The mission of the Low Income Energy Issues Forum (LIEIF), created in 2013, is to conduct research on utility bill affordability, share information, and identify solutions among a diverse group of professionals. We adopted this challenge statement:

Propose innovative and integrated policies and approaches that help close the widening gap between what vulnerable energy consumers can pay and their current utility bills.

Our membership consists of a unique group of professionals focused on energy affordability. The members work for utilities, state regulatory agencies, social service agencies, research institutes, consumer organizations, national associations, and other nonprofit organizations as well as creative, analytical, and software businesses.

The LIEIF annual meeting brings together utilities, state regulatory commissioners, and consumer advocates to work toward innovative and integrated policies and approaches that help low-income customers manage their utility bills. The meeting will take place at JEA’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. View the agenda (PDF).

Interested in learning more about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | January 2022 tech roundup (PDF)

The E Source tech roundup keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the world of efficiency, load management, electrification, and decarbonization technologies. In this interactive, rapid-fire webinar, we’ll discuss the technologies, concepts, and trends our tech researchers have followed over the past six months that have the most potential for utility pilots and programs. This is a must-attend event!

Topics include:

• The implications of Canadian Standards Association’s new system for testing and rating heat pumps
• Insulating cladding retrofits
• Utilities accelerate managed charging projects
• Hybrid space-heating controls in the residential sector in colder climates
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory load profiles for all US building stock
• Including variable speed air-conditioning in smart thermostat demand-response programs
• Commercial kitchen equipment refurbishment heats up
• Efficiency as a service (EaaS)
• Electric vehicle charging with the NeoCharge Smart Splitter
• UbiGro spectrum control for greenhouses

Speakers:

Luke Beckett, product strategist, Portfolio and New Product Strategy, E Source

Kenneth Darisaw, senior analyst, Customer Energy Solutions, E Source

Barend Dronkers, lead analyst, Customer Energy Solutions, E Source

Michael Hartnack, senior solutions director, Customer Energy Solutions, E Source

Miles Hayes, senior engineer, Customer Energy Solutions, E Source

Jesse Hitchcock, senior analyst, Customer Energy Solutions, E Source

Bryan Jungers, lead analyst, Customer Energy Solutions, E Source

Spencer Sator, senior consultant, Management Consulting, E Source

Amy Schmidt, senior analyst, Customer Energy Solutions, E Source

Jay Stein, senior fellow emeritus, E Source

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | Evolving your natural gas marketing with changing customer perceptions

Utility gas marketing and communications campaigns highlight the affordability and abundance of natural gas and explain how natural gas diversifies utilities’ energy portfolios to help them move toward renewable-energy sources and a clean-energy future. However, with an industry-wide push toward electrification and customer misconceptions around natural gas, it’s important for utilities to better understand customer perceptions around this fuel source to position themselves in the market with the right messaging.

This is an E Source exchange. It’s an online conversation where you can share ideas on specific topics with other utility professionals. In this exchange, we’ll bring together utility peers to discuss gas marketing and communications campaign best practices and strategies.

This exchange covers:

• Customer perceptions of various technologies, preferred fuel sources, attitudes around fuel-switching, and perceptions of natural gas from E Source market research studies
• Examples of recent gas and dual-fuel utility marketing and communications campaigns on brand, safety, and programs
• Peer discussion on the challenges of marketing gas programs or technologies, new messaging strategies, renewable natural gas offerings, and plans for 2022

Moderator:

Jessica Bailis, solution director, Marketing and Communications, E Source

Speakers:

Paige Martin, senior analyst, Market Research, E Source

Kyle Rodriguez, analyst, Customer Engagement Solutions, E Source

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | Results from the 2021 Account Management Assessment

Join us to explore the results of the E Source 2021 Account Management Assessment. We share the latest trends and strategies in account management across four categories: business customer experience and satisfaction, account management structure, business customer engagement, and account and sector planning. We talk about where the industry is headed, how account management should be evolving, and more.

This is an E Source exchange. It’s an online conversation where you can share ideas on specific topics with other utility professionals. In this exchange, we’ll bring together utility peers to reflect on the study’s results and discuss account management strategies.

