Oracle Utilities Opower Rates Engagement Cloud Service

Transcription

1 Oracle Utilities Opower Rates Engagement Cloud Service Product Overview E Last Updated: June 22, 2018

2 Oracle Utilities Rates Engagement Cloud Service Product Overview E Copyright 2017, 2018, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This software and related documentation are provided under a license agreement containing restrictions on use and disclosure and are protected by intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted in your license agreement or allowed by law, you may not use, copy, reproduce, translate, broadcast, modify, license, transmit, distribute, exhibit, perform, publish, or display any part, in any form, or by any means. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilation of this software, unless required by law for interoperability, is prohibited. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice and is not warranted to be error-free. If you find any errors, please report them to us in writing. If this is software or related documentation that is delivered to the U.S. Government or anyone licensing it on behalf of the U.S. Government, then the following notice is applicable: U.S. GOVERNMENT END USERS: Oracle programs, including any operating system, integrated software, any programs installed on the hardware, and/or documentation, delivered to U.S. Government end users are "commercial computer software" pursuant to the applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation and agency- specific supplemental regulations. As such, use, duplication, disclosure, modification, and adaptation of the programs, including any operating system, integrated software, any programs installed on the hardware, and/or documentation, shall be subject to license terms and license restrictions applicable to the programs. No other rights are granted to the U.S. Government. This software or hardware is developed for general use in a variety of information management applications. It is not developed or intended for use in any inherently dangerous applications, including applications that may create a risk of personal injury. If you use this software or hardware in dangerous applications, then you shall be responsible to take all appropriate fail-safe, backup, redundancy, and other measures to ensure its safe use. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates disclaim any liability for any damages caused by use of this software or hardware in dangerous applications. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Intel and Intel Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. AMD, Opteron, the AMD logo, and the AMD Opteron logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. This software or hardware and documentation may provide access to or information about content, products, and services from third parties. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates are not responsible for and expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind with respect to third-party content, products, and services unless otherwise set forth in an applicable agreement between you and Oracle. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates will not be responsible for any loss, costs, or damages incurred due to your access to or use of third-party content, products, or services, except as set forth in an applicable agreement between you and Oracle. Documentation Accessibility For information about Oracle's commitment to accessibility, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program website at Access to Oracle Support Oracle customers that have purchased support have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit or visit if you are hearing impaired. ii

3 Contents Introduction 1 Requirements and Limitations 1 Utility Data Requirements and Limitations 1 Customer Data Requirements and Limitations 2 Rate Engine 2 Add-On Features 2 Rate Modeling 2 Rates Engagement Web Features 3 Rate Analysis Tool 3 Data Requirements and Limitations 3 Feature Overview 3 Bill Comparison Rate Plan Change Insights 6 Data Requirements and Limitations 6 Feature Overview 6 Bill Forecast Cost Insights 7 Data Requirements and Limitations 7 Feature Overview 8 Data Browser Energy Costs Graph 8 Data Requirements and Limitations 8 Feature Overview 8 Rate Education Reports 9 Requirements and Limitations 9 Channel Fees 9 Utility Data Requirements and Limitations 10 Customer Data Requirements and Limitations 11 Customer Experience 11 Print Rate Education Reports 12 Rate Education Reports 13 Delivery 14 ii

