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Energy Communications Consultants: Selecting the Right One

Utility communicators find themselves in a difficult place these days—the need to communicate more frequently on a broader range of topics with critical stakeholders yet having fewer communications “resources” – i.e., less staff and fewer dollars.

Many utilities are turning to energy communications consultants to fill the gap between what needs to be done and what can be done with existing staff.

There are many energy communications consultants in the market – how do you select the right one for you? In my experience, these factors play a critical role:

1. Industry expertise: Utilities prefer to work with consultants who are experts in the utility business. If a communications consultant works on potato chips on Tuesday and computer chips on Thursday, why do you think they would have any useful insights about utility issues on Friday?

2. Cultural Fit: Clients and consultants need to interview each other to see if they would enjoy working together. What works for one client might not work for another client. During an interview, both sides should actively probe for “elephants in the room,” i.e., issues that are difficult or awkward. If you don’t surface these issues at the beginning, they will surface on their own down the road – when it is more difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to fix them.

3. Due Diligence: Like any important decision, you will need to invest time in identifying, selecting, and backgrounding a communications consultant. Whether it’s a strategic engagement or a specific deliverable, each side needs to do its due diligence. That requires time, phone calls, and possibly a site visit. Skimp on this and one of you will look back with remorse.

If you’ve made it this far, and you think I could help you, perhaps you’d like to review some of my energy communications work samples.

You may also want to know that for a limited time I am offering prospective clients a complimentary, confidential, energy communications consultation. I have found this is a great way for us to get to know each other better.

Lastly, if you’re not in the market for an energy communications consultant today, but would like to stay in touch, I invite you to sign up for free email updates on the EEC homepage.

Communications Breakdown: Xcel Energy’s Smart Grid Program

Will Poor Communications Destroy Xcel Energy’s Smart Grid Program?

Some utilities are having trouble implementing Smart Grid or Smart Meter projects that rely on customers changing the way they use energy. Reaching customers and getting them to consider changing their behavior requires a long-term, integrated, campaign that includes customer communications, media relations, and public relations, among other tools.

There are plenty of ways to do this right–and many ways to miss the boat. As a utility, your legacy precedes you: in many ways, it predetermines whether you will succeed or fail.

Pacific Gas & Electric is one utility that ran into trouble with its Smart Grid communications. Whether those problems have been fully resolved, as PG&E officials claim, only will become clear in time.

But another, higher profile clash has erupted over Xcel Energy’s Smart Grid program in Boulder, Colorado. Matters have deteriorated to the point where the City of Boulder is trying to municipalize Xcel Energy’s electric system in the city, in part because of the way the utility implemented its Smart Grid plan there. Losing Boulder as a customer would mean losing an annual revenue stream of about $100 million.

In talking with people who are participating in Xcel Energy’s “SmartGrid City” project in Boulder, I was struck by how often they said poor communications was the root of their frustration and anger.

When customers and other stakeholders don’t feel they have been communicated with honestly and completely, there can be startling, even fatal, consequences. Here I discuss some instances where utilities suffered after they lost sight of their customers and other stakeholders.

If you want to avoid repeating the communications difficulties associated with Xcel’s Smart Grid program, perhaps I can help. I have found the adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” particularly applicable to utility Smart Grid communications.

I offer prospective clients a complimentary, confidential, communications consultation, including an in-depth review of up to 10 pages of your Smart Grid/Smart Meter communications plan. I have found this is a great way for us to get to know each other better. Successful Smart Grid programs require a solid foundation of utility communications.

How NOT to Communicate with Utility Customers During Outages

“A live electric line just fell on a bus filled with senior citizens—what do you do?”

No, that wasn’t a line from Dennis Hopper in the movie, Speed. In fact, I was asked that question during an interview to become a spokesman at Salt River Project, a Phoenix-based electric and water utility.

I got the job, so I suppose I answered the question satisfactorily. That long-ago interview question surfaced as I read a New York Times about about how poorly some utilities were communicating with customers and elected officials about power restoration efforts in the wake of Hurricane Irene.

A week after Hurricane Irene dissipated, tens of thousands of homes and businesses in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey were still without power.

According to the Times article, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was “frustrated by the difficulty he encountered in getting some utilities to communicate.” Utility customers also were frustrated by a “lack of solid information about how long their plight would last.”

And what did Jeff Butler, president of Connecticut Light & Power, say when the bright lights of the news media were shining on him?  That the utility’s rates would have to increase to recover the estimated $75 million it was spending on power restoration.

Wow – talk about the wrong message to the wrong audience at precisely the wrong time … that was a real trifecta!

It’s too late for CL&P to benefit from my outage communication recommendations.  But I share them with you in the hope that they can prevent unnecessary pain and suffering the next time severe weather plunges your customers into darkness.

If he were my client, I would recommend Mr. Butler meet with work crews, customers, and elected officials wearing a logoed windbreaker and a hardhat. He would be photographed walking through darkened neighborhoods, meeting with customers, assuring them that crews were working diligently, 24/7, to get their power back on.

I also would recommend he “get his hands dirty” by helping hand out food, water, and supplies at local emergency stations. He’d be filmed meeting with employees and customers at outage sites, touring the damage and looking engaged with all of the utility’s stakeholders.  

When Mr. Butler stepped to the microphones, he would limit his comments to saying that CL&P is working around-the-clock to restore power in a safe manner. He would provide an estimate as to when the lights in a given neighborhood would be back on.

If pressed by reporters, as he would be, Mr. Butler would be counseled to say, “We’re not thinking about the costs of restoring power. That’s tomorrow’s issue. Today’s issue is safely restoring power as quickly as possible, so you can get on with your lives. That’s all we’re focused on.”

After stepping away from the microphones, he would provide emergency service officials with a check from CL&P to help pay for the costs associated with relief efforts. 

Because our 24/7 news cycle never ends, I would counsel Mr. Butler to go back into the field, interacting with customers and employees to continue fighting for control of the story.