Jersey Electricity app upgraded to give customers greater control of their energy costs

COP26 has put climate change to the forefront of everyone’s minds and with winter round the corner saving energy has never been more important. So, Jersey Electricity is urging more Islanders to start using its free app My JE which has just launched in an upgraded format that can be used on desktop devices for those who don’t have a smart phone, and which includes a new forecasting feature to predict future usage.

More than 11,000 Islanders are already using the app to help manage and reduce usage and the forecast feature offers even greater opportunity to save.

The app uses algorithms to predict customers’ future electricity consumption based on their past and current usage. It can prepare customers for the size of their quarterly bill before it arrives or show if their Direct Debit payments are keeping pace with their consumption. If not, customers can make payment adjustments early or reduce consumption.

Using data collected from Smart Meters, My JE has so far helped customers track their consumption and budget for electricity in between quarterly bills by showing how much electricity they are using in cash as well as kWhs (units), day by day or week by week. It also allows customers to set weekly or monthly consumption targets.

The new daily forecasting feature estimates how much electricity customers are likely to use in the current month based on an algorithm that tests and evaluates thousands of combinations of data points based on:

• Energy usage in the last few days
• Energy usage in the last few weeks
• Weekly patterns in the last few months
• Energy usage during the same period in previous years
• Average outside temperature

Monthly forecasting predicts how energy consumption is likely to change during the next 12 months. For example, if you recently started to charge an EV at home.

Werner Bornman, JE’s Director of Technology said: “Power utilities are increasingly becoming digital businesses, offering energy intelligence as a service and Jersey Electricity is at the forefront of this transformation.

“This is the next of several phases of the app’s expected development. Working with our own in-house billing provider, Jendev, and Swedish partners Eliq, the next step is to develop the app’s functionality to embrace multi-meter customers, including those taking advantage of our Buy Back Tariff, Pay As You Go customers and our three-phase customers.”

JE CEO Chris Ambler said: “Our Vision is to inspire a zero-carbon future. Energy efficiency and technology will have a big part to play on this journey. My JE is one of several projects to put customers at the heart of Jersey’s energy system and give them more control over their usage and costs.”