Utility Analytics Lessons from AMI Data
Why This Matters
Across the utility industry, analytics teams are being asked to do more than report—they’re being asked to inform operational decisions that impact reliability, affordability, and the customer experience. As system complexity grows and margins tighten, utilities are increasingly looking to analytics not just for insight, but for action.
UAI Community Conversations exist to help analytics professionals make that leap faster by learning directly from one another’s real-world work—what worked, what didn’t, and what peers would approach differently next time. In a recent member-only session, a data science leader from a large utility in a fast-growing service territory walked the community through how advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) data and predictive modeling were used to strengthen a residential demand response program.
The result was a practitioner-led discussion that surfaced transferable lessons other utilities are actively grappling with.
The Operational Challenge
In regions experiencing rapid population growth and intensifying summer heat, even small errors in peak load forecasting can translate into hundreds of megawatts of unexpected demand. In this environment, residential demand response can serve as a flexible, dispatchable resource—helping utilities manage peak risk while avoiding more expensive operational alternatives.
The program discussed during the session focused on voluntary customer participation through smart thermostats. During designated summer events, enrolled thermostats are adjusted by the utility reducing system load when it is most constrained. Incentives are structured per device encouraging customer participation. Currently the utility has about 120MW of dispatchable energy at its disposal with this program and has a long term goal to increase that amount to 300 MW.
The Data Foundation: AMI as an Evidence Engine
At the core of the discussion was the use of 15-minute AMI interval data to quantify both participation and kWh savings at the event level. With granular interval data, analysts can construct detailed usage profiles for individual homes, define appropriate control windows outside of event periods, and compare usage during demand response events against expected baselines.
Participants discussed how this approach allows each event to be treated as a small natural experiment—supporting statistically grounded estimates of savings and enabling teams to distinguish true behavioral response from normal variability.
Features That Explain Impact (and Why They Matter)
Rather than focusing on a single model, the presenting team compared multiple analytical approaches and then simplified the findings to what consistently appeared to influence event outcomes. Community members explored how household-level attributes including device enrollment, home characteristics, usage patterns, rate structures, and energy efficiency indicators can influence demand response impact.
The discussion emphasized that not all impactful features are equally usable, leading to broader dialogue around feature availability, inference, and scalability.
Cost and Strategy: Framing the Tradeoffs
A central theme of the conversation was the tension between maximizing total demand response impact and managing program cost. Because incentives are typically structured on a per-device basis, participants discussed how certain customer characteristics can unintentionally increase cost per customer even as total energy savings rise.
Rather than prescribing a single strategy, the group focused on how analytics design must align with business intent—whether prioritizing cost efficiency, peak reduction, or a balance of both.
From Analysis to Action: What Members Explored Together
Throughout the session, members examined how analytical design choices influence downstream decisions, including event window definitions, participation measurement, and scoring limitations.
While detailed workflows were explored live, the overarching takeaway was clear: analytics delivers the most value when it is intentionally designed around operational goals rather than technical convenience.
The Human Workflow: Partnering With Program Teams
Members highlighted the importance of early alignment between analytics teams and program leadership. By grounding analytics work in program objectives, teams can move beyond a one-size-fits-all segmentation model toward more nuanced, outcome-driven strategies.
What Happens Inside a Community Conversation
This session exemplifies how UAI Community Conversations create value beyond what can be captured in a written summary. Members challenge assumptions, compare approaches, and share lessons learned from real implementations.
While this article highlights discussion themes, the detailed methodologies and peer-driven tradeoffs remain part of the member-only experience.
What Makes UAI Community Conversations Different
UAI Community Conversations are member-led, interactive, and grounded in real-world application. They are designed to shorten learning curves and help analytics teams make better decisions faster—together.
Join the Conversation
UAI brings together analytics professionals across utility ownership models, service types, and regions to exchange applied knowledge and advance the practice of utility analytics.
To learn more about UAI membership and how to participate in Community Conversations, visit: https://utilityanalytics.com/about-utility-analytics/.
About the Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
The Utility Analytics Institute is a community within Endeavor Business Media that supports utility analytics professionals through member-led conversations, events, recognition programs, and industry research.
About this summary
This summary was produced using generative AI, with human editorial oversight to ensure alignment with UAI content guidelines.
About the Author
Leslie Cook, Manager, Membership, Engagement & Training Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Leslie Cook is a strategic program director, dynamic business leader, and expert facilitator with 30 years of professional experience. Leslie’s peers describe her as a passionate, authentic, action-oriented leader with a goal driven attitude and enthusiasm for creating connections and collaborations. She excels at developing and managing frontline programs that position companies and their products for sustainable revenue growth and delivering customer-focused solutions that demonstrate product value, build long-term loyalty, and foster client engagement and retention. Cook’s background includes extensive work with associations and institutes in program development and management, marketing communications, event management, branding, and sales/new business development. She holds a BA in public relations from Texas Tech University and served in various program director and marketing roles for the Utility Analytics Institute (An Endeavor Business Media company), Financial Planning Association® (FPA®), HDI (an Informa company), and the Global Semiconductor Alliance (formerly Fabless Semiconductor Association). When she is not out facilitating cutting-edge programs or creating unforgettable member experiences, Leslie can be found traveling the world and also enjoying all that Colorado has to offer, from hiking, swimming, and outdoor excursions with her fur babies, to antiquing for the best mid-century modern finds and blown glass of all kinds. She also leverages her high attention to detail and project management skills when dabbling in home remodeling and interior design, two of her favorite pastimes.
