Mining water billing data to inform policy and communication strategies

Abstract

Every utility serves a unique customer base with its own water use and revenue generation patterns. Knowing its customers in detail helps a water provider customize policies and communication strategies not only for the customer base but also for smaller, targeted groups. This article introduces a relatively inexpensive way that utilities can use existing billing data to learn more about customer use patterns and applies this methodology at five North Carolina utilities. Developing smarter revenue and water use analytics that take into account changes in use behavior helps utilities be proactive in planning for resources changes (and the resulting financial implications) and be more effective in their communications and marketing. By moving away from engaging with residential customers as one homogeneous mass and instead treating them as groups of customers with distinct habits and values, utilities can use targeted messaging and outreach to bring customers on board with new policy rollouts.