EPB
EPB partnered with Mercury to bring power usage, outage, billing info, and more to their loyal customers.
The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga (EPB) is one of America’s largest publicly owned electric power providers. Using a 100% fiber-optic network as its backbone, EPB built a next-generation electric system that includes communication capabilities designed to reduce the impact of power outages, improve response time, and give customers more control over their electric power usage.
After an RFP process, EPB chose Mercury to design and develop its MyEPB iOS and Android apps. They envisioned a product that would improve awareness of power outages and give customers more knowledge about their usage. With our deep experience creating complex native apps, we were ready to work with EPB’s API team to analyze their data, recommend what types of charts would be the most beneficial, and build out the app. Since the initial launch, we have worked with EPB to add features, fix bugs, and improve compatibility for OS updates and new devices.
- iOS Development
- Android Development
- UX Design
- UI Design
- QA & Testing
- User Research
- Project Management
OUR ROLE
- 5 People
TEAM
- By Request Since 2016
DURATION
Impact
We developed a best-in-class mobile app for EPB’s power customers that gives them access to real-time smart grid data about outages, energy use, and billing estimates. EPB customers can also view outage maps to see what areas are experiencing outages and where repairs are in progress. They can even opt to be notified when an unusual power usage pattern indicates that they might need to repair a home appliance, like hot water heater or HVAC.
Challenges
Utilizing flexible chart technology
To help speed up development time, we leveraged an existing charting solution as the origination point for chart presentation. The solution met our presentation needs and worked on both Android and iOS with minimal updates and improvements.
Protecting users during blackouts
Due to privacy concerns, we limited the outage map’s default zoom so that aspiring thieves couldn’t use the My EPB app to identify homes whose security systems might be offline.
Adding personality to usage charts
Utility apps aren’t typically fun or attractive, but we attempted to go beyond the norm by creating visually appealing on-brand charts. Our favorite is the Average Usage By Time Of Day chart that presents a daily 24‑hour heatmap-style chart showing the user when they tend to use the most electricity each day. We also brought character and personality to the app by presenting a randomized series of landmark images from EPB’s service area on the Home screen.
What people are saying
“This app is excellent. The hour/day/month breakdown of usage helps to pinpoint what might be using too much power and when. The outage map is broken down by areas and give a detailed count of how many users are affected.”
Scott Vandergriff
“Fantastic app from the ultra rare fanatic utility that is beloved by its community.”
Josh Gilliam
“Add this app to the long list of reasons I love EPB!!”
Ethan Leisinger