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Moments that Matter:

A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

Customers are ready for a new billing experience

When you ask consumers what their utilities could be doing better, one answer rises
to the top: the bill.
Utility bills are particularly problematic because customers pay after using the
product, and the amount due can change considerably from one month to the next. There
is no other product or service in the world today that follows this unique billing model.
In particular, customers report dissatisfaction with high bills. Four in five residential
customers worldwide want their energy providers to deliver proactive alerts when
theyre on track to receive unusually high bills, according to global survey data Opower
collected in 2015. Yet, according to J.D. Power, proactive communications are only
reaching 7.3 percent of customers today.1 Fewer than two in five customers are satisfied
with the bill experience theyre getting today (Figure 1).2
These issues lead to higher operational costs in call centers, revenue collection, and
truck rolls.

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

80%

84%

84%

80%

78%
72%

45%

48%

72%

69%

53%

65%
52%

46%

43%

57%
48%

65%

47%

43%
37%

41%

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Importance: How important is it that your utility provides you with the following?
Satisfaction: How satisfied are you with how your utility provides the following?

FIGURE 1. EIGHTY PERCENT OF UTILITY CUSTOMERS SAY ITS IMPORTANT FOR UTILITIES TO
PROVIDE UNUSUAL BILL ALERTS, BUT JUST 37 PERCENT SAY THEYRE SATISFIED WITH THE
ALERTS THEYRE RECEIVING (IF ANY).

When asking utilities to identify opportunities for improvement, the answer is similar: billing
and call center operations.
Its no coincidence. Globally, utilities spend billions of dollars a year operating call centers;
between 30 and 50 percent of calls are about billing. By giving customers more certainty
and information about their energy use and proactively addressing their billing concerns
utilities can substantially reduce operating costs, including call volume, truck rolls,
average handle time, and abandonment rates. Opower estimates that improving billing and
customer service experiences can unlock up to $20.50 per meter, per year in net benefits
to the utility. For a mid-sized utility, that could mean up to $7 million in annual savings.3

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

Unsure 2%

Whats the state of billing today?

Electronic
Statement
32%

The energy bill is the single most important touchpoint utilities share with their
customers. For a lot of them, it remains the only regular line of communication. And,
for now, most of that communication happens by mail. Two in three bill statements in
the United States are delivered in print (Figure 2).4 (Other industries have achieved
higher eBill adoption. Mobile providers average around 50 percent, for example.5)
Paper
Statement
66%

FIGURE 2. TRADITIONAL PAPER BILLS

ARE STILL THE DOMINANT CHANNEL
FOR UTILITY BILLING.

But those longstanding trends in the utility industry are beginning to change. Utilities
are more focused on the billing experience in general: about one in three have
redesigned their bill within the past three years.6 And, more and more, utilities
worldwide are focused on migrating customers to paperless billing and payment
either as a way to reduce service costs, raise satisfaction, or both. Nine in 10 utilities
offer a paperless bill, though adoption rates lag far behind.7
Some utilities are also starting to offer bill notifications, which became a standard
part of the customer experience in banking, air travel, and insurance over the past
decade. Theyre wise to do so: J.D. Power reports that proactive alerts and messages
make customers more satisfied with their service providers.8

But these statistics prompt a deeper set of questions. Why do utility customers feel the way
they do about billing? What information are they looking for? What shapes their behavior
before, during, and after bills arrive? And, critically, how can utilities provide customers with
great experiences that cut costs and boost satisfaction?
To find answers, Opowers Consumer Insights team conducted research across 175,000
utility customers through online polls and experiments, interviews and focus groups,
third-party data, and a global survey. What follows is a step-by-step guide through the
customer journey including consumer attitudes toward every part of the billing process,
and actions utilities can take to deliver a better bill experience at lower cost.

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

The four moments of the billing cycle from the

customers perspective
The billing cycle from the customers perspective can be broken down into four moments:
bill arrival, bill assessment, bill attribution, and bill action.

