Whole Neighborhood ApproachJuly 2009 Workshop

Jack ParkhillSouthern California EdisonManager, Income Qualified Programs

Southern California Edison

Southern California Edison (SCE) is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.

Service territory includes: Los Angeles County Orange County San Bernardino County Riverside County Imperial County Tulare County Kern County Kings County Fresno County Tuolumne County Inyo County Mono County Santa Barbara County Ventura County

LIEE Customer Demographics• An estimated 1.4 million low-income households

– Los Angeles County – 43%– Orange County – 14%– Riverside County – 13%– San Bernardino County – 16%– Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Mono, Santa Barbara, Tulare,

and Ventura – 14%

• A typical participating household has an average – Annual gross household income of $21,000– 3 people living in the household– 5.3% of the households have a permanently disabled member [1]

– 20% of the households have a senior member

[1] Based on program participation for PY2007-2008

CPUC authorized SCE to spend $185 million to help its low-income customers save energy for the 2009-2011 program cycle

• Over 250,000 low-income homes to be serviced

• 15% of new enrollments shall be households with disabilities

• Over 1 million energy efficient devices will be replaced:

– 66,000 old inefficient refrigerators

– 15,000 inefficient air conditioners

– 20,000 halogen torchieres

– 900,000 incandescent light bulbs

• 5,000 electrically heated homes will receive weatherization

• Cooling maintenance services will be targeted to 5,000 homes

Our Plans for the Future

EMA involves four stages that touch the customer:

• Marketing– Increasing program awareness by issuing press releases, direct mailers,

media ads, etc.• Outreach

– Recruiting customers for participation in the EMA Program and informing customers about the EMA Program and the benefits of the program

• Enrollment and Assessment– Simply the process of gathering information to determine if the customer

is eligible for the program, and checking the customer’s home to be sure it is feasible to install specific measures

• Service Delivery– Installing appliances and other measures

• Inspection– Inspecting the customer’s home after service delivery to be sure the

measures are working properly and safely

How Does the EMA Program Work?

SCE coordinated various marketing and outreach tactics to reach low-income homes to offer the opportunity to participate in the LIEE Program

Tactics included: • CARE lists – SCE targeted customers on CARE who have not

previously participated in the LIEE Program

• Direct mailers – Through a focused marketing effort, SCE targeted low-income communities that can best benefit from the LIEE Program. SCE’s direct mailers proved to be successful and accounted for the majority of the leads created through SCE’s energy-efficiency phone center.

• Overlapping IOUs – Through a coordinated effort with partner IOUs, SCE leveraged the outreach of customers in the areas jointly served by partner IOUs

Looking Back at Customer Participation

Customers can enroll in the EMA Program through four key channels:

• Calling SCE’s Energy Efficiency Call Center– Live rep or VRU

– Approximately 50% of the enrollments

• Data Sharing / Joint Utility Efforts– During the enrollment process with a partner IOU, agencies are authorized

to qualify and assess customers who have been qualified by another IOU– Approximately 30% of the enrollments

• Direct outreach by SCE’s network of service providers– If needed, upon Edison approval agencies were authorized to recruit

customers potentially eligible to receive services– Approximately 19% of the enrollments

• Visiting SCE.COM– Completing a lead sheet

– Approximately 1% of the enrollments

Looking Back at Customer Participation

Approximately 50% of SCE's LIEE customer leads come from calls to SCE’s Energy Efficiency Call Center– SCE managed these leads by referring them to contractors who conduct the

enrollment process

• One Stop Shop– Contractor enroll customers in the Program, comprehensive assessment of

the customer’s home and installs all possible measures– SCE referred measures which were impossible to install during the

enrollment process for installation

• Customers eligible for multiple measures (weatherization and appliances) were referred to a single contractor to install all the measures in a single visit

• Contractors scheduled a days worth of work for each crew in neighboring communities to minimize windshield time and carbon footprint

SCE Managed Enrollment and Installation Referrals

SCE Managed Outreach

SCE manages outreach activities for its contractors through its existing fee structure and database

• SCE’s database ensures that contractors conducting outreach cannot enter data without advance permission • In this way, SCE controls both the areas in which contractors can conduct

outreach and the methods they can use

• The canvassing tool allows contractors to target CARE and/or non-CARE customers who have not previously participated in the LIEE Program, down to the ZIP level

SCE Achieves Goals

Program Year

Budget Homes Treated

Authorized Actual Goal Actual

2006 $27,400,000 $31,371,759 41,293 53,017

2007 $32,692,182 $32,525,808 36,933 44,323

2008 $37,977,380 $38,137,700 36,933 54,635

Decision 08-11-031• “IOUs Shall Adopt a "Whole Neighborhood Approach" to Marketing and

Installation of LIEE Measures. IOUs shall minimize costs and greenhouse gas emissions in delivering LIEE measures to low income households. By focusing efforts on whole "neighborhoods“ ( pg.4)

