As customers look to improve energy efficiency in their homes and businesses try to reduce energy costs, more utilities are recrafting their websites to provide relevant information to their customers and to the electrical contractors that may perform energy-efficiency work for them.


One example is Clark Public Utilities in Clark County, Wash., which introduced a new website in April.


“More and more customers prefer to find information and manage their accounts online, and we wanted the website to make that as easy as possible,” said Erica Erland, corporate communications manager for Clark Public Utilities. “We used years of data and industry research to put the content our customers look for online right where it can be found quickly and easily.”


The new site features, among other things, free home energy calculators that help customers identify opportunities for energy savings. By answering a few questions, customers can then use the site’s interactive calculators to determine where their “energy dollars” are going, and which changes or improvement projects will add up the quickest over time.


The site also includes information about the utility’s numerous energy-efficiency rebate and loan programs.


It also features a contractor directory, which makes it more convenient for customers to locate and contact contractors participating in the utility’s contractor network.


For customers getting involved in energy efficiency and improvement projects, the site’s new Building & Remodeling page provides a “first stop” for information from new or upgraded electric service, all the way through energy-efficiency upgrades. 


Based on early feedback from customers and contractors that partner with the utility, the Building & Remodeling section makes it easy for customers to determine the best direction. In addition, the page features one-touch access to technical handbooks and project diagrams that may be of use to electrical contractors that are working on these projects for customers.