More energy, please: 80% of Singapore consumers think power providers should work harder

Only 29% think the price increases are justified.

Singapore consumers are navigating towards smarter homes, a survey by Accenture says, as the interest in connected-home products and services such as monitoring and control solutions is projected to rise from 6% to 68% in the next 5 years. This is putting pressure on energy providers to perform lest the customers abandon them for better service elsewhere.

Consumers believe smarter products will help reduce energy bills, increase comfort and convenience and enable remote control of home devices, the survey adds.

Consumer interest in digital enablement channels and tools also increased, but 1 in 3 respondents say that they experienced challenges when using these channels especially in terms of speed.

Here’s more from Accenture:

A significant majority (more than 80 percent) of customers said that they expect the same or better digital service from their energy providers as they do from online retailers, banks, phone and cable companies, and even government agencies.

“Many utilities still compare their service levels to other utilities, but our research shows that they need to look to other providers’ digital experiences. Energy providers need to take the hassle out of customer interactions and make them as simple, accessible and convenient as possible. This will become even more critical as connected-home solutions gain mass appeal,” says Greg Guthridge, managing director in Accenture’s utilities industry group.