4 Introduction The Oracle Utilities Opower Rates Engagement Cloud Service includes a rate analysis platform and components that enable customers to view changes to their energy costs related to rates, learn about available rate plans, and view projected energy cost savings from joining a new rate plan. The following components are available in this service: Rate Engine. See "Rate Engine" on page 2. Rate analysis and cost insight web features. See "Rates Engagement Web Features" on page 3. Rate Education Reports. See "Rate Education Reports" on page 9. For an overview of all cloud services available from Oracle Utilities, see the Oracle Utilities Opower Service Descriptions document online at Oracle Contracts - Cloud Services. Requirements and Limitations The following data requirements and limitations apply to all utilities and customers in the Rates Engagement Cloud Service. Utility Data Requirements and Limitations Cloud Service Requirement: The utility must have the Oracle Utilities Opower Digital Self Service - Energy Management Cloud Service to purchase the Rates Engagement Cloud Service. Digital Self Service - Energy Management Advanced Metering Infrastructure Cloud Service: The utility must have the Oracle Utilities Opower Digital Self Service - Energy Management Advanced Metering Infrastructure Cloud Service add-on in order to purchase the Rates Engagement Cloud Service. See the Oracle Utilities Opower Digital Self Service - Energy Management Advanced Metering Infrastructure Cloud Service Product Overview for more information. Billing Frequency: The utility must bill customers monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly. 1

5 Data Transfer Standards: Data must be sent to Oracle Utilities in the correct schema and at the appropriate frequency. See the Oracle Utilities Opower Rates Data Transfer Standards and the Oracle Utilities Opower Billing Data Transfer Standards data specifications for details. Rate Modeling: Rate modeling is required during initial program setup, and is not included in the cost of Rates Engagement. See "Rate Modeling" on page 2 for more information. Customer Data Requirements and Limitations AMI Data: The customer must have daily or sub-daily AMI reads. Rate Engine The rate analysis and cost insights available through Rates Engagement are calculated by the Oracle Utilities Opower Rate Engine. The Rate Engine is a computing model that relies on rate configuration data, rate plan data, and customer energy use data as its primary inputs. These inputs are then used to perform rate calculations for features such as cost data graphs, rate plan comparisons, and hypothetical cost scenarios that help customers evaluate and switch between rate plans. Add-On Features The Rate Engine Plus is an enhanced version of the standard Rate Engine that can be purchased as an optional add-on to Rates Engagement. See the Oracle Utilities Opower Rate Engine Plus Cloud Service Product Overview for more information. Rate Modeling Rate modeling is required during initial setup of Rates Engagement for an additional fee. Modeling rates is the process that enables the Rate Engine to use rate data files provided by the utility to output rate analysis and energy cost information. 2

6 To model rates, Oracle Utilities determines the calculation logic to be used by the Rate Engine based on utility rate plans. Oracle Utilities then defines the applicable rate data files to be provided by the utility. These rate data files are consumed by the Rate Engine and used in rate analysis and cost insights that appear in the Rates Engagement features and products. Rates Engagement Web Features Rates Engagement includes web features driven by rate analysis and cost insights. The following web features are included in Rates Engagement: Rate Analysis Tool Bill Comparison Rate Plan Details Bill Forecast Data Browser Energy Cost Graph Rate Analysis Tool Data Requirements and Limitations The customer must be billed monthly. Daily or sub-daily AMI data is required. By default, the customer must have at least 9 months of billing data available. By default, the customer must have at least 270 days of AMI data available, and a minimum of 75% of AMI reads from this period must be available. Customers are only presented with rate plans for which they are eligible. This ensures that the information is relevant to the customer. Feature Overview The Rate Analysis Tool allows customers to see an overview of rate plans for which they are eligible, estimated cost information, and details about each rate plan option. Customers can compare rate plans in terms of estimated annual costs and quickly identify their cheapest rate. Further rate analysis is available through additional rate details and the ability to perform what-if scenarios representing energy use choices the customer can make. 3

