Be Connected app energy advice trial

Our new Be Connected app feature

Behind the scenes at Bristol Energy, we've been working to provide our customers with personalised energy advice that will help you save money and reduce your carbon footprint.

We're running a trial of our new app feature which will offer increasingly useful advice that's specific and relevant to you as it learns about your usage.

Key facts about the trial

• The trial will start as soon as you join and run until Autumn 2022
• During the trial you’ll receive personalised energy saving advice
• You’ll be able to give feedback which will help improve this feature
• You’ll be able to opt out of the trial at any time

Can I join the trial?

You can join our trial if you are a Bristol Energy customer and have a 2nd generation (SMETS2) Smart meter. Just download the Be Connected app and answer a few questions to get started.

How does the new feature work?

We’ll use data from your smart meters and your home (based on what you tell us in the app about your home, heating and other appliances you use) to deliver personalised energy advice, helping you save energy, reduce your carbon footprint and cut your energy bills. The service will only be available to eligible customers who opt in.

The technology, which is developed by software company Eliq and draws on Centre for Sustainable Energy’s expertise, uses a self-learning algorithm to help select the most relevant advice for each home. The app is also able to adapt the style and tone of its messages using customer segmentation data, meaning customers get a more tailored and personalised service that relates to their home and lifestyle. The advice could range from informing you about appliances left on stand-by, through to how much carbon you could cut by switching your heating off when you are not at home.

Knowing exactly what needs to be done in your home to make it more energy efficient can be complicated and understanding the effect your behaviours have can be even more so. We’re using smart technology to provide personalised insight that is tailored to customers’ homes, their motivations and of course, their energy consumption. This app feature is the first of its kind and could transform behaviour around energy efficiency; helping us create healthier homes, a healthier planet and lower bills.

Bristol Energy’s mobile app already provides their customers with insight into their personal energy usage compared with similar homes, but the energy saving tips feature will take things one step further by drawing on latest research insights from behavioural science and energy analytics to create an industry leading digital energy advice service for UK homes. Smart meters are a crucial component on the UK’s journey towards becoming carbon neutral, enabling the decarbonisation of transport and heating.

Proving our new feature works

The UK government have part funded this trial and we are working with their appointed research partners, Ipsos MORI and the University College London (UCL) to independently verify the energy saving results.

Evidence from this evaluation will help to inform the development of future policy to support household energy efficiency.

You can find out more about these partners and the information we share with them in the app.

Do I have to take part?

Taking part in this trial is entirely voluntary – we hope lots of people do sign up as it will help us to understand whether our new energy saving advice feature is able to support UK homes to use less energy. Even if you sign-up now, you can withdraw your consent at any time without giving a reason.