This exchange covers:

• Customer experience for small and midsize businesses
• Digital engagement for small, midsize, and large business customers
• Customer experience across the organization and how business customers should be served
• How to enhance the service that key account managers provide to business customers

Speakers:

Eryc Eyl, senior solution director, E Source

Daniel Doutre, senior analyst, Market Research, E Source

Sarah Baker, analyst, Market Research, E Source

Who should attend:

Members of the E Source Account Management Service who are interested in account management trends, strategies, and customer satisfaction.

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | Battery market forecast to 2030

The battery market is a critical piece of our global energy future and it’s growing at an unprecedented rate.

The electrification of the transportation industry, the use of battery systems to transform the grid, and the “batterification” of almost every device we use all continue to spur this industry through a momentous growth phase. How does this affect utility programs and battery manufacturers’ production, investment decisions, and reliability? In our inaugural battery intelligence webinar, you’ll learn about the data behind these trends and the outlook for the coming year. Will the global manufacturing capacity shortages and raw material scarcity affect the availability of electric transportation and energy storage? Don’t miss this opportunity to hear hot-off-the-presses battery market insights and forecasts.

We’re pleased to enhance our advisory services with unparalleled battery expertise as a result of our acquisition of Cairn ERA. Cairn ERA is a global market intelligence and consulting firm specializing in battery storage. It provides clients throughout the battery and energy supply chain with a robust contextual understanding of the battery storage environment, competitive landscape, existing market dynamics, and technological disruptions. E Source will be bringing these insights to the market in the same actionable, approachable style you’re used to, with more forecasting and battery market insights to help our clients make data-driven decisions.

We cover:

• The growth trajectory of the battery market in 2021
• Drivers of growth
• Potential inhibitors for the stationary energy storage and mobile battery markets
• Forecast to 2030
• Implications for utilities, battery manufacturers, investors, and large energy users

Speakers:

Sam Jaffe, vice president, Battery Storage, E Source

Michael Carter, chief commercial officer and president, Research and Advisory, E Source

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | Results from the 2021 Business Customer Satisfaction Study

The results are in! We’re excited to share new insights and analysis from the E Source 2021 Business Customer Satisfaction Study. Through this study, utilities and account managers can better understand business customers. What do customers care about most? What makes them unique? What exactly do they need from their account manager? We’ll address these questions and more.

We conduct two separate surveys in this study, and we’ll share results from each: the Small and Midsize Business Customer Satisfaction Study and the Large Business Customer Satisfaction Study. From the discussion about these results, you’ll have a better understanding of how business customers’ needs and preferences are changing and what you and your utility can do to increase customer satisfaction.

This is an E Source exchange. It’s an online conversation where you can share ideas on specific topics with other utility professionals. In this exchange, we’ll bring together utility peers to discuss their approaches to business customer service and their reactions to the studies’ results.

This exchange covers:

• Satisfaction and value scores given by small, midsize, and large business customers
• Business customers’ perceptions of their utility, account managers, and other customer-support roles

Speakers:

Eryc Eyl, senior solution director, E Source

Dan Doutre, senior analyst, E Source

Sarah Baker, analyst, Market Research, E Source

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | Behavioral program persistence and commercial offerings

Join behavioral program managers from around the US and Canada to discuss the topics that matter most to you. Home energy report (HER) programs continue to dominate the behavioral space, and we explore the challenges facing new and established programs in this field. We also share the latest E Source research on HER persistence and talk about changing measure lives and commercial behavioral efforts. And we leave plenty of time for you and your peers to share experiences and ask questions.

Potential topics include:

• The latest on behavioral persistence and measure lives
• How behavioral and pay for performance can intersect
• Updates on commercial behavioral offerings

Through E Source exchanges, you can build a topic-specific network of utility professionals who can help you solve your biggest problems so you can do your best work. We encourage you to ask questions and share your experience during the event.

Moderator:

Beth Fitzjarrald, senior research manager, Customer Energy Solutions, E Source

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | The best ways to segment and reach your business customers (PDF)

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to serving business customers. But with a successful segmentation strategy, you can fine-tune your messaging, increase program participation, and improve customer satisfaction.

This is an E Source exchange. It’s an online conversation where you can share ideas on specific topics with other utility professionals. In this exchange, we’ll walk through best practices for segmenting small, midsize, and large commercial and industrial customers. Then we’ll host a discussion, giving you a chance to share your goals for segmentation and hear what’s worked for your peers.