>

BILL
ARRIVAL

2
BILL
ASSESSMENT

>

3
BILL
ATTRIBUTION

>

4
BILL
ACTION

1. BILL ARRIVAL
Most households dont spend a lot of time interacting with their energy providers. Accenture
pins it at about nine minutes per year.9
But, even if direct communication is sparse, customers are taking time to read their energy
bills. Four in five households read every one of their statements, and according to survey
data from a large U.S. utility theyre spending four to six minutes reviewing their bills
immediately after they arrive.10
The utility bill is one of the few times customers are paying attention to their utility. 79 percent
of customers report at least reading the total amount due each month, and open rates on
electric bills are higher than any other type of communication.11 This presents a great
opportunity for utilities to capitalize during a rare moment when they have the customers
attention.
The arrival process breaks down when customers receive unusually high bills. Its a remarkably
common experience: 72 percent of households say theyve gotten a particularly expensive
electric bill, and 39 percent say its happened within the past 12 months. The vast majority of
customers say their high bills caught them by surprise.12

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

Thats an unambiguously negative experience. Seven in 10 people say that high bills made
them feel anxious. Five in 10 say theyve encountered problems they could have avoided if
theyd known a high bill was coming.13
Bill shock is problematic for utilities, too. Customers who have received a high bill in the past
three months are twice as likely to call their utility during that period.14 Being proactive and
insightful during this moment of bill arrival can move the needle on several metrics, including
satisfaction and cost to service.

2. BILL ASSESSMENT
But how do customers draw the line between normal utility bills and high ones?
Theres not a single answer. Most households start by doing one of two things: assessing
whether their bills have increased by a particular dollar amount, or comparing them to
previous energy bills. A smaller group of customers gauges their bills by other criteria
(Figure 3).15
30%

Fixed amount

28%

Compare to historical data

14%

Percentage
9%

Compare to most recent bill

6%

Check energy consumption

14%

Other
0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

FIGURE 3. COMMON WAYS UTILITY CUSTOMERS IDENTIFY HIGH BILLS.

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

No matter what approach customers use to identify high bills, their perception of what
separates high bills from average ones is relative. Household income is a key predictor. On
average, customers who earn less than $50,000 a year feel that a $20 to $30 spike pushes
a bill from normal to high. For people with a $50,000 to $100,000 annual income, the
threshold is between $40 and $50. Households earning more than $100,000 a year draw
the line around $100.
When you benchmark those values against customers average monthly bill amounts, you
find that the threshold for high bill shock is roughly 20 percent above normal for households
earning under $50,000 a year, 34 percent above normal for those earning $50,000 to
$100,000, and 63 percent above normal for the highest income bracket (Figure 4).16

70%

63%

High Bill Threshold

60%
50%
40%

34%

30%
20%

20%

10%
0%
Under $50k

$50k to $100k

Over $100k

FIGURE 4. THE HIGH BILL THRESHOLD FOR CUSTOMERS EARNING DIFFERENT HOUSEHOLD
INCOMES, MEASURED AS A PERCENT INCREASE OVER THEIR AVERAGE ELECTRIC BILLS.

Predicting bill shock isnt an exact science because shock is a subjective feeling. Any one
individuals high bill threshold will probably depend on a number of factors in addition to
their income.

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

3. BILL ATTRIBUTION
When customers identify high bills, the overwhelming majority of them ask two questions:
whether the bills are accurate, and the root cause of the increase.
The psychology behind the second question is worth exploring. When Opowers Consumer
Insights team polled people about the most likely causes of high energy bills, the top three
responses were all related to things outside of their control: extreme weather, new fees, and
rate increases. Customers were a lot less willing to identify internal attributes including
their own behavior as driving factors behind high bills (Figure 5).17

79%

Extremely hot or cold weather

New fees, taxes, or other charges
added to the bill

66%

Rate increases

66%

Forgetting to turn off lights, appliances,

electronics, etc.

54%

Broken or old systems in the home

(like HVAC or water heater)

54%

Lifestyle changes, like a new work schedule or

a new household member

52%

Broken electric meter

31%

Billing errors

25%
0%

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

FIGURE 5. CUSTOMERS ASSUME THAT THINGS OUTSIDE THEIR CONTROL, LIKE WEATHER OR
FEES, ARE USUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR HIGH BILLS.

