Customer Engagement

The Times, They are a-Changin'

A response to the May 2017 From the Editor by PUF Editor-in-Chief Steve Mitnick

A more active and informed citizenry, involved in plotting electricity's path forward, isn't a cold, hard truth. It's a good thing.

Value versus Cost

Legislators Need Context For A Rate Increase

Most public officials do not understand or consider risks associated with the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to the end user. Neither does the public at large. Lost or ignored is the fact that the health and welfare value of electricity far outweighs the slight increase in cost.

Reporting That Seeks to Empower

The Energy Action Project investigates why energy poverty exists, and who is doing what to address it.

Jointly developed by journalists and energy experts, The Energy Action Project (EnAct) aims to address two social issues: high levels of energy poverty and low levels of energy literacy, even in energy-rich areas.

Blockchain is Coming!

A Future of Distributed Ledgers

Blockchain is a distributed system of electronic ledgers that provide automatic, instant cross-verification of transactions. With it, bitcoin offered an unsurpassed degree of reliability. Perhaps you think utilities can just wait and adopt bitcoin or cyber-whatever later. But anticipation and precautionary actions are the best course in the face of uncertainty.

What Keeps You Awake at Night?

Energy and Telecom Oases and Deserts

I want to encourage the research and deployment of technologies that enhance human capabilities and quality of life. But our primary concern is to protect the most vulnerable customers from being excluded.

Perpetuating the California Dream

Leadership Lyceum Podcast: A conversation with Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro

Edison International is the publicly traded holding company for Southern California Edison, the regulated utility, and a small array of non-regulated investments, plus Edison Energy. At $11.5 billion in annual revenue, and serving 15 million customers, the company is one of the largest utilities in the country.

The Impact of Time-of-Use Rates in Ontario

TOU Shows Tangible Results

With the mass rollout of smart meters, the idea of default TOU rates is gaining traction. This article presents the load shifting and conservation impacts of TOU rates on residential electricity use in Ontario from their inception in 2009 through to the end of 2014.

Utility's Role in Electricity's Future, Part I

Utility Execs' Roundtable: We sat down with execs from seven utilities in the Northeast who help lead their companies on future strategies

Navigant and Public Utilities Fortnightly convened a roundtable of utility execs to peer into electricity's future, hosted by Con Edison at its historic Manhattan headquarters.

Smaller, Smarter, and by the way, Efficient!

EPRI Podcast: Smartphones pushed us into a more efficient world.

The smartphone ushered in an opportunity for a new era of energy efficiency. The challenge for grid planners is better understanding the market changes that are having an impact and that aren't related to DSM programs.