Pennsylvania’s Price Comparison Tool: …...consumers know the name of their utility. •...

Pennsylvania’s Price Comparison Tool:

www.PAPowerSwitch.com

Vice Chairman Andrew G. Place

and

Cyndi Page, Senior Communications Specialist

Office of Communications

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

February 22, 2017

http://www.papowerswitch.com/

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Overview

• Creating www.PAPowerSwitch.com

• Initial Launch & Marketing of PAPowerSwitch

• Working with Electric Utilities and Suppliers

• Consumer Requests

– Small Business Shopping

– Consumer Needs and Shopping Experience

– Response to “Polar Vortex”

• Updates to PAPowerSwitch

• Marketing PAPowerSwitch

• 20th Anniversary of Electric Choice in Pennsylvania


Creating

• In 2009, the Pennsylvania PUC Commissioners approved to build

and fund a Price Comparison Tool for Electric Shopping.

• PUC hired a State Contractor to build a stand-alone website.

• The building of the website was funded by the PUC.

• Reviewed electric shopping websites of other states.

• Decided that consumers need to have the same experience

shopping for electricity as they do for any other product online.

• PUC would be a neutral party, so not to sway consumers to one

supplier or another.

• Distribution System Operators (DSOs) and Competitive Suppliers

(CSs) would input their own information on PAPowerSwitch.

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Development of

• Created PAPowerSwitch name, logo and color scheme.

• Decided to let consumers shop by DSO or postal code since not all

consumers know the name of their utility.

• Researched average residential consumer usage of 700 kWh.– Allows consumers to change amount, depending on usage.

• Tested beta website internally and externally.– Co-workers who weren’t involved in electric shopping were asked to demo the beta

site.

– Asked my parents to test the beta website since they were in their late 60s and early

70s to see if they could easily navigate the site and understand shopping.

• Website launched within 6 months – went live in Spring 2010.

• Initial cost: $500,000.

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Launching website

• In 2010, shopping consisted of Residential & Large Business

shopping.– Residential shoppers could

go to “Shop for Your Home” to

use the price comparison tool.

– Small Business shopping was

added in 2012.

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Launching website

• Large Business shopping gives consumers the names of the CSs

offering products.– Listing shows name of

CS, address, phone

number and link to their

website.

– Price and usage are

negotiated between the

large business and CS,

so there is no price

comparison tool in this

section of the website.

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Marketing website

• Worked with DSOs and CSs to have them add offers directly to the

PAPowerSwitch website.

• DSOs sent PUC-approved letters in their utility bill mailings to

announce and promote

shopping and the

PAPowerSwitch website.

• A second postcard mailing

promoting shopping was

sent to consumers by the

DSOs.

• Asked DSOs and CSs to

participate at shopping events.

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Marketing website

• PUC held Shopping Events across

the state to educate consumers.– Partnered with local TV and newspaper

media.

– Held events in shopping malls to show

how easy it is to shop for electricity.

– Computers at shopping events to demo

the website for consumers.

– Handed out Shopping Fact Sheets for

consumers to take home explaining

shopping.

– Showed consumers how to read their

electric bills to explain that they were

shopping for the generation portion of

their bill.8

• DSOs were given direct access to the website to update their Price

To Compare information two to four times a year.– The Price to Compare is the price per kilowatt-hour a consumer uses to compare

prices and potential savings among CSs.

• CSs have to request a PAPowerSwitch account to update their

information.– The request is reviewed to make sure

their license is active.

– Each CS account representative is

given log in credentials to update

their own account.

– PUC has the right to deactivate

accounts or delete offers.

Accounts

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• In the beginning, each CS was only allowed one offer per DSO.– As time went on, CSs and consumers requested more offers on the website.

– The PUC decided to

allow 3 offers per

supplier per DSO.

– Allows consumers to

have choices, but not

an overwhelming

number of offers.

– Website links are beside

the offers, so consumers

can easily go to a CS

website to view all offers.

Accounts

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• CSs tried to gain an edge with the website immediately.– Some used computer coding to insert logos and information without PUC consent.

– CSs figured out how to add spacing or underscores to put their offers at the top of

the list.

• PUC monitors the site, but the CSs would tattle on each other if they

saw something that was wrong and would let the PUC know.

• CSs requested many changes to the website as new products come

on the market.– Examples: Term Lengths, Unlimited Usage, Enrollment Fee and Monthly Fee.

• Website update/change requests are made to PUC staff.

• PUC staff review and evaluate each request.– Looks at cost and feasibility of request and how many CSs ask for the change.

– PUC doesn’t want to hinder the marketplace, so if it’s good for the market, the

request is usually granted.

Accounts

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• PUC staff make page content updates through the website’s extranet

dashboard.

• PUC staff can

also update or

correct CS or

DSO pricing.

• Website vendor

provides website

maintenance,

hosting and related

services.

Accounts

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• Consumers also have asked for updates to PAPowerSwitch.

• Consumers asked for

a way to shop for their

small businesses.

• In 2012 the Small Business

section was added.– Mirrored “Shop for Your Home”

section to make it easy to use.

Consumers and

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• Consumers wanted an easy way to search for complaints.

• In 2015 we added a link to the PUC’s website where consumers can

search for formal complaints on CSs and DSOs.

• Balances consumer needs for information while remaining a neutral

shopping tool.

Consumers and

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• Consumers also wanted an easy way to file a complaint from the

PAPowerSwitch website – instead of going to the PUC’s website.

• Added a direct link with instructions on how to file an informal

complaint.

Consumers and

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• Consumers were asking to see the history of the Price to Compare.

• In 2014 we added a Future Pricing tab and a Past Pricing tab to allow

consumers to make informed choices based on pricing from the past

2 years and the

price that was

estimated for

the next

shopping period.