Psychologists call this phenomenon the fundamental attribution error. Its part of how our
brains are wired: as individuals, we tend to assume our own problems are caused by external
factors, and other peoples problems are caused by internal factors.
This is a human quirk that utilities should take into account. Customers who believe they
arent responsible for high bills are more likely to call a customer service representative, or
give up in frustration. Those who have hard data about the external factors like weather,
fees, and rates are much more willing to explore how their own behavior is affecting their
bills, and how they can start making improvements.

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

4. BILL ACTION
Once customers have opened, assessed, and attributed causes to their bills, their final step
is to act. If they dont pay their bills outright, customers usually do one of two things.

Low-income
customers think
about their bills
differently.

CUSTOMERS CALL THE CALL CENTER.

This is fairly common: 23 percent of utility customers have made at least one call in the past
three months, and 42 percent have called during the past year.18

Low-income households spend more of

their paychecks on energy than other
utility customers. So it only makes sense
that their attitudes about billing might
be different, too.
A series of in-depth interviews revealed
that to be the case. First, for a lot of
low-income families, utility bills are
relatively low priority. Theyre the first
thing to be pushed aside when money is
tight; food, rent, loans, and telecom bills
take precedence.
Second, disconnection from service isnt
a huge concern. Customers feel like the
process is vague and poorly enforced,
and, if they are disconnected, there are
stopgap solutions available, like staying
with a friend.
Last, many low-income customers dont
see their utilities as a source for help.
Theyre more likely to seek support from
local organizations religious groups,
the Salvation Army, and others, even if
the assistance comes with strings
attached.22
As with other customer groups, utilities
have a big opportunity to deliver a more
helpful, insightful billing experience for
low-income families. And yet, the bill
experience at most utilities is not
segmented for these very different
customers.

And the data are clear: billing concerns are the number-one reason households reach out to
a service representative (Figure 6).19 Utility call volume spikes during the week after a billing
cycle.20 Moreover, customers who call about billing call more often than those who call to
resolve other issues.21

Products and Services

Account Management

3%

Other 5%

8%

Billing 42%
Outages /
Reliability
41%

FIGURE 6. BILLING DRIVES THE MAJORITY OF UTILITIES CALL VOLUME.

When people do call about their bills, most of them want help with a general inquiry, making
a payment, or resolving a high bill.23 By addressing those concerns proactively with alerts
before bills arrive, and insights on the bills themselves utilities can limit the need to call
customer service representatives at all.
Of course, some calls are inevitable. Arming call centers with insights can significantly
improve the customer experience. Less than half of households say their customer service
agents offer advice on how to lower their energy bills.24 By giving people personalized,
enlightening information what CEB calls moments of wow utilities can turn call center
calls into opportunities to elevate customer satisfaction and loyalty (Figure 7).25

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

Total Potential
Impact: 1x

More Loyal

Effort: First Contact Resolution

.14x
.86x

Moments of Wow:
Teaching Customer Something New

Neutral

Effort: More than One Contact to Resolve

(2.52x)

Rep Experience: Generic Service

(.52x)

Effort: Repeating Information

(.46x)

Effort: Perceived Additional Effort to Resolve

(.23x)
(.20x)

More disloyal

Effort: Transfers

Total Potential
Impact: (3.9x)

n = 97,176 customers

FIGURE 7. ACCORDING TO CEB, WHEN CUSTOMERS LEARN SOMETHING NEW FROM A

UTILITY REPRESENTATIVE, THEY FEEL MORE SATISFACTION AND MORE LOYALTY. WHEN
AN INTERACTION IS GENERIC, REPETITIVE, OR DIFFICULT, CUSTOMERS FEEL DRAMATICALLY
LESS SATISFIED AND LESS LOYAL.
Source: CEB, 2013.

OR, CUSTOMERS GO ONLINE.

This is the road less traveled, at least for now. Fewer than 15 percent of consumers have
been to their energy providers website in the past three months.26
That said, most customers who did visit the web went there to handle their bills. One in three
made a payment (Figure 8). Just one in 10 logged on to answer a general inquiry, and fewer
than one in 20 were there because of a high bill.27

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

Products and Services

4%

Other 6%

Account
Management
14%

Billing 55%

Outages /
Reliability
14%

FIGURE 8. THE VAST MAJORITY OF CUSTOMERS WHO LOG INTO THEIR UTILITYS WEBSITE DO SO
TO HANDLE BILLING.

The larger picture that emerges from the data is that many households want to manage their
bills online, but the experience is full of friction. When it comes to understanding,
negotiating, and paying bills, most people choose to talk to a live service representative.
Why? One, customers believe that a call center is more likely to explain and help lower a
high bill than a website. And two, only 55 percent of them find their utilitys website
engaging. Just 62 percent think it gets regularly refreshed with new information.28

The bottom line

In the United States, most people have received an unusually high utility bill. Most people say
it was a surprise. And most people had trouble understanding it. Which, in turn, led them to
take high-cost actions to have bills explained and resolved, like calling a call center.
The bottom line on billing is that, too often, its unpredictable and unsatisfying.
The good news is that there are steps utilities can take to deliver a better customer
experience.
For one, they can do more to shift customers onto automatic bill payments. Households that
use autopay are significantly less likely to say theyve received a high bill (Figure 9).29

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

100%

80%

92%

87%

90%

84%

74%

70%

73%

76%

76%

60%

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Check in mail

Autopay
Received High Bill

Online billpay

Over phone

High Bill was Unexpected

FIGURE 9. FEWER UTILITY CUSTOMERS WHO USE AUTOPAY SAY THEYVE RECEIVED HIGH BILLS.

What automatic payments cant do is reduce the uncertainty and frustration associated with
high bills the sense that they come out of nowhere. Proactive alerts can, by letting
customers know well in advance when theyre on track toward an expensive month, and
offering actionable, personalized advice to lower their bills before they arrive. (The idea of
high bill alerts is so popular with customers that, during Opower-led focus groups, they
actually proposed it before we did.)
Utilities have other opportunities to give customers clarity and confidence, too. In the event
that a household does receive a high bill, data-rich insights can clearly identify what caused
it. Integrating those insights directly into electronic and paper bills, with additional insight
online, can alleviate the need to call into a call center. But, if the customer still calls,
equipping utility representatives with pertinent analytics and insights can ensure the
experience is advisory and satisfying.
The common thread that unifies all of these approaches is information. By using technology
to give households visibility during every step of the billing journey from before their bills
arrive to after theyve acted on them utilities can deliver a deeper, more satisfying billing
experience thats proven to build trust and lower costs. At one utility in New Zealand, a
deployment of proactive high bill alerts, web tools, and call center analytics led to a 19
percent reduction in high bill calls and 5 percent increase in satisfaction. Transforming the
bill experience is a win-win for customers and their utilities.
To learn how Opower is helping utilities reduce high bill calls and increase satisfaction, email
wecare@opower.com.

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Moments that Matter: A deep dive into the customer experience during utility billing

Endnotes:

1. J.D. Power, 2015 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Survey

2. Opower, Moments that Matter: A customer-centric approach to experience
management
3. Opower internal customer care model
4. Third-party data
5. Fiserv, State of E-Bill Adoption: http://www.banknews.com/media/cms/pdfs/
Fiserv%20Research%20Paper%20The%20State%20of%20Ebill.pdf
6. 2014 Chartwell Billing & Payment Industry Survey
7. 2014 Chartwell Billing & Payment Industry Survey
8. J.D. Power, Customer Impact Report: Proactive Customer Communications and Alerts
9. Accenture, The New Energy Consumer: Balancing Strategic and Operational
Imperatives
10. Opower, Moments that Matter; Opower Customer Engagement Tracker
11. Opower, Moments that Matter
12. Opower Bill Pay Survey
13. Opower, Moments that Matter
14. Opower, Moments that Matter
15. Opower Bill Pay Survey
16. Opower Bill Pay Survey
17. Opower, Moments that Matter
18. Third-party data
19. Third-party data
20. Opower analysis of call center data
21. Third-party data
22. Opower in-depth interviews with low-income utility customers; Opower low-income
survey data
23. Third-party data
24. Opower, Moments that Matter
25. Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick Delisi: The Effortless Experience: Conquering
the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty
26. Third-party data used in Opowers models
27. Opower Bill Pay Survey
28. Third-party data used in Opowers models
29. Opower Bill Pay Survey

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