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...
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 o...
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’ customer...
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 adva...
The First Step to Getting Better Media Coverage
I recently wrote a series of articles on decarbonization for a new energy platform, EnergyTech, that caused me to get out of my utility lane and interact with corporate energy managers at commercial, industrial, and institutional organiz...
Buzzwords, Message Discipline, and Annual Reports: EEC’s Best-Read Content from 2021
Gifts for Energy Communicators: Our Best-Read Content from 2021 We’re winding down another year like no other. Nearly all of our workplaces, if not our lives, continue to be roiled by some aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many read...
Utility Communications and Marketing Tips from the Trenches
Roughly 60% of subscribers to EEC Perspectives are women, and many of them are in a relatively early stage of their careers. For that reason, we asked three women at NorthWestern Energy to share their views on skill sets and career paths...
Three Steps to Writing Better Annual Reports
Congratulations! You have won the departmental lottery and now get to write this year’s annual report. Don’t panic! When confronting the (potential) enormity of the task before you, remember the timeless advice shared by practitioner...
Utility Marketing: Are You Looking for Zebras in the Right Place?
Shortly after I launched Egan Energy Communications, I had the good fortune to work with a business coach. When I asked her how I could find prospective clients, a perennial concern of all businesses, she replied, “If you want to see Z...
Employee Engagement: Guest Blog on Ways to Improve It
Employee engagement continues to be a high-interest topic among our readers. As a more contagious and deadly variant of COVID-19 emerges, utilities and energy companies are trying to decide when office workers will return to the office, ...