultaneously boosting program participation and customer savings.

“Commercial customers get the best value when energy efficiency is a sustained effort,” said Mark Wallenrod, SCE’s director of demand side management program operations. “We are excited to use data analytics to help our customers better understand the potential of efficiency projects and encourage more businesses to benefit long-term from our programs.”

“Southern California Edison is a true innovator in its commitment to delivering cutting-edge efficiency programs and services across its customers,” said FirstFuel CEO Swapnil Shah. “By giving meaning to previously untapped data through advanced analytics, SCE is paving the way for increased energy efficiency across its commercial portfolio — ultimately helping unlock huge savings potential.”

For more information, visit www.firstfuel.com.

Publication date: 7/7/2014

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