This is not really true - I worked for the company that generates these reports. It's true that the default product is snail mail, but this has been shown to be highly effective at driving down consumption and is a net savings for the power company.

Further, the company in question does A/B test various ways of sending the report, including email-only to find the most cost-effective way to drive down consumption.

Finally, the neighbor selection criteria DOES account for empty homes and other demographics, where that information is available.