New data on the cost of power outages for US businesses show that reported losses exceed $27 billion in the eight key market segments studied: Batch Manufacturing, Continuous Manufacturing, Financial Services/Digital Economy, Offices, Healthcare/Hospitals, Government/Education, Grocery/Food Stores, and Retail. Reported outage costs varied widely by sector—Batch Manufacturing reported the largest yearly losses at almost $150,000 per facility whereas Government/Education reported the lowest losses at about $5,000 per facility.

Photography, Audio, and Video Recording

The annual E Source Utility Ad Awards Contest is now open; entries are being accepted until May 6, 2016. For the eighth year in a row, E Source will be recognizing and rewarding creative excellence in utility advertising.

The essence of Customer-Side Management™ (CSM) is this: Utilities must place customers at the center of their business strategies, planning initiatives, and implementation efforts if they hope to remain relevant to future energy consumers. Want to learn more about CSM? Download DSM to CSM: Turning the Customer of the Future into a Future Customer (PDF).

E Source has selected 16 utilities as finalists in the 2016 E Source Utility Ad Awards Contest. The utility industry’s largest and most comprehensive advertising competition, the annual E Source Utility Ad Awards Contest is open to any electric or gas utility located in the US or Canada. Ads were submitted in nine categories, including residential and business print, outdoor, digital, radio, TV and video, social media, overall campaign for investor-owned utility, and overall campaign for non-investor-owned utility.

The finalists are:

At the 2016 E Source Forum in Denver, Colorado, E Source announced the winners of the 2016 Utility Ad Awards Contest. First and second place in the category of Best Overall Campaign for Non-Investor-Owned Utility went to OUC and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, respectively. Southern California Gas Co. earned first place in the category of Best Overall Campaign for Investor-Owned Utility and Idaho Power earned second place. The contest was open to electric and gas utilities in the US and Canada.

Customers who agree that their utility is supportive of solar energy are twice as likely as those who don’ share this view to give their electric provider an excellent rating.

You may ask yourself how this shakes out among various groups of residential customers. We found that while all customers who view their utility as solar-supportive report higher satisfaction with their provider, certain attributes rise above the fold.

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Utility spending on electric DSM has continued to increase through 2015, albeit at a slower pace than earlier in the decade. To meet these increasing goals, utilities are relying more on behavioral programs than on traditional custom and prescriptive programs. Check out our e-book for the details!

Download Growing Pains: How Utilities Are Meeting Increasing Efficiency Goals (PDF)

E Source is pleased to announce that utilities are making progress when it comes to designing websites that meet customers’ needs. They’re also using responsive design more in 2017 than they did in 2015, according to the recently completed E Source Review of North American Electric and Gas Company Residential Websites: 2017.

Conducted biennially since 2002, this study measures how well utility websites engage residential customers and assesses website improvements as they relate to customer needs. The top utility websites in North America belong to: