Opower brings its home energy management software to UK

Home energy management software company Opower plans to begin offering its program to customers of  First Utility, the UK’s largest independent domestic energy company.

The offering under the new partnership between the companies is Opower’s first implementation outside of the US and will be the first of its kind in Britain.

“We know that household budgets are under increasing pressure, and that energy bills are part of that,” said Mark Daeche, founder of First Utility.

The first British energy company to offer smart meters to all of its customers, First Utility plans to use the Opower software platform to translate its customers’ smart meter data into a range of new energy-saving tools, including reports that offer comparative consumption information and household-specific analysis of consumption patterns, access to an online portal with detailed usage information, and high bill alerts designed to help customers avoid excessive bills while they still have time to change their usage.

As the first large-scale, information-based energy efficiency program in the UK, Opower and First Utility intend to work in consultation with the government’s Behavioral Insights Team to assess the impact of this program to inform future smart-meter policy.