Direct Now Providing Texas Customers With Appliance-Level Monthly Cost Data

Direct Energy has begun offering the second phase of its Direct Your Energy bill enhancements, which, as previously reported, now include a break-down of monthly usage by appliance for Texas customers.

"Direct Energy can now provide a detailed account of a customer's energy usage. This means the total amount spent at the appliance level, such as air conditioning, will be shown. It is an innovative alternative to sending a bill with only the total usage in kilowatt hours, which is an abstract measurement for most consumers," the company said.

EnergyChoiceMatters.com understands that the appliance-level costs are determined by analyzing energy signatures in customer usage data, and are therefore educated estimates, and not actual appliance-level measurements. Updated: Direct Energy has confirmed that this is the case

Another new feature in the second phase of Direct Your Energy is a home comparison of a household's energy usage. This information relates a customer's usage compared to other homes within the same zip code with similar appliances, home amenities, and usage patterns.

Another feature, the Home Profile survey, gives customers the option of providing additional information on home amenities and appliances to help improve the accuracy of energy usage forecasting and email and alert personalization. The goal is to help a customer better understand not only how their overall energy usage compares in relation to other similar homes, but also to give insight into how much their appliances consume compared to appliances in homes of a similar size, the company said

Customers will also receive personal alerts and recommendations based on their usage behavior.

Previously launched features of Direct Your Energy includes a usage dashboard with comparisons to prior-month costs by the day, usage anomaly alerts, information on weather patterns, temperature set point overlays, and heat maps.

See Direct Your Energy for more