Regardless of whether they live in an urban, suburban or rural area, U.S. consumers are largely aligned on their priorities when it comes to their electricity usage, according to a new paper from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC). About one-third of consumers in each geographic area stated that saving money on their electric bill is of the utmost importance and that electricity providers should prioritize keeping rates affordable.

The “Understanding the Influence of Geography on Consumer Values” paper is based on a nationwide survey conducted by The Harris Poll of 2,484 consumers with responsibility over their electric bills, which was then analyzed based on the density of the ZIP codes of the respondents. Urban areas were defined as having over 2,201 residences per square mile, while rural areas included fewer than 100 residences per square mile and suburban covered everything in between.

When asked about their electricity concerns, respondents were also aligned on their unease around rising electricity rates (88-89% of urban, suburban and rural consumers noted this), the resilience of the power grid (82-85%) and the reliability of the grid (79-81% of consumers in the three areas). Consumers also had similar levels of interest in demand response programs and preferences for how they receive information from their providers (bill, email and website).

While the new paper highlights many areas where consumers’ attitudes, interests and behaviors vary little regardless of urban, suburban or rural setting, urban dwellers, in general, tend to have stronger environmental attitudes, greater familiarity with and interest in technology, and more frequent engagement with their electricity providers. These attributes can make them better candidates for some energy efficiency and clean energy programs from their providers.

“We may assume that there are significant differences between consumers because they live in urban, suburban and rural areas. However, this new research shows that there are far more similarities than differences,” said SECC’s President & CEO Nathan Shannon. “Electricity providers and other stakeholders have opportunities to increase customer engagement and build long-term, meaningful relationships with all consumers – regardless of where they live.”

The “Understanding the Influence of Geography on Consumer Values” paper can be accessed here by member organizations and is available to the media on request. In addition, members can access the two previous papers in this series – “Building Trust and Awareness with Gen Z” and “Meeting the Needs of Low-Income Households” – at www.smartenergycc.org/research.