• “We implement the Whole Neighborhood Approach model to reduce program costs, leverage the availability of resources at a community level, and serve a greater number of customers.” (pg.20)

• “By following the Whole Neighborhood Approach, the utilities should continue to demonstrate reduced overhead, transportation and installation costs. The utilities should serve all willing and eligible customers in a targeted geographic area prior to moving on to the next targeted geographic area.” (pg. 32)

Integrating the Whole Neighborhood Approach

SCE’s Response to WNA

Identify and Market to Low-Income Population• Identify areas with dense low-income population and low program penetration

rate• Target high energy use and high energy insecurity customers• Target customers on Medical Baseline and with a self-reported “Disabled”

profile• Tailor marketing material for Limited English Proficient and Extreme Climate

Zone• Deploy a communications mix to a neighborhood ahead of the contractor• Contractors can generate canvassing lists using SCE’s customer database• Leveraging Existing Relationships and Local Resources by Collaborating with

local representatives to gain community trust, promote the Program, increase awareness, and coordinate community outreach events

SCE shifted its marketing tactics to target• High Energy Use Customers - Market to CARE customers with

high energy usage (kWh)

• High Energy Insecurity Customers - Apply available late-payment and disconnection notice data to identify and target customers

• Ethnic Communities / Limited English Proficient Customers - Continue targeting to ZIP codes where a high proportion of households are Limited English Proficient (LEP)

• Extreme Climate Zone Customers – Aggressively target customers in SCE’s more extreme climate zones which tend to have higher winter and summer bills, primarily the San Joaquin Valley, which is highly affected by the economic downturn.

• Special Needs Customers - Persons with Disabilities, Underemployed Workers, Seniors, Rural Areas

Targeted Outreach

SCE’s database assigns a minimum number of jobs at one time within a designated area

• SCE continues to minimize the program’s carbon footprint by aggregating leads in small geographic areas and then referring the leads to service providers in a manner that engages the service provider in a full day’s worth of work within a neighborhood

• The new enhancement assigns work to contractors based on a “minimum number of jobs” value configured in SCE’S database

• The System only assigns work for a particular ZIP7 code when the number of jobs reaches that threshold

SCE Enhances Referral System

Whole Neighborhood Approach - Visalia

SCE implemented various elements of the WNA during the 1st quarter and focused a WNA event in Visalia

• SCE piloted a Whole Neighborhood Approach as directed by D.08-11-031 in the city of Visalia in May 2009

• SCE targeted the geographic segment of Visalia, with a large ratio of low-income customers and low LIEE penetration known as the “Oval Area”

– 6,209 estimated eligible / 42.35% penetrated

• All prior participants since 2002 were filtered out of the selection process, resulting in the pilot targeting customers who have not previously participated in SCE’s LIEE program

The effort was categorized by ZIP7s encompassing specific ‘block’ neighborhoods to deliver the program more efficiently

Strategic Planning

• In order to increase awareness in the community, SCE coordinated efforts with, Proteus, the Mayor, the Director of Housing & Economic Development, Housing Specialists, and the Visalia School District Board Chair

• A local radio show promoted SCE’s LIEE Program and the WNA effort prior and during the canvassing periods– Promo spots ran once a week

• Detailed customer data, for customers selected for the effort was sent to Proteus to enable them to develop their canvassing strategy prior to the WNA effort – Customer name, address, phone number

• Door hangers were available to for customers not home– SCE logo, company name, reason for visit, toll free number

Coordinated Efforts - Visalia

In an effort to increase awareness, SCE’s Marketing Department created postcards promoting the EMA Program and the WNA

• Prior to the canvassing period, SCE mailed postcards to customers within the selected neighborhoods

• The postcard informed the customers of Proteus’ visit to their neighborhood, including the canvassing timeframe

• Each postcard drop was strategically planned with Proteus using ZIP7 data

Targeted Marketing - Visalia

Drop # Drop Date Start Date End Date Time on Postcard Total Count

1 May 22, 2009 May 27, 2009 May 30, 2009 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM 1,000

2 May 26, 2009 June 1, 2009 June 6, 2009 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM 1,580

3 June 1, 2009 June 8, 2009 June 13, 2009 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM 1,580

4 June 8, 2009 June 15, 2009 June 20, 2009 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM 1,580

5 June 15, 2009 June 22, 2009 June 27, 2009 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM 1,580

6 June 22, 2009 June 29, 2009 July 3, 2009 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM 1,580

7 June 29, 2009 July 6, 2009 July 11, 2009 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM 1,600

Pilot to date, SCE’s Visalia WNA effort targeting 10,500 customers has resulted in approximately 300 enrollments

• Of the total enrollments, over 150 enrollments were a result of customers calling SCE’s call center to schedule an appointment

• Customer’s were home in an estimated 2,100 households visited by Proteus

• Canvassing occurred Monday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

• Common Barrier’s• 1) Customers were not home 2) The decision maker was

not available, or 3) The proper documents were not available, customers were unable to arrange their schedule around the visit to the neighborhood

