Heat, Light & Water Consulting

A boutique provider of consulting services to utilities and warranty companies.

Industry News

Cooperative Home Services Program set aside for now

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The Cooperative Home Services Program was suspended effective end of 2023 in agreement with AIG. The focus of the electric cooperative world is currently divided between two items: 1) the “golden triangle” of reliability, worker safety and rates, and 2) the mandates of federal government regarding broadband, decarbonization (mainly solar) and electric vehicle charging. This has left minimal room for value-added services that fall outside of these two areas.

Cooperatives who are interested in adding plug-and-play home repair value added services which align with the Cooperative Principles should contact Nick Alexander and, depending on the requirement and scale, a solution will be developed wherever possible. Should interest rise more generally, I will bring the Program back online.

New affinity agreement activity Q2 2017

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This is a summary of the new affinity relationships that have been agreed between utility systems and warranty providers in the last 3 months that I am aware of. A very short list!

Date of announcement Utility territory Number of Households, if known Warranty company Products
27-Jun-17 Evansville, IN 60,000 HomeServe USA Water lines
8-Jun-17 Helena, AR 4,000 Service Line Warranties of America Water lines
30-May-17 Yonkers, NY 60,000 American Water Resources Water lines

Additionally, SLWA published on April 10 a list of some 13 new relationships, however they looked to relate to prior periods.

HLW is engaged by Sears Holding Company

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HLW has been engaged by Sears Holding Company to provide consulting services to its highly successful and profitable warranty and repair division, Sears Home Services, based in Hoffman Estates, IL. Sears Home Services is America’s largest provider of residential product repair services and has relationships with 35 million households nationwide.

Homeowner Safety Valve announces 2 new home protection products

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As referenced in the February 23 posting, HLW Consulting has been partnering with Homeowner Safety Valve (‘HSV’), an affiliate of Aquarion Company, based in Bridgeport, CT.

Today HSV issued this press release announcing the commencement of marketing of a new In-Home Plumbing product, and also teeing up a forthcoming Water Heater Repair-Replace product. These products offer great value for money and real peace-of-mind to homeowners.

Huge congratulations to the HSV team (what a great group of dedicated customer-focused professionals)! To find out more about Homeowner Safety Valve visit safetyvalveplans.com

May 3 Homeowner Safety Valve Press Release

New Affinity agreement activity Q1 2017

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This is a summary of the new affinity relationships that have been agreed between utility systems and warranty providers in the last 3 months that I am aware of.

Date of announcement Utility territory Number of Households, if known Warranty company Products
28-Mar-17 West Virginia Water Authority 52,000 HomeServe USA Water lines
17-Mar-17 Williamsport Municipal Water Authority / Sanitary Authority HomeServe USA Water lines
14-Mar-17 City of Rushville, Indiana ServLine Water lines
14-Mar-17 Clayton County Water Authority 75,000 HomeServe USA Water lines
10-Mar-17 Del-Co Water Company 46,000 HomeServe USA Water lines
7-Mar-17 Hillsborough County, FL 166,000 American Water Resources Water lines
2-Mar-17 Washington County Service Authority, Abingdon VA 21,000 HomeServe USA Water lines
1-Mar-17 Niagara on the Lake, ON, Canada 11,000 Service Line Warranties of Canada Water lines
8-Feb-17 Moberly City, Mo Service Line Warranties of America Water lines
3-Feb-17 Gary Sanitation District, Indiana 24,000 HomeServe USA Sewer line
1-Feb-17 Town of Cumberland, RI Homeowner Safety Valve Water lines

The power of the positive testimonial…..

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It is really awesome to be reminded of the deep power of positive stories when happy customers relay their experiences to the media. Warranty programs have an amazing ability to positively impact the reputation of their parent utilities through the stories of residential emergencies being solved.

Case in point – this customer in Watertown, CT, was so impressed by the team at Homeowner Safety Valve, the program operated by Aquarion Company, that they went to their local newspaper with the story. Great positive publicity for Watertown Fire District, Aquarion Company and Homeowner Safety Valve. Well done team!

The article is available here: http://www.primepublishers.com/towntimesnews/opinion/letters_to_editor/grateful-for-fire-district-recommendation/article_3f53c31c-feb5-11e6-8510-4bab781587b0.html