ATLANTA, Jan. 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Con Edison (NYSE:ED) and Apogee Interactive, the leading provider of online energy apps to utilities, teamed up to share their insights on effective mobile web communications today in San Diego at the 24th National Conference of the Association of Energy Service Professionals. The annual 3-day conference draws hundreds of energy industry professionals and policymakers from around the country.
Retail and travel deals aren't the only reason consumers head to their smart phones. Just ask Con Ed, one of the nation's oldest and largest energy companies serving New York City and surrounding Westchester County.
During Hurricane Irene in November 2011, 17,000 users went to Con Ed's mobile website for power outage information. During Super Storm Sandy a year later, those visits skyrocketed to 80,000. And the growth is even faster for mobile web bill pay: jumping from 88,000 in 2012 to now over 275,000.
"According to Accenture, the average person spends six minutes a year thinking about their energy use," said Robert Moody, Northeast Business Development Manager for Apogee. "We've learned that streamlined applications, designed specifically for smart phones and tablets, can turn those six minutes into quality online engagement, education and energy behavior change opportunities with consumers." Apogee's two newest apps, Weather Insights and Instant Insights, provide an instant overview of the weather's monetary impact on the customer's utility bill using the consumer's billing data and local weather information.
"Close to three-quarters of a million customers accessed our mobile website this past year and it keeps climbing," said Chris Gallo, Sr. Specialist, Customer Outreach for Con Ed. "We're now working to place energy management tools in the hands of our customers with mobile apps that help increase energy awareness and guide smarter energy decisions." He also noted plans are underway to advance other next-generation apps that can utilize device-specific features such as location and camera services to facilitate reporting downed power lines, finding the closest Con Ed payment center and other actions. In addition, Twitter and Facebook integration and a weather feed are close on the horizon.
With Cisco projecting 10 billion mobile Internet devices in use by 2016 and that cell phone use will grow 50 times larger by 2016 than it is today, mobile communications is no longer an afterthought but an essential component in utility customer communications.
To find out more about Con Ed and Apogee's presentation and the AESP conference, please visit the 24th National AESP Conference site.
Con Edison (www.coned.com) is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED), one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $42 billion in assets. It provides electric, gas and steam service to more than three million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York and employs over 13,000 union and non-union workers.
APOGEE Interactive, Inc. (www.apogee.net) is the leading provider of online energy analysis and customer engagement applications to 650 electric and gas utilities across the US, reaching more than 56 million customers. Founded in 1993, Apogee pioneered electronic applications designed to increase a utility's customer engagement and consumer energy efficiency. Today its predictive software consistently earns high marks for accuracy and ease of use. Clients include investor-owned, municipal and cooperative energy companies including Con Edison (ED), American Electric Power (AEP), Entergy (ETR), Southern Company (SO), NSTAR (NST), Salt River Project, Jackson EMC and Flint Energies.