LAKE COUNTY — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers can now share and compare their energy use with friends on Facebook with a new social energy application.
The app, created by Opower in partnership with Facebook and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), provides insight into individual energy use while fostering friendly competition.
To get started, PG&E customers can visit social.opower.com or search for the “Opower” app on Facebook and connect their utility account.
Customers who sign up will see how their home energy use compares to others with similar homes. As friends are invited and join in, people will then be able to engage in savings competitions.
PG&E customers with a SmartMeter and My Energy account can log onto pge.com/myenergy to view hourly electric data, gaining insight to further conserve energy.
“Many of our customers use social media to help them manage their daily lives, whether arranging a get-together or playing a social networked game,” Steve Malnight, vice president of customer energy solutions with PG&E, said. “With this new app we are excited to offer customers a fun and engaging place to talk about how they use energy and show their friends how saving energy can mean saving money.”
People can benchmark their home energy use against a national database of millions of homes. All benchmarking will be done on an aggregate level, ensuring customer data privacy.
