Kentucky Energy Companies Support Better Customer Energy Choices | Enervee Blog

Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company recently announced that the LG&E and KU Marketplace is now online! These PPL operating companies are the first in Kentucky and the first in the nation to launch a purely market-based Enervee Choice Engine platform.

By providing a one-stop-shop for those looking for energy-smart buys on a wide range of consumer product categories, Enervee’s newest utility partners are confident their customers will benefit from the actionable energy efficiency information provided by the online platform.

“Our customers and consumers are smart and want to make informed decisions that save them dollars and help to minimize their energy use,” said LG&E and KU Vice President-Customer Services Beth McFarland. “Doing this kind of research and comparison can be really time-consuming. This tool takes some of the work out of that process and empowers them with the information they need as they consider the best products to help power their lives.”

The LG&E and KU Marketplace spans 25 consumer product categories, from household appliances to water heaters. Features highly valued by consumers include:

• A zero to 100 energy efficiency index, the Enervee Score, which offers a visual, intuitive guide to the best products;
• Personalized energy bill (YOUSAVE) and total cost of ownership (CLEARCOST) estimates that help understand the financial implications of product choices;
• Tools to find the best deals and simplify the shopping journey, including aggregating prices from all major retailers, enabling price drop alerts on favorite products and providing direct links to product pages at the customer’s preferred retailer, where purchases can be made.

Enervee has previously documented that new sources of data, rendered visible and actionable to consumers via online choice engines, can overcome market barriers, false interpretations of the ENERGY STAR label and powerful lay theories (such as the presumption that efficient products necessarily cost more, or that all high-end products are efficient) to close the gap between market and economic potential – without incentives. And we’re thrilled that the concept of “market-based savings” is gaining traction in the utility sector.

“Those who have never worked with LG&E and KU might be surprised that utilities without any state regulatory mandate to save energy would lead the pack with this type of innovation, but we know better”, said Enervee’s CEO and Co-Founder, Matthias Kurwig. “Our newest utility partners believe in the power of efficient markets to drive private investment into more efficient choices, and we’re thrilled to bring this innovation to their combined 1.3 million customers in Kentucky and Virginia.”

Next week, LG&E and KU will be expanding the offering to the vehicle category, with the launch of the Enervee Cars Choice Engine.