7 The following widgets are included in the Rate Analysis Tool: Rate Comparison: Allows customers to see a comparison of their eligible rate plans. Rate Details: Allows customers to view additional information on their eligible rate plans. Rate Simulator: Allows customers to simulate how their energy costs may be reduced under other eligible rate plans if they make changes to their energy use habits. Rate Comparison The Rate Comparison widget allows customers to see a comparison of their eligible rate plans. This widget compares the estimated annual costs for each rate plan and highlights the cheapest rate for the customer, which includes: Lowest Cost Plan: Customers can compare their current rate plan to another rate plan they are eligible for. This comparison shows the customer at a glance which plan is their cheapest option. The name and key details of each plan are provided, along with a link to view additional details about a specific rate plan using the Rate Details widget. Change Your Rate Plan: A call-to-action for customers to change their rate is provided, which directs customers to a website location where they can change their rate plan. Alternatively, utilities can provide a phone number that their customers can call to change their rate plans. Rate Costs Simulator Call-to-Action: A message is displayed to customers prompting them to see how changes in their energy use habits could lower their costs for varying rate plans. A link is provided that sends the customer to the Rate Simulator widget. Compare All Rate Plans: All rate plans a customer is eligible for are displayed to the customer, which includes highlights of the rate plan, estimated annual cost, and a link that sends the customer to the rate details information. The rate plans are sorted to list the least expensive rate plan listed at the top and the most expensive rate plan at the bottom. A customer's current rate plan and lowest cost rate plan are also highlighted. Legal disclaimers related to the information provided in the Rate Analysis Tool can also be provided in a footer at the bottom of the widget. Rate Details The Rate Details widget allows customers to view additional information on their eligible rate plans to better understand how a rate plan is structured and how their costs may vary throughout a year. The details provided for each rate include: 4

8 Rate Plan Title and Estimated Costs: The rate plan title (for example, "Time of Day") and estimated annual costs for the rate plan are provided. Annual costs are rounded to the nearest $5. Rate Plan Headline and Description: Descriptive information about the selected rate plan, which includes: A headline and general description that highlights how the plan works and why a customer would want to select the plan. A comparison between their current rate plan and the selected rate plan. The comparison includes bar graphs that display the costs of the rate plans for the customer. A link that directs the customer to a page where they can sign up for the rate plan. Costs Per Bill: The Costs Per Bill table displays the per-bill costs, rounded to the nearest dollar, for each bill period within the last calendar year. The customer's current rate and the selected rate are included in the table. The highest and lowest bills for each rate plan are highlighted in the table. The insight headline above the table displays the amount of the highest bill for the selected rate plan. The annual totals in the Costs Per Bill table are not expected to match the exact annual total costs in all cases. This is due to the Costs Per Bill table rounding to the nearest $1, while annual costs are rounded to the nearest $5. Change Your Rate Plan: A call-to-action for customers to change their rate is provided, which directs customers to a utility website location where they can change their rate plan. Alternatively, utilities can provide a phone number that their customers can call to change their rate plans. Additional Rate Content: Utilities can provide content for each available rate, including content such as FAQs, key details, rate structure explanations, and so on. Legal disclaimers related to the information provided in the Rate Analysis Tool can also be provided in a footer at the bottom of the widget. Rate Simulator The Rate Simulator prompts customers to answer a few short questions about how they might change their energy use. This is geared towards showing customers when other rate plans can provide reduced costs if the customer makes changes to their energy habits. A survey prompts customers to answer questions related to shifting energy use to avoid peak times, reducing energy use during peak events, and reducing overall energy use. Based on the customer's responses, their energy use data is transformed, reducing or shifting a certain percentage of their applicable energy use. 5

9 Customer responses are summarized in the Rate Comparison widget. The lowest cost plan is highlighted at the top, including a summary of the customer's responses to the survey. All rate plans a customer is eligible for are also displayed. Each rate plan includes the new estimated cost, along with the cost prior to completing the survey. The order of rate plans in the compare all rate plans section is updated to list the least expensive rate plan at the top to the most expensive rate plan at the bottom. Customers that navigate to the Rate Details widget are presented with the new estimated cost for the applicable rate plan, along with the cost prior to completing the survey. This includes updating the insight message that compares the customer's current rate plan to reflect the new difference between a customer's current rate plan and the selected rate plan. Customers can modify their responses at any time by using the links to update their answers or completely reset the simulator. Bill Comparison Rate Plan Change Insights Data Requirements and Limitations The customer must be billed monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly. The customer must have monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly reads. A customer must have two historical bills to compare energy use between bill periods. Billing data from the previous year's bill period is required for the year-over-year comparison. 100% coverage of billing data is required for the bill periods being compared. Weather data is required for the weather factor to appear. The customer must have a minimum of nine months of historical AMI usage data with 75% coverage in order to calculate customer-specific rather than utility-wide heating and cooling coefficients for the weather factor. Utilities with quarterly bills must send both energy use and cost data for the same billing period. (They cannot, for example, send monthly usage data and quarterly cost data.) There is no indication if a bill is estimated. Feature Overview The Bill Comparison allows customers to compare their last bill to their previous bill and to the corresponding bill from the same time period the previous year. 6

