GMP Offers Customers Extra Convenience with Amazon Alexa and is Among First Utilities in the Country Offering This Innovation
Customers Who Love Their Smart Speaker Can Now Use It to Manage Energy Use and More
COLCHESTER, Vt. – Green Mountain Power (GMP) customers can now track their own energy use and learn about GMP programs just by asking Alexa. GMP launched the Alexa skill so customers have another simple, convenient way to learn more about how they use energy so they can save money. Green Mountain power is obsessed with customers and delivering innovations that make their lives easier.
“Customers want solid information and this is a great new option that is super convenient for them,” said Steve Costello, vice president of customer care at GMP, who leads the team that fields more than a thousand calls every day from customers asking about everything from their energy use and monthly statements, to new programs GMP offers, to outage information. “The Green Mountain Power Alexa skill gives customers great information about our products and services like rebates on electric vehicles or heat pumps, along with information about energy use and their accounts. This provides another great option for customers, leveraging the latest technology to help them cut carbon and costs.” Options like Alexa are key to driving toward a home-, business- and community-based energy system.
GMP’s IT team designed the Green Mountain Power skill to provide a deep level of useful data for customers. Surveys have shown when customers have more information about how and when they use energy, they’re better able to manage energy use, which can help them reduce costs. The Green Mountain Power Alexa skill makes data just a simple question away anytime they want it.
“Voice services like Amazon Alexa are an emerging technology, and it is smart for an energy company to offer this to those customers who are early adopters, because it is yet another way to engage with them,” said Dr. Elaine Young, professor of digital marketing at the Robert P. Stiller School of Business at Champlain College. “A service business like GMP needs multiple channels to connect with all of its customers, and as Vermonters begin to use voice-activated technology, GMP can be on the forefront of exploring how these experiences can support their customer service.”
Customers don’t even need to own an Amazon smart speaker to get the convenience of the Green Mountain Power Alexa skill – by downloading the Amazon Alexa app, they can access it with their cellphones.
Learn more about the Green Mountain Power Alexa skill
About Green Mountain Power
Green Mountain Power (GMP) serves approximately 265,000 residential and business customers in Vermont and is partnering with them to improve lives and transform communities. GMP is focused on a new way of doing business to meet the needs of customers with integrated energy services that help people use less energy and save money, while continuing to generate clean, cost-effective and reliable power in Vermont. GMP earned a spot on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World list three years in a row (2017, 2018, 2019). GMP is the first utility in the world to get a B Corp certification, meeting rigorous social, environmental, accountability and transparency standards and committing to use business as a force for good. J.D. Power’s 2018 and 2019 rankings put GMP among top utilities for customer satisfaction. In 2019, GMP was named “One of the Best Places To Work in Vermont” by Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, and was the winner of the Deane C. Davis Outstanding Vermont Business of the Year Award.
Kristin Kelly, Green Mountain Power
(802) 318-0872
[email protected]