Rate Case Communications: Why This Time It’s Different
Natural gas prices are up sharply. Coal prices are also up. The long-term declines in costs to build renewable energy seem to have paused. Skilled craft labor is in short supply. Supply chain bottlenecks persist. Transformers have a three-year wait time. All of that means it’s time to activate your rate case communications plan, because […]
Media Relations 202: Have a Good Story
In a previous blog post, I drew on some recent work as a contract reporter to share two tips to help utility media relations representatives win better coverage by the news media: diligently answering messages left by the news media and making it extremely easy for reporters to find you. Those tips were so elementary […]
Public Speaking: 6 Tips, 6 Sins and 1 Golden Rule
I recently attended several in-person energy conferences, where I was able to see the best and worst of public speaking. Perhaps that’s been your experience as well? Recognizing that it’s easier to talk about giving a great speech than it is to deliver one, I have a few thoughts. I prefer to start at a […]
Promoting Energy Safety to Your Customers? How to Breathe Life into Your Marketing
When I began my career in energy journalism at The Energy Daily, my mentor and editor John McCaughey gave me a tip: “Your readers will die soon enough — try not to bore them to death!” Energy Safety: Good Copy and Provocative Art Can Save Lives That tip is particularly useful when writing […]
Three Steps, 15 Minutes and Presto — You’re on Your Way to Becoming a Better Writer!
The best writers never stop practicing their craft. For those of you interested in becoming a better writer, I can recommend three easy steps. Tomorrow morning, when you’re fresh and while you’re waiting for your coffee to cool down, I recommend you do these three simple things that will take you no more than 15 […]
Returning to the Office? Simple Tips for Better Employee Communications and Performance
As more of us shift from remote work to hybrid work schedules or even a full-on return to the office full time, it may take us a while to fully reconnect with colleagues — or even connect with new ones who were hired during the COVID-19 pandemic but whom you have not yet met face […]
Utility Media Relations: How Do Your Practices Compare?
If you’ve never worked in the news media, or in a utility media relations department, it may be hard to understand why some stories are covered and others are not. Utility leaders may think favorable news media coverage is nice but not necessary. In reality, it is indispensable, particularly as providers of electricity, natural gas, […]
Community Relations: Do the Right Thing, Then Talk About It
In Psalm 30, it is written, “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Thirty centuries later, in a distinctly secular pop song, Maureen McGovern sang: “There’s got to be a morning after, If we can hold on through the night. We have a chance to find the sunshine, Let’s keep […]
Quick Hits for Utilities: Boosting Trust, ESG, and Communications
People are exhausted — physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially — after spending two years in the COVID-19 pandemic. We don’t really need survey data to prove that, do we? And by “people,” I mean utilities’ customers, employees, and other stakeholders like investors, community leaders, and suppliers. So basically everyone. Despite Popular Exhaustion, People Still Trust […]
Career Advancement at Utilities: Tips for Women from Women
Roughly six in 10 subscribers to EEC Perspectives are women. Many of our most engaged readers are women. So we asked some female practitioners of utility communications and marketing to share their ideas on how women can succeed and advance in their chosen profession, based on their experience. And by hearing the unvarnished thoughts of […]