10 Comparisons for a higher or lower bill can include the most likely reason for the cost difference. Customers can view a list of reasons for the difference, along with the contribution of each reason to the overall change. By default, the Bill Comparison can display reasons such as bill duration, weather, taxes and fees, and more to describe utility bill cost differences. Rates Engagement includes additional reasons for cost difference related to the customer's rate plan. With Rates Engagement, the Bill Comparison can display the following additional reasons: Cost per Unit of Energy: Difference due to change in the cost of energy with the rate plan. Items can be listed for both seasonal and non-seasonal changes. This statement can only appear if rate plans have been modeled. Rate Plan Change: Difference due to changes in rate plans appears if the customer's rate plan is different for the two bills, and both rate plans have been modeled in the Rate Engine. The cost of the reference period's usage on the earlier rate plan is calculated and subtracted from the cost during the reference period on the actual rate plan to determine the difference due to rate plan change. Note that differences in prices between bills charged on the same rate plan are not called out separately. See the Oracle Utilities Opower Digital Self Service - Energy Management Cloud Service Product Overview for more details about the Bill Comparison. Bill Forecast Cost Insights Data Requirements and Limitations The utility must be able to deliver customer data to Oracle Utilities within 48 hours from the time of the last data read. The customer must have a year's worth of billing history to see how much they typically spend for a given bill period. If the customer does not have a year's worth of billing history, they are still shown their current and projected energy costs in the Bill Forecast. The customer must have AMI data going back to the beginning of the current billing cycle. Daily, hourly, or sub-hourly AMI data is required. By default, at least 75% of the possible reads for the current billing cycle are required to calculate the forecast. The customer must have a single service point. Multiple service points are not supported. 7

11 Feature Overview The Rates Engagement Bill Forecast uses rate modeling to show residential AMI customers their energy cost so far in the billing period, projected total energy cost for the period, and typical energy cost for the period based on their past energy use. The forecast informs customers before the end of the billing cycle if they are likely to have high energy costs compared to the same time period the previous year. The Rates Engagement Bill Forecast differs from the Bill Forecast included by default with Digital Self Service. The Digital Self Service Bill Forecast provides the same functionality as the Rates Engagement Bill Forecast, while displaying energy use instead of energy cost. This is because rate modeling is required to display energy cost information. See the Oracle Utilities Opower Digital Self Service - Energy Management Cloud Service Product Overview for more details about the Bill Forecast. Data Browser Energy Costs Graph Data Requirements and Limitations The customer must be billed monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly. The customer must have sub-hourly, hourly, daily, monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly reads. The customer must have a minimum of one historical bill to view energy use by bill. A minimum of one historical bill which includes at least one day of historical AMI data is required to view daily or hourly energy costs. Daily energy use can be displayed in 15 or 30-minute intervals for all customers with sub-hourly read data. When viewed on smaller screens such as for mobile devices, the responsive design displays hourly intervals to account for reduced screen space. By default, the amounts shown are charges for energy use only. They do not include taxes or fees, so they will not match the customer's bill. Feature Overview The Data Browser is an interactive tool that allows customers to visualize and explore their energy use trends and costs, and make comparisons to useful benchmarks, such as weather and similar homes. 8

