Utilities take Community Outreach to the Next Level

From Coast to Coast, Public Power Utilities are Reaching Out to their Communities in Innovative Ways
No matter what size utility, community outreach is a vital part of what it means to be public power.

How does public power get the word out to their customers about energy efficiency? To find out, we contacted our friends on the far ends of the country.

Empowering Youth to Deliver the Conservation Message to Peers and Parents
We spoke to Steven Poncelet, the public information and conservation manager at Truckee Donner Public Utility District (TDPUD), in Northern California. His utility sought to inspire its 14,000 customers to use energy more efficiently by having youth-ambassadors spread the conservation message to their peers and parents. So, how did they motivate Truckee's schoolchildren quickly and cost-effectively, while at the same time providing educational value?

The answer, believe it or not, was a traveling fashion show... or "trashion" show to be more precise. Early this year, Steven learned about a local high school club called Envirolution. Together, they staged a fashion show, modeling outfits composed entirely of trash, while delivering low-cost, high-impact energy savings tools and a strong environmental message to all of Truckee' 1800 schoolchildren! This group was the perfect partner to distribute TDPUD's conservation kits, which included a 12-pack of CFLs, low-flow shower head, and faucet aerators, as well as instructions and information on other local programs that Truckee's residential customers could take advantage of.

The cost of the program averaged $30 per child with an estimated payback period of less than a year! An early indicator of program success was the flurry of press coverage and articles, along with elated phone calls to TDPUD from parents.

Reaching out to Low-Income Residents
Providing energy assistance to the low-income community is an important component of public power's customer services, but this customer segment can be hard to reach. Moving across the country to Florida, we spoke with Bill Shepherd, the business and energy services manager at Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU), which serves approximately 89,000 ratepayers. Bill described some of the difficulties inherent in gaining direct access to this customer segment and assuring that services are not duplicating other local efforts.

Three years ago, GRU brought together local groups including faith-based organizations, a university, the Gainseville Rebuilding Together affiliate and others with strong ties and solid reputations in the low-income community to discuss how to pool their efforts, resources and skills to provide cost-effective energy efficiency and weatherization services. From this effort was born the Community Weatherization Coalition (CWC). GRU leadership in the initial coordination and underwriting of the group propelled CWC's growth into an independent initiative that while still receiving financial support from GRU (mostly in the form of energy savings tools for distribution) is utilizing volunteers and community grants to move toward a more self-sustaining model.

With its growing army of 42 volunteer energy surveyors, the CWC has served over 85 qualifying low-income households in the 18 months and is poised for rapid growth. The program typically identifies and installs an average of $300 worth of quick-and-easy energy saving measures, such as CFLs, door sweeps, and low-flow shower heads, while providing homeowners with information on how to save on their energy bills by changing their consumption habitats.

Common Lessons for Public Power
How did TDPUD and GRU's local outreach strategies compare? Well, they may be very different utilities in terms of their size and the makeup of the communities they serve, but they both recognized that working closely with local initiatives and organizations would help their utilities gain access to important customer segments and energy conservation opportunities.

The Takeaway
By pooling local resources and expertise in new and creative ways, utilities can reach more consumers, more effectively and with fewer resources.