Utilities Best Practices

Pre-position the Restoration Workforce to Reduce Service Unavailability

Best Practice (Good)

Pre-position the utilities restoration workforce, at the first indication of a storm (which should include damage assessors and crews) to reduce the amount of time services are unavailable to consumers. The initial damage assessments should begin as soon as possible after a storm has passed and should be used to develop initial restoration time estimates.

Typical Practice (Bad)

Put damage repair crews on call during a storm and dispatch them only when the storm has passed the affected areas. Notify customers of expected restoration timeframes only as they call into the company's customer service center. It is the responsibility of the utility company's customers to stay informed of their service's restoration.

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Benefits:

For storms that are correctly predicted, pre-positioning of restoration crews can help reduce the initial damage assessment time by several hours, and shorten the service restoration time by hours or even days. This, in essence, decreases the overall damage repair cycle time and improves overall customer satisfaction. Use emails, social media platforms, and even automated calls to provide customers with the most up-to-date information concerning service downtimes and restoration information (this should include the reason for the downtime, expected restoration timeframes and information the customer can use to stay informed on the progress of their service's restoration).

Provide Detailed Energy Use and Efficiency Data to Improve Customer Experience

Best Practice (Good)

Provide all customers (retail and commercial) with detailed data (in a dashboard-style system accessed through the web) related to their energy usage and efficiency, at no additional cost, to be used in their own personal or commercial cost reduction initiatives. This allows customers to modify their energy use to fit their needs which improves overall customer satisfaction.

Typical Practice (Bad)

Charge high-value commercial and industrial customers an extra fee to use proprietary software dashboards and data export tools to collect and analyze information on their energy use and efficiency. This not only provides the utility company with added revenue, but it also limits access to sensitive information which can affect customer retention. These tools are typically not available to retail customers.

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Benefits:

Providing all customers (retail and commercial) with detailed data (typically in a dashboard-style system accessible through the web) related to their energy use and efficiency improves customer satisfaction by allowing customers to modify their energy use to meet personal or commercial cost reduction initiatives. This not only increases customer loyalty and retention, but it also allows utility companies to improve their overall energy distribution efficiency. Providing such data to customers, furthermore, fulfills mandates from regulators and environmental agencies related to energy efficiency and consumer education.