How often have you woken up in the morning, stumbling in your half-asleep state to the bathroom only to realise that you’ve left the lights on throughout the night? Again?
It seems many of us do, because a new app jointly created by SP Services, the Energy Market Authority and the PUB is set to target just that. The app — called SP Services — has launched for a pilot period, and is available on iTunes and the Google Play Store to consumers who’ve signed up for an online SP utilities account. The pilot run will last from now till April, following which a nationwide release is expected.
The app will let users retrieve bills and payment information, check utility usage, as well as provide utility conservation tips. What’s pretty useful is also a ‘Home Utilities Audit’ section, where homeowners can check how much energy is used by each type of appliance. They’ll also be able to track usage over a six-month period, and set targets to reduce utility bills.
At first glance, the app seems like it could take off: it seems easy enough to understand and use, and who wouldn’t want to spend less on utilities, right? But goals to cut down on energy consumption are often very much like New Year’s resolutions: aspirational, forgettable, and ultimately abandoned within two weeks. It doesn’t help that switching appliances on and off are such instinctive actions that we don’t think twice about them.
So unless the app sends you alerts when your bill goes beyond a certain amount, or your monthly utility expenditure is so worrying that you conscientiously access the app to check on it, it doesn’t seem like it will make much of a dent in many Singaporeans’ energy consumption.