• Increased cost for the additional administrative and field resources, and marketing efforts

Visalia Effort - Results

• Collaborating with local representatives of SCE Public Affairs and with Community, Faith-Based and Local Government Organizations proved effective– Gain community trust by sponsoring community events to promote the

Program, and increase awareness of the program and practices

• Developing partnerships with city and county officials to provide program information and collateral material lead to increased enrollments– Customer’s trust the local communication infrastructure, such as local

newspapers, city flyers, employee newsletters, client publications and radio/cable shows

Lessons Learned - Visalia

• SCE will continue to work with its network of LIEE service providers to optimize LIEE service delivery by maximizing the effectiveness of existing resources to reach low-income homes and offer customers the opportunity to participate in the LIEE Program

• SCE will leverage and expand the relationships with city and county agencies to help low-income customers address energy efficiency opportunities in their communities

Looking Ahead

SCE will continue to use the current LIEE Annual Eligibility Estimates (Athens Study) Data to identify which neighborhoods to target

• Target homes with the dense low-income population and low Program penetration

• SCE will focus its marketing and outreach efforts at the ZIP7 level• Pull customer data using SCE’s Marketing Canvassing Tool to include

Average kWh / kW, Average Bill Amount, Number of Disconnects, Number of Final Calls

• SCE will continue to collaborate with city staff members and internal city partnerships department

Identifying Target Areas

• SCE will increase outreach efforts to:

– Persons with disabilities, seniors, and rural areas– Customers on the Medical Baseline rate, high-energy users, and high-

energy insecurity customers– Customers in SCE’s more extreme climate zones which tend to have

higher winter and summer bills

• SCE is partnering with organizations working with low-income households and people with disabilities, such as– Regional Centers– AbilityFirst– Asian Rehabilitation Service, Inc.

Increased Outreach Efforts to Special Needs Customers

SCE’s Marketing Tool module will track customers targeted to participate in the EMA program

– The System will also track customers who no longer wish to participate or receive additional mailers

– The Marketing Module also tracks:• Average kWh / kW• Average Bill Amount• Number of Disconnects• Number of Final Calls

– Marketing Attempt values are designated to each attempt to determine a customer who no longer wishes to participate in the program.

SCE Tracks Marketing Attempts

• SCE will be incorporating its Cool Centers into upcoming WNA efforts– 15 Cool Centers reside in the Counties of San Bernardino, Riverside,

Tulare and Kings.– Customers will be targeted within the Cool Centers general vicinity– Maintain a few days presence during the week for enrollment

• Coordination with Events Marketing Manager within internal teams, and Customer Experience Management department.

Event Planning

Other Efforts

• Mobile Energy Assistant Units (MEAU)– SCE will be procuring a preparing for 2 MEAU’s for future community

efforts and program support

• Outbound Calling– Coordination with SCE’s Call Center will allow LIEE to contact

customers who dropped out through cancelled leads.– Automated System is also being developed

• E-Mail Blasts– SCE will start contacting customers through e-mail blasts reminding

them about the benefits of the Program.– LIEE will partner with SCE’s MyAccount for Online Billing

SCE will collaborate with service providers by using SCE’s customer databases to identify neighborhoods and coordinate various marketing and outreach tactics• Marketing efforts will be staggered to address specific neighborhoods

(small geographic areas or "ZIP7s") • SCE will filter all prior participants from the marketing lists, targeting

only customers who have not previously participated in SCE’s LIEE program

– Customers receiving mailers will contact SCE’s EE call center – SCE will create and refer leads to contractors

• SCE will send the marketing list of customers in that ZIP7 to contractors for outreach/canvassing

• SCE plans to increase awareness of the marketing and outreach efforts by issuing press releases, sending email blasts, conducting outbound calls, and sending follow-up flyers to customers

Increased Coordination Between SCE and Network of Service Providers

• SCE plans to continue aggregating leads in small geographic areas and then allocating the leads to service providers in a manner that engages the service provider in a full day’s worth of work within a neighborhood.

• This method will be used to manage the work throughout the funding cycle in order to “space” LIEE work throughout the year for each LIEE service provider.

Reducing the Program’s Carbon Footprint

• SCE plans to continue to use existing and expanded marketing efforts to target neighborhoods thereby increasing awareness resulting in customer calls being received by local contractors and SCE’s Customer Call Center

• As contractors visit customers through scheduled appointments they will be encouraged to canvass the local neighborhood with canvassing lists provided through SCE

Combine SCE’s Approach With Elements of the ED WNA White Paper

Conclusion

• SCE believes the ideas and methods within the WNA White Paper serve as one approach to delivering program services, in conjunction with existing efforts, and new approaches that are yet to be developed.

• Working with Energy Division and LIEE contractors, SCE believes an integrated service delivery plan should focus on the needs of individual customers and build on existing approaches and the ideas and methods within the WNA White Paper.