ATLANTA, July 15, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- East Kentucky Power Cooperative is bringing the power of Apogee's nationally accredited energy audit software to its 16 owner-member cooperatives who provide electricity to 1 million Kentuckians in east and central Kentucky.
East Kentucky Power selected Apogee's multi-platform energy analysis applications to provide an online self-service energy audit option to consumers, a desktop tool for call center employees and a mobile iPad/tablet audit tool for the cooperatives' in-home energy auditors.
"Our owner-member distribution cooperatives want to provide multiple energy efficiency options to their members and deliver positive energy audit experiences whether by phone, in person or online," said Scott Drake, Manager of Corporate Technical Solutions for East Kentucky Power. "Apogee's tools will make this possible since the consumer, field auditor and member service representative will all have access to the same energy analysis software, just with a different application interface," Drake said. In addition, the online audits will enable the cooperatives to follow-up with members who are most likely to benefit from other energy-saving programs offered by the cooperative, he added.
From a technical standpoint, East Kentucky wanted to provide its cooperatives with a highly accurate, mobile energy audit solution that streamlines the in-home audit process and automatically generates a summary report. Drake said, "Apogee's app is one of the best tools I've seen in the industry and I knew our cooperatives' field auditors would embrace this level of accuracy and in-depth in energy analysis."
Apogee's proprietary AMES™ engine powers the auditor-facing tool as well as the member service and consumer-facing online audit tools. This AMES engine is RESNET® accredited at the highest Home Energy Rating System (HERS) level and ranked best-in-class in the BESTEST EX savings predictions test run by the DOE and EPA.
Named "EnergyInsights™," Apogee's RESNET-accredited software enables the auditor to perform a pre-audit before visiting the home by using the home's billing data. The auditor then uses intuitive slider-bars and drop down menus to enter the home's detailed profile while on location. Clean and colorful graphical displays make it easy for the auditor to review the results with the consumer and talk through how weather, equipment, behavior and the structure itself affect energy use. "We can also email the summary report to the consumer and, because it's so easy-to-understand, we believe it will be more effective in motivating consumers to take energy-saving actions," Drake added.
"We continue to update our energy audit format to accommodate today's homes and today's consumers," said Susan Gilbert, Co-Founder and President of Apogee Interactive. "When you make a home energy audit easier for the consumer and easier for the utility employees advising the consumers, it naturally leads to higher consumer satisfaction and energy efficiency levels."
Founded in 1993, Apogee is the leading provider of energy analysis software and online customer engagement applications to electric and gas utilities across the country.
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.
East Kentucky Power Cooperative (www.ekpc.coop)
East Kentucky Power Cooperative is one of the largest Generation and Transmission (G&T) Cooperatives in the United States. EKPC is a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative providing wholesale electricity to 16 owner-member distribution cooperatives that serve 520,000 Kentucky homes, farms, businesses and industries across 87 counties in east and central Kentucky.