Education
- MBA, Sustainable Management, Presidio Graduate School
- M. S, Mathematics, Michigan Technological University, MI, USA
- M.Sc., Statistics, University of Mumbai, India
- B.Sc., Statistics, University of Mumbai, India
Message
Across the United States and beyond, utilities big and small are setting ambitious goals and deadlines to be net-zero carbon emitters. Along with carbon capture and cap and trade, a strong upscaling of renewables and other distributed energy resources (DERs) is a key component of many potential pathways to achieve emissions targets. Internal drivers at the utility include a focus on saving considerable expense by shaving their cost to serve customers which includes metering, billing, payment, collections, and customer service. Finally, influenced by the anticipatory customer service and friction-free experience in other sectors such as retail, entertainment, and transportation, customer expectations of their grid and related services are evolving.
These forces place the customer at the center of a transformed grid – a grid that seeks to engage customers and asks them to adopt DERs and engage in related services like time-of-use rates, demand response, and direct load control. A grid that serves customers with value-added offers at low-costs that are competitive and comparable to alternatives while meeting evolving customer expectations.
Bio
Gomathi Sadhasivan is a guest lecturer in Customer Engagement for the Atkinson School's "Utility Management Certificate" program. Ms. Sadhasivan is Director - Customer Decision Sciences at DNV, where she works at the intersection of sustainability, energy efficiency, customer behavior, market research, and analytics. Her recent projects have focused on customer adoption of distributed energy resources, smart grid-enabled technologies and services, and behavioral program evaluations among others. She has led several studies that focus on underserved communities and customer segments such as low-income, seniors, and rural customers.
In her previous position as Assistant Director - Decision Sciences, at Opinion Research Corporation, she worked with clients from a host of industry verticals such as finance, telecom, pharmaceuticals, and automobiles. She brings informed perspectives to bear on effective customer engagement of energy customers from her work in these other competitive industries.
She served as the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) Research Committee Chair from 2015 to 2019 and led several pioneering national consumer studies in this role. She is currently on their Board of Directors.
Distinctions
Ms. Sadhasivan was awarded a certificate of recognition by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative for her thought leadership in consumer research in 2016.
Professional Affiliations
- Board Member, Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative
- Member, Association of Energy Services Professionals
Selected Publications and Presentations
Plugging into an electric future, Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference, November 2019
It takes a village: Influencing customer behavior through an ecosystem of actors, Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference, October 2018
Here comes the sun: Consumer adoption of solar and EVs, American Council for Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study, August 2018
Are buildings building resilience?, American Council for Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study, August 2018
Yeah, we’ve got that: Utility marketplaces as a vehicle for energy efficiency, American Council for Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study, August 2018
Click Here for Savings? Using Online Tools for Continuous Customer Engagement in Energy, Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference, October 2017
Does How You Pay Your Energy Bill Affect How Much You Pay for Your Energy Bill?, International Energy Program Evaluation Conference (IEPEC), August 2017
Design Learning from the Extremes? Exploring Energy Efficiency in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference, October 2016
Post-Mortem: Dissecting an Underperforming Behavior Program, American Council for Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study, August 2016
Cracking the Code: Energy efficiency insights from the overlooked commercial sector, AESP Spring Conference and Expo, May 2016
What Lies Beneath: The relationship between savings and customer engagement with behavioral program feedback mechanisms, Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference, December 2014
Get Out The Watt! Drawing Parallels with a GOTV Campaign and Influencing Behavior for Results in Energy Efficiency, International Energy Program Evaluation Conference (IEPEC), August 2013