Austin Utilities is hoping customers are willing to get social about their energy bills.

Austin Utilities announced this week that customers now have the ability to share and compare their energy use with friends on Facebook.

Austin Utilities has introduced a social energy application that provides savings opportunities, and provides a better sense of energy use while fostering friendly competition. To get started, customers should visit social.opower.com and connect their utility account.

People who sign up will start to see how their energy use compares to others, providing context for how efficient their home is. As friends join, people can participate in savings competitions. Organizations are also invited to establish pages to rally their memberships with group challenges.

“The Opower social application is an exciting opportunity to reach out to and engage our customers who utilize social networks. They’ll be able to compare, share and compete to save energy and money,” said Dave Thompson of Austin Utilities.