Making Utility Ads Fun and Memorable
You may not recognize the name of Professor Nathaniel Burke. But I’m pretty sure you’ve seen him and know who he is. And that tells us a lot about the future of utility advertising. Prof. Burke is not a utility mascot. He doesn’t teach at an Ivy League university. And I’m pretty sure he knows […]
Is Long Island Power Authority the Worst Utility in America?
Scoring only 552 out of a possible 1,000 points in a recent JD Power & Associates customer satisfaction survey, Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) finished in last place among 126 U.S. major utility companies. The score represents a 30 point drop from last year. Major storms, including Hurricane Irene, led to the company’s failure to […]
BGE Cautions Its Customers of Imposters Posing as Utility Employees
Recent power outages in the Baltimore area have led to a rash of imposters claiming to be utility company employees who have been stealing money and other valuables from homeowners. Baltimore Gas and Electric’s vice president and chief customer officer, Jeannette Mills, reminds customers that they won’t be receiving a personal visit from the company […]
Getting Strategic
Executives attending the Spring 2012 EnergyBiz Leadership Forum in Washington participated in an informal roundtable conversation concerning the challenges facing their industry. Topics covered the benefits and resulting challenges of new technology, including smart meters and self-healing networks, issues regarding Environmental Protection Agency regulations, the movement from a coal to a nuclear generation, and diversification […]
The Wise Way to Regulate Gas Drilling
“Cooperative federalism” is the way to approach the environmental laws surrounding the production of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing, says former White House counselor for energy and climate change, Jody Freeman. Noting that Congress in 2005 exempted the fracturing process from the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for emissions of greenhouse and toxic gases, Freeman says […]
PG&E Provides Top-to-Bottom Look At Natural Gas Safety Actions
The New York Times reports on Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) recent overview of company safety and reliability efforts for its natural gas pipelines. The Gas Safety Plan is a comprehensive plan which includes sections on a “safety first” culture, training of PG&E’s workforce in real world scenarios, new hiring estimates, and the company’s […]
Who’s On Top—Shareholders or Stakeholders?
A recent Washington Post article on the presidential race rekindled a long-simmering “shareholder vs. stakeholder” debate. How should profit-seeking businesses parcel out their time, energy, and money among competing constituencies like investors, employees, customers (including regulators), communities, suppliers and the like? Utility communicators, no less than presidential candidates, have decidedly different views about which group […]
Vermont Becomes 1st State to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing
Although Vermont contains little or no natural oil or gas beneath its surface, Governor Peter Shumlin recently banned the natural gas drilling technique known as fracking. Saying “drinking water will be more valuable than oil or natural gas” in coming years, the ban is a symbolic statement that Shumlin hopes will serve as a model […]
