From retailers to academics to the media, many stakeholders have started pointing at insufficient infrastructure—namely, our overextended electricity distribution grid—as the main bottleneck to accelerated transportation electrification.

Season’s greetings and happy holidays from everyone at E Source! We want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support and wish you a healthy and happy new year.

We hope you get a chance to unplug, relax, and have some fun this season. To help get you started, we’re thrilled to share our 2021 virtual holiday card with you! Enjoy!

May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility. —Mary Anne Radmacher

When I joined E Source in 2010, one of my first responsibilities was to moderate a Forum session in collaboration with Michael Shepard, our president at the time. If my memory serves me correctly, Michael called our session something along the lines of “Electric vehicles: The 800-pound gorilla in the room.”

When it comes to increasing the adoption of residential electrification technologies, there are a couple things utilities can do to be successful. There is nothing more important than identifying the right customer segments to target. Get that right and you’ve got a solid foundation for your marketing plan. It’s also important to use messaging that will resonate with your target audiences. For example, using messaging that addresses customers’ motivations for and barriers to purchasing each technology will help them warm up to the idea of electrification.

Every year the E Source Women’s Group spearheads charity initiatives to support the community. While giving back is important all year-round, the winter holidays always bring a boosted spirit of giving. We’re proud to support organizations that work hard to improve the lives of others.

When I began my utility career nearly 40 years ago at NYSEG, an electric and natural gas subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc., I wasn’t trying to save the world. I was trying to put my business degree from the State University of New York at Albany to work. Stepping into a newly deregulating space—one as important as energy—seemed like a great place to get started.

Every year, the E Source Customer Energy Solutions team highlights the top 20 utility technologies and trends that caught our attention. This year had no shortage of new developments with utilities responding to major climate events and equity concerns with a sense of urgency.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion trainers often use the metaphor of an iceberg to teach participants how behavior is anchored to conscious and subconscious thoughts, beliefs, and experiences. Psychologist Sigmund Freud believed that the preconscious, existing just below the surface (like the mass of an iceberg, as explained in the article The Role of the Conscious Mind by Kendra Cherry), could influence conscious awareness and behavior—the small part of the iceberg above the waterline.

This week we’re introducing a new series to the E Source Blog. “Sustainable utility matters” will feature short interviews with subject-matter experts from E Source and other organizations. We’ll highlight industry trends and challenges utilities are facing. We believe that to become sustainable, utilities will need to take actions that drive decarbonization, provide reliable power, and serve all customers equitably—all while ensuring a strong bottom line.