Data Can Help Utility Companies Connect with Customers on Affordability
No matter the state of the economy, there will always be utility customers struggling to keep up with their bills. They fall behind for all sorts of reasons. And nothing compounds their stress more than suddenly having their power shut off, or even the threat of it.
Utility companies can do a lot more to proactively engage customers who are struggling with their power bills, and the rewards for this effort benefit everyone.
The secret is to leverage powerful data you’re probably already collecting, along with effective and timely communication.
How many utility customers are behind on payments?
This problem is national and widespread. 2025 data from the NEADA found that about one in six American households are behind on their utility bills, and that annual shutoffs are approaching the four million mark.
That’s a lot of unhappy people.
While there are a variety of tools and programs such as low-income discounts and arrearage management plans, utility companies can do quite a bit more on the front end to communicate with customers and work together to solve their payment problem and build trust — before any threats to cut their power.
The problem is, low-income customers often spend over 8% of their income on energy. This is about three times more than a median-income household in terms of the percentage. Any added financial stressors to their lives can make it very difficult to pay the power bill.
Utility Data — a different approach
Imagine two scenarios.
Scenario 1
A renter struggles earning consistent income, and has once again had to cut down on expenses. They’ve trimmed their food budget, skipped healthcare visits, cancelled a couple online subscriptions, and are trying to use less power. This isn’t the first time, and they’re still feeling pretty bitter about the last time the utility company threatened to shut off their power.
A few months later, their car has a blowout and they have to spend hundreds getting new tires. The utility payment is now looking impossible, and they don’t know what to do.
Scenario 2
Another renter who has struggled making consistent payments for their bills has just learned their company is laying them off, and they’re about to be unemployed again. Worried about all their bills, they start using less energy as they try to figure out how to make it until they find another job. They too are feeling angry, because they have a lingering memory of the utility company threatening to shut their power off a few years back.
A month later, they receive a surprising phone call — from the utility company.
The utility rep says they’ve noticed a significant drop in the renter’s power usage, and they’re wondering if this person is having financial trouble.
Shocked, the renter explains the situation and talks about what they’re doing to find another job. The company rep works with the renter to ease their bill for six months until they get back on their feet.
The customer is relieved, has positive feelings about the utility company, and feels freshly motivated and empowered to go find a new job.
The power of data leveraged for good
You can see in these scenarios how smart meter data can be used to transform a utility company’s relationship with customers.
Most utility companies are already monitoring consumption data for their customers and have been doing so for some time. You can use this data for a variety of purposes such as detecting fraud or studying seasonal usage patterns to inform energy purchases and systems management.
But you can also use this data to monitor individual customer power usage and payment patterns. If you detect significant shifts in their patterns, you can connect with customers and rebuild trust that for many people is at an all-time low. Almost no companies or institutions ever reach out proactively like this.
Utility companies can.
All it would take is figuring out a threshold to detect if energy usage or payment behaviors are shifting unusually for specific customers. Are they making partial payments after years of keeping up? Are they using notably less energy than usual?
These are the warning signs of household financial stress. Instead of waiting for customers to call in desperation before connecting them with payment help, or worse — until they just stop paying bills, companies can make proactive outreach at the first sign of strain.
Power Direct has the capability to assist utility companies in analyzing their data to identify customers who may be approaching challenging financial situations. Plus, when blended with our own data — especially block group geographical and demographic data — we can help you target numerous households in close enough proximity to make it worth the effort to send out a representative for in-person engagement.
Renewed trust, sustained engagement
If utility companies started using their data to reach out to potentially distressed customers before the situation turns into a crisis, they would strengthen trust across the system. That helps the company and its reputation, and it helps the customer because they avoid a disastrous situation and can keep moving forward in trying to right their financial ship.
Returning to the scenarios earlier, imagine these people getting a call like this from the utility.
They wouldn’t just feel relieved. They’d be amazed. And they would talk about it. They’d tell their friends and family how shocked they were that the company called them out of nowhere and offered to help before the situation turned dire.
Word would spread, and people would think highly of your utility.
Data strategies and empathy
Done right, this data strategy is an act of empathy and empowerment.
There’s something fundamentally different about a utility company using data to reach out and work with a customer rather than waiting for an angry call. Your customer service reps will feel much happier with this strategy too!
One approach treats the customer like a person. The other treats them like an account number. Customers feel the difference, and they remember.
The good news is, this strategy is very attainable. You probably already have all the tools in place. All it takes is setting up a system that will notify the right people on your team about customers whose usage or payment patterns appear problematic, and then reach out to them.
A plan for engaging utility customers on affordability
Utility companies can start building this data strategy right away, using this framework as a starting point:
- Assess the capabilities of your existing data collection and smart meter systems
- Determine appropriate thresholds that indicate problematic usage or payment behaviors
- Create a system to notify your company about customers in potential financial distress
- Identify personnel who will reach out to those customers and work with them proactively
Your outreach efforts will be doubly effective if you use more than one communication channel.
For situations like this, an in-person visit is best because a trained rep can have honest and empathetic conversations where they can discuss their situation, educate them about various programs, and get them going in the right direction regarding their finances and power bills.
But you can also follow up with communication by phone, mail, email, and front door media.
Power Direct Energy is equipped to help with many of these communication efforts, including front door marketing such as door hangers, assets to support any door-to-door outreach efforts, and ongoing data collection such as customer surveys.
And as mentioned earlier, we can also help analyze your customer data and pair it up with our own data to identify block groups, not just individual households, that may be facing challenging financial situations. Then, you can reach out proactively to multiple residences in an area and engage with at-risk customers before their situation becomes more serious.
