Ease the pressure

Although most of us will have felt the pinch due to recent hikes in energy prices, for some the spiraling costs are a tremendous hardship. Reliant Energy, which supplies 1.8 million customers in Texas and Mid-Atlantic region, is taking the lead in helping those customers hardest hit. The company has a number of programs to aid residential customers, qualified low-income seniors, and other low-income customers with electricity bill payment assistance.

Tracy Carmen-Jones, vice president of Reliant’s Community Marketing, keenly describes how some of these programs are benefiting their customers, beginning with its CARE program, which provides $300 in assistance for electricity bills for any customer. F unded by contributions from the corporation and customer donations, it is aimed at customers on a low income who are struggling with bills or for those who have experienced a setback such as a fire and are struggling financially as a consequence. “We have over $1 million in this program and we make it available across the state. It’s administered through 22 social service agencies, which have the responsibility for determining which customers are eligible and dispersing the funds.”

Getting disconnected is a major worry for customers on low incomes who often struggle to find the means to settle their bills. Unfortunately, it is often the most vulnerable in society, such as seniors, who face the worst hardships. Reliant’s disconnect moratorium program is one way that customers can mitigate some of the pressure. “If you are on a low income, you only have to pay a portion of your bill,” reassures Carmen-Jones. “The customer pays a portion of his or her bill until the end of September and then the remainder will be spread over a five-month payment plan. These programs are available on a voluntary basis and we’ve had a number of our customers participate in them.”

Beat the heat

One novel program introduced by Reliant brings people together through 10 community centers owned by the city of Houston. At these, people can come together while snacks, beverages, games and other entertainment are provided. Most importantly, a free taxi service is provided to get participants to and from the centers. “This gives people the opportunity to get out of the house during the heat of the day and to socialize with new people,” enthuses Carmen-Jones. “It gives them the opportunity to raise their thermostat or turn their electricity off if they choose to do so and ultimately to manage their bills.”

Twenty-eight 28 YMCAs participate in the program and feature monthly parties at eight of the centers. Each party has a theme. For example, the first had an Olympics focus, while another event was an ice cream social. The gatherings provide an opportunity for people to get to know Reliant better and understand the work the company does.

So far, the program has been very successful, with more than 3,000 people participating. Carmen-Jones recalls how people at first were a little hesitant to believe that the taxi service was free and the program worthwhile, but that these apprehensions have now disappeared. “Sometimes, you can offer something that’s a great program and is paid for, but people might not believe that it really works, so it’s taken us a little while to get them to embrace the program.”

Reliant also provides customers with bill-payment extensions of up to 21 days, and with deferred payment plans. This program is available to all customers regardless of income. The company also has competitive pricing plans which give customers some relief on their bills, and a service called average billing. This program enables customers with high summer payments to spread them throughout the year.

Low-income deposit

A customer is automatically eligible for the low-income deposit program if they meet the federal poverty guidelines or if they receive some kind of state program like Medicaid, Medicare or food stamps. The average deposit is about $275. “The way this works is if the customer puts up half of the amount required, Reliant will put up the other half,” explains Carmen-Jones. “They have to be a customer in good standing for 12 months thereafter. After that 12-month period, the half they put up gets reimbursed while the half we put up goes back into a fund to help someone else. We probably have about 18 agencies that participate in the low-income deposit program. What we find is a lot of people who may be interested in Reliant can’t afford to pay the deposit. This is a way of giving them some assistance and also being able to develop an opportunity for them to help some other people who may be in a similar situation.”

Reducing waste is a top priority for electricity producers and providers, hence the need to also drive the message home to customers. Every little effort counts, after all. A home efficiency improvement and education program that Reliant has introduced is the Powerhouse program, which Carmen-Jones describes as being like an ‘electricity home improvement program’. The company spends $2.3 million on this program and helps out around 900 of its low-income customers. Again Carmen-Jones recalls how it took a little while for the customers to be convinced that this was a free service intended to help customers become as efficient as possible.

