Overview and Insights from
Recent Market Research
MRL Subcommittee Meeting
December 20, 2024
Research and Insights to Fuel Our Work
2 Ava Community
Energy
2x yearly survey to
measure brand health
(Existing territory +
San Joaquin County)
DCFC
Qualitative and
quantitative work to
shape DCFC GTM
Managed Charging
Pre-launch quant
survey to measure
brand awareness and
sentiment conducted
in September
DERMs
Focus Groups to
inform messaging and
program design
3 EV Charging Insights
• Audience: EV and PHEV drivers in our territory
• Sample: 400 total online surveys divided into
two demographically consistent sub-groups
• Split A: will receive standard
communications
• Split B: will receive “heavy”
communications
• Results in baseline reported in aggregate
4 Managed Charging: Baseline Study
Methodology Key Findings
• Awareness of Ava is low, but those who are
familiar hold broadly positive views of us
• After reading a short description, > ¾ of
respondents expressed favorable opinions of
CCAs; viewed Ava as a trustworthy provider of
an essential service
• Few respondent had heard of managed
charging before the survey; after learning
more, 4 in 5 reported a favorable opinion of it
• Statements about cost savings, environmental
benefits, and grid resiliency were most
motivating
• Strong positive response to the MC program
did not impact drivers’ perception of Ava
Q3-10. Next you will see a list of several organizations. Please indicate if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each one.
Ava Community Energy EV Driver Survey
DRAFT| 5
Energy Provider Favorable Ratings
While a majority of EV drivers aren’t able to form an opinion of Ava, those who have generally view Ava favorably.
PG&E carries significant unfavorable sentiments among drivers, and very few have heard of Optiwatt today.
Ava Community Energy EV Driver Survey| 20
3%
15%
82%
Heard a lot
Heard a little
Haven't heard
anything
Managed Charging Awareness
Few have heard of managed charging for electric vehicles. 18%
n=71
Never heard of
67%
Thinking about electric vehicle charging, have you heard or seen anything recently about “managed charging” of electric vehicles in [your] county? What is your opinion of “managed
charging” for electric vehicles?
“You could earn an extra
$225 a year when you
charge your EV at home”
“That they will vary your car's charging
time to when renewables are available”
“You can subscribe to a program that
will determine when you charge”
“Helps EV owners schedule
charging for non-peak times”
“That the EV will ask permission
from the utility to charge” Favorable: 26%
Somewhat: 17%
Strongly 9%
Unfavorable: 8%
Somewhat: 5%
Strongly 3%
9 7
• Learn about EV and EV charging knowledge and attitudes in our service territory, with a special focus on residents of MFH
• Understand perceptions of existing public charging options • Discover what aspects of the public charging experience are most important to customers, and if there are
differences among different customer types
• Validate network name
DCFC Research
Objectives
8 DCFC Research - October 2024
Key Findings
Cost is a key factor
9 As a NFP, we are expected to be less expensive
10 Public DCFC Feature Expectations
11 The Climate Beats Community, but Speed
and Availability Beat Them Both
12 13
DERMS
14 Methodology
• Four virtual focus groups were conducted on October 16th & 17th , 2024 via Zoom • Each group lasted 90 minutes and was conducted with Ava customers • Group 1: 10 solar customers who also own a battery
• Group 2: 9 solar customers who would consider purchasing a battery • Group 3: 8 non-solar customers
• Group 4: 10 solar owners (mixed battery and non-battery) • Participants were offered $150 for their time
15 Summary of Findings
DERMS program can be an incentive to drive
adoption of home batteries with a solar panel
system
Program messaging must highlight approximate
size of rebates and ability of customers to
retain some control of their energy
Being independent of the electrical grid is a key
driver for adding a home battery. DERMS
program must be perceived as preserving this
independence for the customer.
Key Finding Categories:
● Managing energy consumption
● Motivations for installing solar +
batteries
● DERMs Programs
● Brand awareness and trust
16 Home Electrification
Moving to solar, especially with a battery, drives
many homeowners to electrify their home
appliances
“I have a gas dryer, a gas water heater, and a gas stove. And so I was also thinking if I converted those to electric at any time in the near future, that would be another reason, because it's going to be the lack of gas and fear of a fire or a broken that would limit my possibilities. I don't think I use that much electricity. I was thinking I might have an electric powered car someday…” (Lyn)
Homeowners without solar tend to look first to their
hot water heater as the most effective way to
improve their overall energy efficiency
“The hot water heater for me. Well, I just have always been told that that takes up a lot of the energy, in addition the refrigerator.” (Deneen) I had PG&E come out and have a look at where most of my usage was coming from, which I mentioned earlier, it was around the hot water. So I have the tankless water heater and you can set the timer on it for when you want hot water to be available on demand, that's helpful.” (Neelam) Lyn clip
Group 4
58:55-59:18
17 Control Over the System
Giving up control of their system is a significant concern for homeowners. Specifically, they are worried about not having electricity when they need it.
• Most want to set a limit to the amount of battery that can be used
“I set my battery, it can go down to like 14% or something, and I see that it does go all the way down because evidently they're pulling, I get no kind of notification, but they're pulling energy from my battery.” (Mark, Solar w/ Battery)
Yeah, I mean it's basically to the point that if I buy a battery for backup purposes, I want to have the backup still in place. Otherwise what's the point? So that means I can, within reason based on my usage parameters and the size of the battery and all that, determine how much of the battery is, let's say, reserved for personal use or so. I mean, obviously if the grid is totally down then they can't draw anything through the grid from the battery. But for those situations where that's not the case, where the grid is still up and running, I still want to be able to have the backup in place for that and otherwise I would be fine with giving somebody control over the remainder of the battery if the conditions are clearly laid out beforehand.” (Johannes, Solar w/o Battery) • Being able to opt-out is equally important
“I think I'd also want to make sure that that option really is in the app for me to access so that if there was a power outage suddenly in my neighborhood, I could change that switch so that the next day I could have power that evening.” (Heather, Solar w/ Battery) “Adding maybe a control on top of that, that if there is a certain circumstance that I just don’t want even them to take any of my energy, I'd be able to hit that button and say no, for that period of time, like a day or two days or whatever it might be” (Neelam, No Solar) “And I think that's the key part of when you say have a third party manage it, are you allowing them to take power when they need it and you don't, or do you have some control over that? In other words, could you have it set that way? But then if you hear there's going to be a power outage, you turn that off.” (David, Solar w/o Battery)