April 22, 2020, marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, but many utilities have gone silent on the topic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But you don’t have to choose between the fight against the virus and the climate crisis, and utilities have the platform to create change for both. Now is the time to make or increase environmental commitments, promote the value of energy efficiency, and offer energy upgrades to businesses while their doors are closed.

Business customers of every size in every industry have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. And while no one knows what the economic future will look like, here are some things we can expect to be true:

Do you ever feel like you can’t keep up with how fast technology is changing? Like you’ve arrived late to the tech party? If so, I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone, and you’re not late. It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture and long-term trends. We have to stop and ask ourselves not just whether any given technology is ready for prime time, but if we’re ready for that technology.

Why would someone buy an electric vehicle (EV) instead of an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle that they’ve been accustomed to their entire life? Usually when people choose a new technology, it’s because the new tech’s form or function is superior to that of the incumbent technology. We buy a new TV because it has a clearer picture, a larger screen, or enhanced connectivity. We buy an Amazon Echo because it provides easier access to information, music, and smart home controls compared to our phones or computers.

Program administrators in the US and Canada spend nearly $7 billion per year on energy-efficiency programs. Approximately 30% of that money goes toward implementation and administration, and the remaining $5 billion is earmarked for incentives. Incentive programs, run by utilities, local governments, and state agencies, help make energy efficiency more affordable for customers. Administrators have been running incentive programs for decades, but they’re under renewed pressure to improve cost-effectiveness and achieve greater savings with smaller budgets.

Utility demand-side management (DSM) executives predict they’ll have less savings from their energy-efficiency programs in 2020 due to COVID-19. However, most utility savings goals haven’t changed. And it’s unclear how many will.

On May 14, we held an exchange exploring how utilities are adjusting their demand-side management (DSM) programs to support small and midsize businesses (SMBs) during this public health and economic crisis. Here’s what we learned from the event.

After Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd on May 25, 2020, protests on police brutality and racial discrimination broke out across the world. Since May 30, we’ve seen 21 utilities across the US and Canada issue public statements of support for the Black Lives Matter movement (figure 1):

Recent in-depth E Source market research has revealed some striking problems with consumers’ beliefs about electric vehicles (EVs) and how they get “fueled up.” People don’t have many misgivings about the cars themselves, but they have no idea how to charge them. The research starts to explain why people who drive 30 miles or fewer per day (more than 80% of all respondents) seem to think they need a battery that has 350 to 500 miles of range, and why they seem to be suffering from the mysterious affliction we call range anxiety.

Nearly 30% of all homes in the US now have at least one smart speaker, according to the 2019 Claritas Technology Behavior Track survey, making smart speakers one of the most quickly adopted consumer electronic devices. And we expect that percentage to increase as the pandemic continues. In fact, smart speaker usage has increased since the start of the outbreak, according to the April 2020 The Smart Audio Report by National Public Radio and Edison Research, a market research company.