ATLANTA and LAKELAND, Fla., March 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lakeland Electric has launched the Apogee Interactive EMPOWER Platform suite of customer engagement applications to help its customers better understand their energy usage and give them choices in how they interact with their utility.
In conjunction with the launch of a new consumer-friendly website, Lakeland Electric chose the EMPOWER Platform because it puts utility customers in control of their energy consumption by recommending the most appropriate electric pricing plans, showing them how their personal behaviors as well as the weather impact electric bills, alerting them when their energy usage hits a certain level, and giving them detailed electric usage data by integrating with Lakeland Electric’s smart meter system. By getting customers to be more efficient and thoughtful about their energy usage now, Lakeland Electric can help offset future generation costs and keep customer rates among the lowest in Florida.
These new digital channels will serve as the foundation for Lakeland Electric’s “Beat the Peak” promotional campaign aimed at educating customers and offering the pricing and service options. Lakeland Electric chose Apogee Interactive because its EMPOWER suite offered all of these tools wrapped into one solution with a level of personalized customer interaction unique to the industry.
“Lakeland Electric is advancing our customer’s knowledge, choice, and involvement through technology,” said Dave Kus, Assistant General Manager of Customer Service at Lakeland Electric. “The new analytical tools on our website allow us to introduce our customers to the utility of the future and empower them to be the energy consumers of the future.”
“We are honored to be working with Lakeland Electric in helping them further their customer engagement strategy,” said Susan Gilbert, President, CEO and Co-Founder of Apogee Interactive. “This is the first instance of a utility launching our fully integrated EMPOWER suite of applications on one platform, and Lakeland Electric’s approach in seeking to empower their customers is industry-leading. We are pleased to be their partner.”
The EMPOWER Platform incorporates a variety of Apogee’s technology allowing customers to conduct personalized digital energy audits using online calculators, receive energy usage and billing alerts via text, email and video messaging, get price plan recommendations based on their usage history, receive a home efficiency rating and a variety of educational content. Utility employees also benefit by accessing the tools to help them answer questions when handling a customer interaction. EMPOWER includes Apogee’s Energy Advisor, Energy Envoy, Energy Auditor, CSR Bill Analysis, and Home EnergyLibrary™ and other applications.
About Lakeland Electric
Lakeland Electric is the third-largest public power utility in the State of Florida serving 126,000 customers with production capability of over 1100 Megawatts. The utility is also one of the first utilities established in Florida having started operation in 1889.
About Apogee Interactive
Apogee Interactive is the nation’s leading provider of customer engagement technology for utilities. Partnering with utilities since 1993, Apogee’s digital engagement platform delivers proactive, personalized communication to residential and commercial customers nationwide. Apogee’s proven SaaS platform enables more meaningful customer engagement, proven sustainable energy results, reduced operating costs, and improved program performance for utilities. For more information, please visit www.apogee.net. Follow us on Twitter at @apoweb and on Linkedin.