12 By default, the Data Browser includes an Energy Use graph and an Energy Costs graph. With the Rates Engagement Cloud Service, customers with AMI data can view their energy costs at daily and sub-daily intervals in the Energy Costs graph. The display of energy costs can be modified to reflect a customer's rate plan. For customers with applicable rate plans such as tiered rates or time-of-use rates, the Energy Costs graph is color-coded to allow customers to better understand their bill charges and rates over time. See the Oracle Utilities Opower Digital Self Service - Energy Management Cloud Service Product Overview for more information about the default features of the Data Browser. Rate Education Reports Rate Education Reports are print or communications that notify and inform customers of rate changes, encourage customers to opt in to a new rate, or provide other information specific to rates. Requirements and Limitations Channel Fees Utilities may purchase a channel fee if they are using any printed rate education communications as part of the Oracle Utilities Opower program. Channels fees are used to add on report generation, printing, mailing, and postage services to a cloud service. There are two types of options: General Availability and Controlled Availability channel fees. The type that is relevant depends on the individual Oracle Utilities Opower program setup. Coordinate with your sales representative if you need help determining which type applies. A summary of the fees is shown below. For more details about what each channel fee includes and the requirements for using them, see the Oracle Utilities Opower Channel Fees Cloud Services document in the online Oracle Utilities Platform documentation library. General Availability Channel Fees The General Availability channel fees are applicable if the utility has a version of the cloud service that includes report generation. These channel fees can be purchased for different regions. Report Printing and Mailing: The Report Printing and Mailing channel fee includes the printing of generated report communications through an approved third-party print 9

13 vendor, as well as services for the proper mailing of the reports. It does not include postage for mailing the reports to customers. Postage for Print and Mail: The Postage for Print and Mail channel fee includes postage for the delivery of print communications. Note: The postage channel fee cannot be purchased alone. It must be purchased in combination with the printing and mailing channel. Controlled Availability The Controlled Availability channel fees are applicable if the utility has a version of the cloud service that does not include report generation. A utility may only choose one of the channel fees listed below. Report Generation: The Report Generation channel fee includes generating a digital version of print communications. It does not include the printing and mailing of print communications. Report Generation and Print: The Report Generation and Print channel fee includes the generation and printing of print communications. It does not include the mailing of print communications. Report Generation, Print, and Mail: The Report Generation, Print and Mail channel fee includes the generation, printing, and mailing of print communications. Utility Data Requirements and Limitations Languages: Not all languages and locales are supported at this time. Contact your Oracle Utilities Sales Representative to confirm that Rate Education Reports are available in your market. Report Limit: Up to two Rate Education Reports are included in the 12 month contract period in Rates Engagement. Supported Clients: Oracle Utilities supports clients that may be native to a specific device, for example the installed client on the iphone 6, as well as client applications that may be accessed from any device or computer, for example Gmail.com. Oracle Utilities supports the following clients to view Rate Education Reports: iphone internal client ipad internal client Apple Mail 10

14 Android internal client Microsoft Outlook Outlook.com Yahoo! Mail Gmail.com For clients that support multiple versions operating at the same time (for example, Apple ios6 on iphone5 or Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2012, and 2013), Oracle Utilities generally supports the most current major release as well as a number of previous major releases. For clients that only provide a single version (for example, Gmail.com), Oracle Utilities supports the currently available version. Other clients are not officially supported or tested by Oracle Utilities. Customers viewing Rate Education Reports on unsupported devices or applications may see user experience variations in their reports. Customer Service Limitation: Rate Education Reports are not currently available for Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) to view in the Customer Service Interface (CSI). Customer Data Requirements and Limitations Historical Billing Data: The customer must have 12 months of historical billing data. Billing Data: Customer billing data must date back to the beginning of the current billing cycle. Customer Address: The customer must provide a current address to receive Rate Education Reports. Customer Experience Rate Education Reports are print or communications that notify and inform customers of rate changes, encourage customers to opt in to a new rate, or provide other information specific to rates. Rate Education Reports provide this content in separate modules of information. Modules are separable pieces of content that communicate some type of relevant and engaging information to the customer. All Rate Education Reports contain customer information including customer name, service address, and account number. Additionally, Rate Education Reports may contain modules that provide the following types of information: Rate Analysis Information: A customer-specific analysis of projected savings by opting in to a new rate plan. For example, the projected annual or monthly cost for the 11

