Watt It Takes: Opower's Dan Yates on the Origins of Behavioral Efficiency

<p>Dan Yates and his co-founder Alex Laskey built Opower, an efficiency company that saves more energy <a href="https://www.oracle.com/corporate/pressrelease/oracle-utilities-opower-101518.html" target="_blank">every year</a> than the hoover dam can generate. It was based on cutting-edge behavioral science -- but it wasn’t always clear how the science would play out.</p><p>“It wasn’t okay with us to just know that there was going to be a result. It had to be a certain level, otherwise it wasn’t economic. And in the first few months, the results came in and they weren’t changing behavior. The floor fell out from under me. I said, ‘oh my god, we have no idea if this is going to work.'”</p><p>Opower was founded in 2007 by Dan and Alex, two friends from Harvard. Dan knew software. Alex knew how to sell. And both of them wanted to build a company for environmental good.</p><p>Opower was based on a simple premise: send paper mailers to utility customers comparing their electricity use to their neighbors. If people saw they were doing poorly, they’d make changes. It worked.</p><p>Over time, Opower inked deals with the world’s biggest power companies and started processing vast amounts of smart meter data -- making it arguably the biggest energy efficiency success story in business. The company went public in 2014 and was sold to Oracle in 2016.</p><p>In this episode, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch talks with Dan about the science behind the idea, how Opower evolved and expanded, and why the company was eventually sold to Oracle.</p><p>Listen to all our past episodes of <em>Watt It Takes</em> <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/tag/watt-it-takes" target="_blank">here</a>. This series is normally recorded in front of a live audience. But we’re now recording the interviews remotely. See future events <a href="https://www.powerhouse.fund/wattittakes" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p><em>The Energy Gang is brought to you by Fluence, a global leader in battery-based energy storage technology and services. Fr