Special CUB Conference Preview: What Do Customers Want?
Posted on September 29, 2016 by Janice Thompson
Tags, Conference & Events
Why does one newspaper article say that Oregonians want to reduce carbon emissions while a blog entry from another media outlet says that our state’s utility customers want low cost energy? Does it seem like internal conflicts occur between what Oregonians say they want from utilities and from energy policies?
Such conflicts are possible because different organizations are asking different kinds of questions about the energy sector and its future. In addition, customers have a growing array of choices in how they interact with utilities in terms of how they are billed, how they manage home energy efficiency, and what renewable energy options they want to support.
To help us make sense of all these dynamics, check out the early afternoon break-out panel, Read My Lips: What Do Customers Want? at CUB’s upcoming sixth annual policy conference, The Future Starts Now. Register here by Friday, September 30 to take advantage of Early Bird pricing!
Two panelists, Lauren Isaac and Lori Russell, are from two of Oregon’s major utilities, Portland General Electric and NW Natural respectively. Utilities conduct customer surveys to gather proactive input but also receive valuable information from customers through complaints or inquiries at call centers.
Another panelist, Thad Roth, leads the work of the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO) in offering services ranging from energy audits (with an online option) to help finding contractors for efficiency and renewable energy residential projects. ETO’s work is on behalf of several Oregon utilities and they also learn from and share information with their utility partners.
Our fourth panelist, Brad Reed, is with Renew Oregon, an advocacy group focused on good jobs, clean energy, and healthy communities. They envision a transition from polluting energy to an energy-efficient economy using climate friendly fuels. Renew Oregon frequently relies on information gathering methods seen in the political arena.
By inviting panelists from this range of organizations, the goal is to provide the conference audience with a well-rounded picture of the views of utility customers.
CUB will also be discussing results from our informal 2016 Consumer Survey, focused on a range of issues relating to customer choice and utility customer service. The survey closes on Friday September 30 (the same day as our Early Bird conference registration deadline!) If you have not already responded to the survey, please take a few minutes to give us your feedback!
This is the fifth installment in a blog series previewing the panels and other proceedings at the 2016 CUB Policy Conference. Check out previous blogs below, and stay tuned for our upcoming previews on the topics of Rate Design, and The Intersection of Energy and Transportation!
• The View From The Top: A Conversation With NW Utility CEOs
• The Final Frontier: Has SB 1547 Changed Everything?
• Californication: What Do ISOs And EIMs Have To Offer The Northwest?
• Inaugural Consumer Champion Award
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