SCOTTSDALE , ARIZ. , Oct. 27, 2004 – The inaugural launch of the Chartwell and EL&P Project of the Year Awards attracted more than 55 entries from U.S. and Canadian utilities of all sizes and types. The annual awards recognize excellence in customer service and utility marketing.
“The award entries were of such a caliber that the judges' job was quite difficult,” says Dennis Smith, Chartwell's director of editorial and one of the judges. “We truly had a difficult time choosing the winners and runners-up, and would like to recognize and congratulate all the entrants for their hard work and great results.”
In the marketing category, the award honors the most creative, attractive and effective utility marketing efforts undertaken by electric and/or gas utilities in the last year. Project entries represent marketing projects/campaigns that communicate with customers, media, the general public or a utility's employees.
The 2004 marketing Project of the Year Award winner is Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), for its HomePower program launch/Tower Records campaign. HomePower is a subscription in-home electrical repair service. Thanks to an innovative, eye-catching theme and partnerships with local retailers and sports teams, HomePower's enrollment and market penetration goal was far surpassed.
Two runners-up in the marketing category were recognized:
- Terasen Gas was recognized for two separate entries. Its EnergyStar Heating System Upgrade – a program encouraging consumers to convert their inefficient heating system to high efficiency natural gas furnaces or boilers – was recognized for its innovative theme, related graphics, and partnerships. The campaign helped double the number of customer rebates paid. Terasen Gas also was recognized for its high quality home interest publication, HomesWest Magazine .
- Portland General Electric (PGE) was recognized for two separate entries. The utility's “We Do This Every Day” campaign uses interesting stories and features employees in everyday job settings doing what they do best – working hard, serving customers, keeping the lights on. Launched at a time when public perception of the utility was at an all-time low, the campaign proved very successful. PGE's other entry was an eye-catching print campaign – appealing in its simplicity – for renewable power.
In the customer service category, the award honors the most innovative customer service initiatives or application implementations. Project entries represent initiatives involving innovative management practices, call center technology implementations, or new CIS/CRM implementations or significant upgrades.
The 2004 customer service Project of the Year Award winner is Duke Power for its enhanced, interactive voice response project, which c reated a more positive IVR experience for customers. Before the improvements, only 39% of Duke's customers were served in the IVR. That number rose to 50% after the enhancements, and Duke officials expect to save $3.8 million annually and significantly reduce CSR-handled calls. Time to report an outage dropped from 70 seconds to 35 seconds after the IVR enhancements – an enviable improvement in customer service.
Two runners-up in the customer service category were named as well:
- Sacramento Municipal Utility District was honored for its Property Management Portal, a specialized Web portal for local residential property managers designed to improve customer service and decrease the number of complicated and costly calls to the contact center.
- DTE Energy earned kudos for mydteenergy.com, where customers can receive and pay their bills, enter meter readings, turn on, transfer or disconnect their utilities, make payment arrangements, view 18 months of billing history, compare their current usage against previous years, enroll in BudgetWise Billing, AutoPay and Home Protection Plus, or change their billing address and telephone number with a click of their mouse. Even brand new customers can make their first contact with DTE Energy on the Web and set up new service online. All of these transactions are fully automated and require no human intervention.
Winners and runners-up were recognized at Chartwell's 7th Annual International Energy Marketing and Customer Service Conference and Expo (EMACS) in Scottsdale , Ariz. , Oct. 26-29, 2004 .
Three editors from EL&P magazine and two editors from Chartwell Inc. made up the panel of judges. Judges Steve Brown, editor of Utility Automation & Engineering T&D and Electric Light & Power magazines, and Chartwell's Smith presented the awards.
Entries into the Chartwell and EL&P Project of the Year Awards
All the award entries deserve recognition. Each entry is listed below.
Marketing entries:
Alameda Power -- Connect Marketing Campaign
Arizona Public Service -- Annual Use Letter
Arizona Public Service -- Performance Built Homes
Chelan County -- CIS Communications campaign
Cinergy -- StrikeStop Campaign
Connexus Energy -- eBill
Entergy -- Residential ENSight
Exelon/ComEd -- Online programs
Jackson Energy Authority -- E-Guarantee Program
Knoxville Utilities Board -- Living Clean and Green
Lee County Elec. Co-op -- Tree trimming campaign
MidAmerican Energy -- Save Some Green
Nevada Power -- TOU and AC rebates
Portland General -- Renewable Power
Portland General -- We Do This Every Day
Southern Calif. Edison -- EnergySmart Thermostat
Salt River Project -- M-Power Project
Salt River Project -- Managed payment plan
Salt River Project -- Energy Saving Solutions
Salt River Project -- Plus!
Salt River Project -- SurePay
Salt River Project -- Earthwise Energy
Salt River Project -- Mowing Down Pollution
Salt River Project -- Hispanic Investment
SMUD -- Home Power Program Launch
Tacoma Power -- Powerline Newsletter
Terasen Gas -- 2003 EnergyStar Program
Terasen Gas --Homes West Magazine
Utah Power -- CoolKeeper
WE Energies -- Price Satisfaction Campaign
Customer Service entries:
Atlanta Gas Light -- Marketer Interface Automation
Alabama Power -- Automated Roster Callout system
Ameren -- eCustomer Initiative
Ameren -- Credit Scoring System
Arizona Public Service -- Landlord Services
Chelan County -- Conversion to a new CIS
Citizen's Gas & Coke -- Customer Satisfaction
Connexus Energy -- eBill
DTE -- IVR
DTE -- Customer self-service online
Duke -- Bill analysis tool
Duke -- IVR
Entergy -- Major accounts service
Exelon/ComEd -- Online programs
FirstEnergy -- Project Evolution
Kinder Morgan -- Proactive customer service tool
Lower Colorado River Authority -- DataSelect
Nashville Electric Service -- AMR Technology
NPPD -- Customer Web access
Progress Energy -- Event Prioritization
Questar -- CIS Implementation
SMUD -- Property Management Portal
SMUD -- Commercial Contact Management
Tacoma Power -- Business Systems Improvement (CIS)
TXU -- Builder Connect
Xcel -- Electric Reduction Savings Program
Xcel -- Peace CIS implementation and integration
