Some of the factors that might be at play, Opower said, could be larger families for Yahoo users, or the fact that Gmail users tend to travel more, leaving the household empty for stretches. But there was this as well: “Our own data also suggest that Gmail users may have a greater interest in energy-efficiency. Among the approximately 10 million U.S. households that have access to utility Web-based energy-efficiency advice tools that Opower manages, Gmail users are 30 percent more likely than Yahoo users to sign up for an in-depth analysis of how they can reduce their energy usage.”

image via Opower

So there’s something Yahoo users can do, rather than closing out their email account and jumping ship to Google.

By the way, the data crunching and analysis from Opower came on the company’s new blog, “Outlier,” and more insights into U.S. energy use are promised there and in two other sections: Opower Labs, featuring software development discussions from Opower’s engineering team; and, Our Thinking, with posts describing company initiatives and culture.

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