The program includes a 20-25 minute seminar on energy efficiency and outlines what people can do to reduce their consumption and includes a couple of case studies on what other people have done. The program helps to advise people on how to weatherize their homes and about bill assistance. Some of the advice given includes improving attic insulation or caulking around doors and windows.

Part of the program that makes the greatest impact involves Reliant replacing equipment, such as more energy-efficient refrigerators or window air-conditioning units, and windows and doors if they are relatively porous, letting in hot air while allowing the air-conditioned air that customers pay for escape. Many of the homes in the company’s coverage areas were built in the 1930s and 1940s and are therefore not energy efficient.

Carmen-Jones recalls how the team picked seven neighborhoods that the mayor had designated as turn-around neighborhoods. “Houston Mayor Bill White wanted to see these neighborhoods revitalized with better housing and safer streets,” she explains. “We picked the neighborhoods that were already identified as low-income urban neighborhoods that he wanted to see transitioned. We have a team of people who go out twice a month to the community centers, and interact with the people there. This is when we do the seminars and the bill review sessions, as well as identify who’s eligible for home improvements.”

The company worked with a non-profit organization called Rebuilding Together Houston, which did the work while Reliant managed all the contractors to make sure the work was assessed and carried out properly.

Along with providing the vendor oversight for the Powerhouse program, the Rebuilding Together Houston (RTH) also has a volunteer repair program. The aim of the program is to provide home repair services for low-income, elderly and disabled Houston-area homeowners. “This involves giving a house an external facelift and might involve repairing, for instance, Hardie-plank (fiber cement) siding, adding a wheelchair ramp or even building a shed that people can use for water heaters. RTH has a long history of providing very good work and being well run, and we are delighted to be a part of their volunteer repair program as well as to use them for our Powerhouse program.”

Bill check

An additional element of the Powerhouse program deals with bill assistance. Many customers struggle to make sense of their bills. These sessions are a perfect opportunity for the company to provide an overview of its statements. “We sit down with our customers and help them understand how to read the bill and also what flexible plans are available for them.”

Every month, thousands of phone calls are received by the Reliant Call Center. The introduction of the program means that as more customers are kept informed, less will need to call to get the right information. As Carmen-Jones rightly highlights, “Most of the information they need is right on the bill.”

Maintaining strong relationships with customers is of paramount importance, now more than ever. After all, a poor experience can be the deciding factor for a customer to seek out a new provider. Often, electricity companies only interact with their customers monthly by mail when they receive their bills. Such little interaction between the customer and the electricity provider may lead to a strained relationship.

Wisely, Reliant has identified this as a common problem in the industry and is determined to ensure it perfects its own strategy, as Carmen-Jones explains: “Now that we’re in a deregulated market, and have been for the past six years, we really want to differentiate our electric company from our competitors. We have clearly tried to demonstrate what our brand stands for and be the face that people can rely on for their energy.

“It’s important for us to develop the relationships and maintain them in order to reinforce our brand image, proving that we really care about how people use electricity and that we’re interested in them consuming less, spending less and emitting less. That’s kind of a strange positioning for some electric companies, but we’re very delighted to have that positioning and it’s important for us to make it real for people on a day-to-day basis.”

Sidebar

Reliant Energy based in Houston, provides electricity and energy services to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. The company provides service to approximately 1.8 million retail electricity customers primarily in Texas, including residential and small business customers. Reliant also serves commercial, industrial, governmental and institutional customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

With more than 15,000 megawatts of power generation capacity, the company is one of the largest independent power producers in the nation. These strategically located generating assets use natural gas, fuel oil and coal. Tracy Carmen-Jones is vice president of Retail Community Marketing, Involvement and Association Development. She is responsible for working with organizations and community leaders to empower and enhance communities in Houston, DFW, Corpus Christi and other Texas areas served by Reliant Energy. Under her leadership, the team has created and implemented several programs including home weatherization upgrades, energy efficiency education, payment assistance and customer affinity programs. These programs and activities have made an impact on Reliant’s brand and have assisted Reliant in communicating the benefits of competition, demonstrating concern for communities and offering pricing plans and services to provide savings and security.