This exchange covers:

• Why you need a segmentation strategy
• How to acquire and organize data for segmentation
• How to use segmentation to create targeted business marketing campaigns
• How data science can help with microsegmentation

Moderators:

Chad Garrett, managing director, Management Consulting, E Source

Tom Martin, managing director, Data Science, E Source

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | Using neuroscience to measure how customers respond to ads

Have you ever wondered how, why, or when a customer decides to make a purchase or participate in a program? We can help you find out. E Source is partnering with Immersion Neuroscience to understand how customers respond to energy-related communications. Through a customer’s own smart watch, Immersion’s personal insights platform measures how a person’s brain responds to content. Immersion predicts meaningful market behavior, like purchases, brand and product engagement, and message recall, with over 80% accuracy. In this webinar, E Source and an expert from Immersion Neuroscience will demonstrate the power of this innovative approach by highlighting insights from our recent electric vehicle (EV) ad testing study. Join us to learn which EV ads performed best and connected with customers.

We cover:

• Which EV ads performed best and connected most to customers—and who is receptive to different kinds of messages
• Which benefits of an EV program and service will be most exciting for different consumers
• How this research approach can help you save investments in programs or marketing you’re not certain will work by testing concepts before release

Speakers:

Laura Beavin-Yates, senior vice president of customer success, Immersion Neuroscience

Rachel Cooper, director, Market Research, E Source

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | Engaging customers through your website Findings from the E Source 2021 Website Benchmark

Customers are more often turning to utility websites to self-serve, especially in times when in-person contact channels are unavailable. Effective website design can help these customers do more online. In the E Source 2021 Website Benchmark, we reviewed 85 utility websites from across the US and Canada. This year, we’ve seen a big improvement in utility websites that serve residential customers. Join us to learn what we uncovered in our research.

This webinar covers:

• How utility websites are keeping up with ever-higher customer expectations
• The most commonly found options on utility websites
• How to improve your website—with inspiration from the best examples of utility web design

Speakers:

Cory Coggins, analyst, Market Research, E Source

Heather Hilgenkamp, PhD, manager, Market Research, E Source

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, link to download presentation slides, and event description.

Download the slides | Tactics to boost paperless billing enrollment and improve the billing experience

Increasing paperless billing has been a utility goal for years. Customers who were most likely to adopt paperless billing have already done so, and utilities need to address their organization’s goals with increasing sophistication and targeting to convert other segments. They need to be more intentional in designing a great digital billing experience to win over those who rely on bills to track their payments or who simply haven’t seen a compelling reason to switch. In this exchange, we’ll bring together utility peers to discuss recent successes with paperless billing programs and provide a venue to get advice on challenges or struggles you face.

Topics include

• Effective tactics for marketing paperless billing offerings and successful paperless billing campaigns
• Targeting paperless billing offerings to increasingly specific audiences
• Designing a great digital experience for those that enroll in paperless billing including website features and billing alerts

Through E Source exchanges, you can build a topic-specific network of utility professionals who can help you find solutions to your toughest challenges.

Moderators:

Eryc Eyl, senior solution director, Customer Experience, E Source

Jessica Bailis, solution director, Marketing and Communications, E Source

Questions about this event? Send us a message.

NOTE: This event has already taken place. See below for recording, event description, and link to download the presentation slides.

Download the slides | Brand storytelling on social media

Storytelling is a powerful method of engaging customers and the public. And social media is an effective channel in which you can tell those stories in a dynamic way. To stand out in the marketplace, you’ll need to deliver authentic, trustworthy, and compelling stories about your brand.

Social media strategies have evolved over the years, with changes to internal organizational structures and refined goals to tell brand stories better. In this peer exchange, which is exclusive to members of the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, we’ll discuss how to set your utility social media team up for success. And we’ll explore how to use social media to better communicate your utility’s stories and improve brand perception.

This exchange covers:

• Insights from the 2021 E Source Social Media Survey
• Social media trends from across the industry
• Examples of utility social media campaigns
• Goals and success metrics for social media programs
• Tips for creating strong storytelling

Through E Source exchanges, you can build a topic-specific network of utility professionals who can help you find solutions to your toughest challenges.

Moderator:

Jessica Bailis, solution director, Marketing and Communications, E Source

Who should attend:

Tennessee Valley Public Power Association utility members who are interested in brand storytelling on social media.

Questions about this event? Send us a message.