NB Power is relying on homeowners not wanting to be the biggest energy hogs on their block as the utility launches a new program that breaks down home energy use and compares it to other households in a neighbourhood.

The utility will randomly select 125,000 of its customers to receive a paper copy of their home energy reports. Others can go online, register by entering their bill number and then answer questions about their home.

In the end, participants will learn the amount of energy used by others in their neighbourhood and where most of their own electrical consumption goes — heating, lighting, hot water, appliances, or out the bottom of a badly insulated door.

NB Power's target is to get homeowners to reduce their energy consumption by three per cent through the program.

Anonymous information

Claire Morrison, shown with son Joachin, is participating in NB Power's new home energy report project. (Catherine Harrop/CBC) The information is anonymous, so participants won't be able to go to a neighbour, knock on the door and ask them what they're doing to get a better rating.

Because of that, Claire Morrison, who is participating in the program, doesn't think it will change things dramatically for her.

"It was nice to know I'm about as good as everyone else in the neighbourhood," said Morrison.

"There are a few houses doing quite a bit better, but they don't tell me anything about those houses, and one of the things I'd be very curious about is whether they are old houses, because I don't believe that these old houses can do much better.

"We could change our doors," admitted Morrison, who lives in a 53-year-old home in Fredericton with her family of six. "That would definitely be more efficient."

Participants get a rating of great, good or more than average, which means the customer is using more energy than they should.

Texas supplier

The program is supplied by OPower in Arlington, Texas, which bills itself as a " leading provider of customer engagement and energy efficiency cloud services to utilities."

The project will cost NB Power $1 million a year and the utility expects to continue with the project for three to five years.

NB Power's director of customer relations, Jill Doucett, said other jurisdictions have undertaken similar projects and saved more than they spent. In the long run, the utility wants to reduce the need and not build more capacity for energy production.

NB Power's Jill Doucett says the utility will spend $1 million a year on its home energy report project. (CBC) "We'll measure the consumption of those 125,000 customers, and in addition to that, we have a third-party independent evaluator who looks, evaluates, measures and verifies, that what we're claiming will in fact be true, so that we know we're spending our money wisely."

Efficiency Nova Scotia says its three-year pilot program led to a savings of 52.61 gigawatt hours, which is the equivalent of powering 5,261 homes for a year.

For the homeowner, the information is only as good as the information everyone supplies, according to Doucett. Otherwise, it is comparing apples to oranges.

One customer might have a bungalow and a neighbour might be in a two-storey house with a garage, a pool, and a wood stove.

The project is more about offering tips and tricks to save energy, as people fill in the survey about what they do and don't do, according to Doucett.