Culture: Your Utility’s Secret Sauce as the Market Evolves
Communicators tend to believe that effective communications can solve many, if not most, business challenges. Ineffective communications, on the other hand, are at the root of all sorts of business problems. Utility leaders can’t talk their way through the energy transition. They can’t convince customers that their power is on when they know […]
AMI: Be “Smart” About Advanced Meter Communications
I thought advanced, two-way, digital meters was a “been there, done that” thing for utilities until I caught up with a friend and colleague late last year at the annual Customer Connections Conference, sponsored by the American Public Power Association. Her utility was deploying smart meters for gas and electric service. Then I got home […]
Price Increases Call for a New Approach to Communications
There is a real crisis afoot in electricity prices: increases of 20% or more are being implemented by electricity companies across the country. This crisis offers utility marketers and communicators an opportunity to take a fresh look at the strategies and tactics they use to communicate price increases. Price Increases in 2024: Out with the […]
Generative AI, Unsupervised Children, and Utility Communications
I was having lunch with a prospective client recently when one of the principals turned to me and said, “So, you’re a writer. Are you worried about ChatGPT?” My mind reeled. My thinking has changed at least once daily over the last year or so since ChatGPT entered the market. Competitive threat? Tech time-suck? Potential […]
ANNUAL REPORTS, QUIET QUITTING, AND CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS: EEC’S BEST-READ CONTENT OF 2023
There goes another year! Because we’re communicators, we could call 2023 the year of ChatGPT. Don’t worry, this blog is not being written by a generative AI chatbot. But it is being written with good old-fashioned gratitude that we have stayed in touch this year via EEC’s blog. We truly appreciate your readership, your content […]
Utility Crisis Communications: Q&A with an Expert | Part 2
If you missed Part 1 of our interview on utility crisis communications in last month’s blog, you will want to check it out here. This month, we are continuing our conversation with veteran crisis communicator Tom Fladung of Hennes Communications. From wildfires in Hawaii to hurricanes in Florida, and sweltering heat, ice storms, boil-water notices, […]
Utility Crisis Communications: Q&A with an Expert | Part 1
From wildfires in Hawaii to hurricanes in Florida, and sweltering heat, ice storms, boil-water notices, tornadoes, and extended service outages everywhere in between, 2023 has provided many crises (or near crises) on which utility communicators must communicate. That’s why we sat down with Thomas Fladung (below), managing partner at Hennes Communications, a crisis communications firm, […]
Podcasts: The Next Step in Utility DIY Content
We are living in (or perhaps through?) a golden age of “do it yourself” (DIY) digital content. There are innumerable TikTok and YouTube personalities opining on, filming, and doing just about anything imaginable…
Quick Hits and Short Takes: Value, Culture, and Stories
It’s been an extremely rainy 2023 here in Denver: In the first six months of this year, we got more rain than we typically get in an average year. When I speak to my friends from the Pacific Northwest, I tell them we have had their weather and we’d like to send it back…
How Utilities Can Combat Quiet Quitting
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to recede into the rear-view mirror, a new management challenge — employees who are “quiet quitting” —– has emerged. It’s not entirely a new phenomenon: in earlier times, workers who performed at a minimally acceptable level were deemed to be “mailing it in.”..