15 current rate as compared to the projected annual or monthly cost for the new rate. Rate Plan Details: Information about the new rate plan such as the season start and end dates, peak hours, and the number of days during the season affected by the rate plan. Custom Tips: Custom tips can be added to provide information about how customers can save energy on a new rate plan. For example, customers may be able to reduce their energy use during peak hours to receive lower cost energy bills under a new rate plan. Additional custom Rate Education Report modules may be available. Contact Oracle Utilities to discuss additional options. Print Rate Education Reports Print Rate Education Reports are two pages of content that consist of modules. When printed out, Rate Education Reports are a single sheet of paper, with content on the front and back. The following describes the main components that appear in all print Rate Education Reports. Header The header appears in the top section of the front of every Rate Education Report. The purpose of the header is to provide customer information and to introduce the report. The header contains the customer address box, utility return address box with utility logo, customer account information, and introductory paragraph that explains the purpose of the report. The mailing and return addresses are placed so as to show through the two windows in the envelope. The right side of the header contains introductory information and a call to action. An additional message and small illustration may appear below this content. Rate Education Modules A variety of other modules are available to provide rate education information. Contact Oracle Utilities to discuss these options. 12

16 Footer The footer appears at the bottom of the back page of the report. The footer includes optional legal text, utility customer service contact information, utility logo, and Oracle Utilities copyright information. Rate Education Reports Rate Education Reports provide the same modularized content as the corresponding print report. Content is delivered directly in the message with no attachments. This makes it more convenient for customers to quickly view the information, and it makes the s less likely to be blocked by spam filters. The following components appear in all Rate Education Reports. Other modules appear depending upon the visual design of the report as determined by Oracle Utilities and the utility. Subject Line The subject line is used to engage the customer and brand the communication. The subject line varies based on the content of the Rate Education Report and is determined by Oracle Utilities and the utility. Header The Rate Education Report header contains the following content: Logo: A logo provided by the utility. This is the same logo used in the Energy Efficiency Web Portal - Classic. Utility account number: Since the account number is required to register on the Energy Efficiency Web Portal - Classic, having the number on the report provides a useful reference for customers. Part of the account number is obscured by default. Rate Education Modules A variety of other modules are available to provide rate education information. Contact Oracle Utilities to discuss these options. 13

17 Footer The Rate Education Report footer contains the following content: Unsubscribe: A link to a page where customers can unsubscribe from Rate Education Reports. An unsubscribe link must appear due to CAN-SPAM regulations in the US and similar regulations abroad. The URL the unsubscribe link points to cannot be customized. Unsubscribing from Rate Education Reports in this manner unsubscribes the customer from all Oracle Utilities Opower communications. This action is permanent. A customer cannot opt in again after opting out of Rate Education Reports s. Address: The utility's mailing address. The mailing address must appear due to CAN- SPAM regulations in the US and similar regulations abroad. Disclaimer: An optional disclaimer that can be added at the request of the utility. Legal text: The copyright and any other legal text required by the utility or Oracle Utilities. Delivery Delivery options vary by the channel fee purchased by the utility. For either print or reports, Rate Education Reports are often delivered before a new rate plan is available to customers. For programs that include both and paper reports, Rate Education Reports are usually generated during the same week as the corresponding print reports. Oracle Utilities will work with you to determine the best print and Rate Education Report delivery schedule for your program. For Rate Education Reports, Oracle Utilities coordinates with a third-party platform. This platform provides Oracle Utilities with information on send, bounces, opens, opt-outs, unsubscribes, and click-throughs. 14