• DSOs update

the past, current

and future prices.

Consumers and

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Consumers and

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Consumers and

• Consumers wanted

to purchase

renewable energy

so Filtering options

were added and

the “Learn More

About This Offer”

area expanded so

CSs could

showcase their

renewable energy

products.

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Consumers and

• Added rollover hovers so consumers can easily see the definitions of

the different price structures so they know what they are purchasing.

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Consumers and

• Added rollover hovers so consumers can see when the prices are

updated.

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Consumers and the 2014 Polar Vortex

• The Polar Vortex hit in winter 2014 creating higher prices in the

wholesale energy markets.

• Needed to educate consumers

better on shopping and the

differences between Fixed

and Variable Rates.

• Reviewed the entire site

and made many updates.

• Added pages and fact sheets

to explain rates, especially

Fixed and Variable rates.

• Produced videos.

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• Highlighted the difference between Fixed and Variable Rates by

color.

• Continued that throughout the website.

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• Updated the Frequently Asked Questions and Glossary pages to

better define terms and answer questions.

• PUC stated that the terms and conditions

of a variable rate contract had to be

explained specifically in the contract.

• A supplier contract summary

must be given to consumers

to easily see key terms and conditions.

23


• Added a Consumer Alert bar at the top of the homepage to notify

consumers of upcoming changes to shopping and the market.

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• Created an interactive “Ways to Save” energy page.

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Consumers and the Shopping Experience

• More and more people shop online, so the PAPowerSwitch

experience should be the same if shopping for electricity or shoes.

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• To keep the shopping experience the

same as online shopping sites,

more sorting options were added

as more products became available.

• There are now 8 options available

compared to 4 when PAPowerSwitch

first launched.

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• Created a new homepage in 2015 so consumers could shop by

postal code and see the different

types of offers available.

• Through Google analytics, we

found that consumers shopped

by postal code more often than

by DSO.

• Consumers want to see the

results immediately.

• To keep website fresh, we

change the house graphic each

season.

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Updates to

• PUC has committed to investing time and money in PAPowerSwitch

to keep it updated.

• Average cost of website maintenance, weekly email alerts, website

hosting and reporting for PAGasSwitch and PAPowerSwitch is

$9,250 per month.

• As products and trends change we make additions and/or changes to

the website.– Some products were taken off since CSs no longer were offering them.

– Continually review pages to make sure they are up-to-date.

• PAPUC Staffing costs = 1 FTE [Full time equivalent].

• Pavone is the current web-hosting vendor and handles maintenance

and hosting fees.

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Updates to

• In November 2016, several updates were made to PAPowerSwitch.

• Moved the website to a more secure platform to meet security

standards set by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Office of

Administration.

• Consolidated pages to make

it easier to navigate the

website.

• The site is fully responsive

no matter what kind or size

of device is used to view it.

(Phone / Tablet / Laptop /

Desktop Computer)30

Marketing website

• The Commission uses various media resources to educate the public

and market PAPowerSwitch.

• In 2013, we started marketing on social media.

• Joined Facebook with a PAPowerSwitch page.– Later changed it to Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to cover all areas of our

jurisdiction, including shopping for natural gas on PAGasSwitch.com website.

• Created a Twitter handle: @PA_PUC

• On YouTube, created the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

channel where educational videos are available to consumers.

• Continue with traditional marketing tools of press releases, video

news releases, education fairs, speaking events, radio and television

shows and more.

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Marketing website

• Consumers can share PAPowerSwitch with friends and family

through Facebook, Twitter or email.

32

Marketing website

• Consumers can sign up for Rate Alerts on

the website.

• Rate Alert emails are sent out each week

that give the latest rates for all CS under

the DSO of the consumer.

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Marketing website

• PAPowerSwitch

is also available

in Spanish.

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20th Anniversary of Electric Choice

in Pennsylvania

• December 6, 2016 marked the 20th Anniversary of The Electric

Generation Customer Choice Competition Act of 1996.

• PUC contracted with Pavone for a survey on Electric Shopping and

the PAPowerSwitch website.

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Survey Results

• Over the last two years, nearly 1.9 million visitors have shopped for

electric supply offers using PAPowerSwitch.

• Almost all respondents (94%) are aware that they have the ability to

shop for their own competitive supplier.

• Of those who know they have the ability to switch competitive

suppliers, four out of 10 consumers state that they have switched

competitive providers.

• Over three-quarters of consumers who have switched electric

providers state that the process of switching was very/extremely

easy. 36


Survey Results

• The largest motivating factor behind switching electric providers is to

lower monthly electricity bills, with the 45 to 64 age group being more

likely to say that reduced costs are primary factors, more so than the

18 to 44 and 65-plus age groups.

• Over half of the respondents who have not switched electric

providers say this is due to them being happy with their current

electric provider, with the 65-plus age group more likely to say that is

a major factor, as compared to the 18 to 44 and 45 to 64 age

groups.

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Survey Results

• PAPowerSwitch.com is a trusted resource to which respondents turn

for information about CSs, and it will be an educational and helpful

resource in the future when making electric provider decisions. Of

the consumers who visit PAPowerSwitch.com:

– 90% somewhat / strongly agree that the website provides helpful

information.

– 87% are very / extremely satisfied.

– 70% say that the website is very / extremely easy to navigate.

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Questions?

Cyndi Page

Office of Communications


Email: [email protected]

Office Phone: 717-214-5434

39

Vice Chairman Andrew G. Place


Email: [email protected]

Office Phone: 717-783-1197

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Pennsylvania’s Price Comparison Tool: …...consumers know the name of their utility. •...

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