Xcel Energy Chooses Oracle’s AI-Powered Opower Platform for Enhanced Customer Engagement
Xcel Energy, a leading provider of electric and natural gas services, has announced its partnership with Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) to utilize the AI-enabled Opower customer engagement platform. This collaboration aims to significantly enhance customer experiences, strengthen energy programs, and improve grid resilience across the eight states served by Xcel Energy.
Innovative Solutions for Energy Efficiency
The Opower platform is designed to provide personalized insights into energy use, helping customers understand their consumption patterns. With this technology, over 100 utilities have successfully saved more than 38 TWh of energy through behavioral energy efficiency programs.
Matt O'Keefe, group vice president of Oracle Utilities, emphasized the importance of customer engagement in transforming energy delivery. "Together with Xcel Energy, we're delivering innovative, AI-driven solutions that empower customers with personalized insights," he stated. “This collaboration demonstrates how technology can accelerate the clean energy transition.”
Commitment to Reliability and Affordability
Xcel Energy serves 3.9 million electric and 2.2 million natural gas customers, focusing on delivering safe and reliable energy while keeping costs manageable. The Opower platform will enable the utility to display how customer energy use compares with similar households, offer energy-saving tips, and provide personalized program recommendations.
Emmett Romine, vice president of Customer Energy and Transportation Solutions at Xcel Energy, remarked, "By providing customers with personalized insights about their energy use, we're empowering them with options to reduce or shift their usage and potentially save money on their energy bills."
Components of the Opower Platform
The Opower platform includes several key components aimed at enhancing customer engagement and energy efficiency:
- Customer Engagement and Energy Efficiency: Opower Home Energy Reports provide actionable insights about energy usage, highlighting savings opportunities.
- Behavioral Demand Response: This scalable program uses timely, personalized messages to influence customer energy usage during peak periods, enhancing grid reliability.
- Connected Energy Insights: Utilities can deliver a seamless customer journey through personalized reports and alerts, supporting customers in managing costs and supports the transition to clean energy.
- Real-Time Analytics: AI-driven, cloud-based dashboards support data-driven decision-making, making insights available to all levels of management, not just data scientists.
About Oracle
Oracle provides integrated suites of applications along with secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), visit oracle.com.
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