AI, AMI, TOU, and the Prophylactic Power of a Brand: EEC’s Best-Read Content of 2024
Whew! The 2024 election is finally behind us and we can get back to our day jobs as utility communicators and marketers. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of chatbots like ChatGPT, Scribe, and Bard, proved to be a topic of very high interest among readers this year. Beyond my own dispatches in EEC […]
A Strong Utility Brand Can Defeat Lies — Here’s How
Jim, my neighbor, was stealing catalytic converters. Sally, another neighbor, gave out poisoned candy for Halloween. And my son’s friend Ted was selling Oxy at local high school football games. So said posts in our neighborhood’s social media platform. All those posts were false. How did I know? Because I knew Jim, Sally, and Ted. […]
Five Tips to Put Some Zip in Your Employee Communications
Many utilities continue to struggle to find the single best way to communicate with employees. The employee communications challenges of a single-city municipal utility are, of course, different from a large multi-state one or even an international one. Here are five specific ways you can enliven the content and boost the readership of your employee […]
Banishing Buzzwords Like ESG
Credit: Bingo Baker Buzzwords are like plaque in your arteries: over time, they build up to the point where clear thinking, or arterial blood flow, is impeded. Left unchecked, buzzwords can kill clear thinking in the same way that plaque narrows arteries and constricts blood flow, leading to increased risks of heart attacks or strokes. […]
Non-Traditional Pricing Coming to a Tradition-Bound Utility Industry
I had just finished writing an article for a client on electric utilities investigating non-traditional utility pricing options when a notice arrived from my city-owned water utility: Too many people were watering their lawns during the peak period of 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, it said. “These spikes […]
Low-Cost, High-Impact Customer Energy Education
Focus groups can be so eye-opening. I’ve sat in on a few over the years. I’ll never forget the one where a residential customer pushed back against a facilitator’s question about electric usage in this way: “What’s usage got to do with my bill?” Effective Messaging Means Defeating the Curse of Knowledge Utility […]
The Lede: Crafting a Compelling Start to Your Story
“Hey Dad, don’t freak, but I just totaled my car.” — The first thing my son Jack said when he called to say he would be unable to visit us last year “You walked into the party like you were walking on to a yacht. Your hat dipped strategically below one eye Your […]
Nonverbal Communications: Eyes and Arms are More Important than Words!
I am job-coaching a talented young man who I will call Jim (not his real name and the image above is not him). Having gone through the preliminary stages of a job search, such as career exploration, resumes, and informational interviews, it was time to practice nonverbal communications. Like the fellow above, Jim did […]
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 […]
