Duke Energy plans to help customers save (Charlotte)

If you’re a Duke Energy Carolinas residential customer, don’t be surprised if you receive a letter or e-mail in coming months informing you how much power your neighbors use.

Duke wants to find out whether providing customers with data about energy use for comparable homes in a region encourages those customers to save energy. The company is seeking regulatory approval for the new energy-efficiency program, which would initially gauge energy use for 25,000 customers in the Charlotte-based utility’s North Carolina territory.

Similar Duke pilot programs are under way in South Carolina and Ohio. The program gauges consumption only among residential customers, who are selected randomly. While the information Duke sends to participants describes energy use in their area — Charlotte customers will be measured against Charlotte use — no identifying customer details are disclosed. Duke proposes to run the N.C. pilot program for one year.

“We’re trying to understand whether having information changes customer behavior,” Duke spokeswoman Paige Layne says.

Jim Warren, executive director of utility watchdog group NC WARN, has doubts about whether Duke’s program will work. He says customers might even relax their conservation efforts if comparative data shows they are in the average range.

Read the full story in the Charlotte Business Journal/