“Managing the Utility Business in a Covid-19 World” – Webinar Featuring SDG&E, Puget Sound Energy, Avertra & ESC

The Utility 2030 Collaborative has announced today that is is offering a complimentary webinar where a blended panel of utility company representatives and industry vendors will discuss how utility companies are sustaining business operations, customer service, and employee safety against the backdrop of the Covid-19 virus. Scheduled for April 2, 2020 at 2:00 PM EST, attendees can register by clicking on https://www.utility2030.com/participate.

“At this point in the spread of the virus, there is a lot of talk about what utilities are doing to ensure consistent delivery of electricity, clean water and sewage services, like letting employees work from home and forgiving debt in the near term,” says Bashir Bseirani, CEO of Avertra, a Utility 2030 Collaborative Platinum Partner who will participate on the panel. “But there hasn’t been a lot of information released about ‘how’ they are doing it, and that’s what we want to talk about.”

Bseirani will be joined by panelists, James Riley, a Digital and Analytics Advisor for SDG&E, Theresa Burch, Manager of Customer Solutions, Billing and Payment for Puget Sound Energy, and RJ Kumar, CEO of ESC, who is also a Utility 2030 Collaborative Platinum Partner.

In addition to uncovering the “how” behind remote work models and debt forgiveness, the panelists will answer questions like:

• What measures are utilities taking to ensure that front-line workers, who can’t work from home, stay healthy and safe?
• What is the impact of the virus on planned or in progress technology procurements and how will this impact the economy, workforce planning, etc.?
• Now that consultants and vendors, who support critical utility operations are unable to travel, how are the rules of engagement changing?

“Travel bans are changing how technology consultants and product providers are supporting utilities,” says Kumar. “In order to continue keeping mission-critical systems running, and modernizing those that aren’t performing, we need to change our engagement models, and that hinges on having conversations like this.”

They will also address positive and lasting business changes coming from this adversity, something that people need to hear right now.

“Utilities are acting with agility and creativity to evolve business practices on the fly—something that is extremely difficult to do,” writes Vanessa Edmonds in the Energy Central article, “Utility Industry Workers—Providing Light During Covid-19.” “And they aren’t alone. Vendors are redirecting their employees from sales-based conversations towards empathetic outreach. They are having internal, heartfelt conversations about how to get useful information in front of their utility customers who need it to makecritical decisions.”

Edmonds, who is Chairperson for the Utility 2030 Collaborative, will moderate the session which will explore, in practical terms, how they are making this happen.

About the Utility 2030 Collaborative

Built by utilities for utilities, utility 2030 Collaborative is a community of utility executives addressing the challenges of the next decade through focused collaboration and the dissemination of information.

Participating in the collaborative starts with registeringfor its annual conference. Themed Envision U2030, it will be held in Orlando, November 17-18, 2020 or through a virtual platform if a travel ban is in effect at that time. In addition to the conference, participants receive invitations to virtual events throughout the year, original research and other useful content.

Tags: Collaborative, coronavirus, COVID-19, Customer solutions, PSE, SDG&E, Utilities, Utility business, Webinar