Apogee Interactive recently
collected and analyzed results from utilities using our outbound engagement platform for the first quarter. We are proud to announce that with approximately 2 million messages sent by IOUs, Co-ops, and Municipals, our Video Bill Explanation received click-through rates as high as 30%. Utilities sending Mid-Cycle Alerts saw open rates up to 50%.
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Over the past year, we’ve noticed our clients are a curious bunch, which is awesome. Identifying patterns is how we make a living, so compiling the most frequently asked questions was the most appropriate choice. Let our team here at GreatBlue Research give you a rundown of the most basic market research principles and how to use the results to improve your operations and customer service.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant implementation of social distancing directives, altered business processes, and new economic realities, community-owned utilities must review and address their technology infrastructure and cybersecurity measures.
Cyber-attacks remain a top business risk for all utilities and municipalities, increasing in frequency, severity, and sophistication. At the top of the cyber-attack list? Ransomware. The recent attack on the Colonial Pipeline is focusing heavy attention on the threat of ransomware on U.S. energy infrastructure. The bottom line: planning is everything. Learn the three best practices for preparing for a ransomware attack and how to create a detailed incident response plan that prevents paralysis should the worst happen.
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Environmental perils rank among the highest in Marsh’s Global Risks Report 2021, specifically extreme weather, failure to address climate change, and environmental damage from human activity. These perils can lead to expensive clean-up measures and tort liability. U.S. municipalities and their community-owned utilities should adapt their business model to these realities and include environmental insurance coverage in their risk transfer strategy.
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On June 1, 2021, Hometown Connections, Inc. (HCI) published a Request for Proposal (RFP) REF#: HCI_WAM_MWF_RFP_1925. HCI is soliciting proposals from qualified vendors offering software solutions that meet the identified requirements of community-owned utilities for Work and Asset Management and Mobile Workforce applications. HCI seeks to partner with the selected vendor(s) to provide these applications.
Front page headlines, consumer panic, political fallout, and a $5 million ransom paid. The attack on the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S. is focusing attention on the vulnerability of our energy infrastructure like never before. With people lining up at gas stations when facing only a few days of a shortage, imagine the reaction to the local electric grid being down for who knows how long. It’s beyond time for all municipalities and their utility departments to build out their cyber defenses.
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Picture this: you’re in a packed boardroom (via Zoom, of course), your palms are sweaty, your knees are weak, your arms are heavy. You’re nervous. You have a great idea to make your organization a lot of money, but you don’t have any data to back it up, so no one takes you seriously. As GreatBlue Research explains, the answer is to test your idea with randomly selected people who fit your targeting criteria. You’ll get the answers you need to move forward with confidence. No more guessing!
In the world of electric and natural gas rate design, the tariffs of the past and today will not work in the future. In a presentation entitled, The Rates…They Are A Changin’, Apogee Interactive‘s Joel Gilbert P.E. and The Brattle Group’s Ahmad Faruqui, Ph.D. Economics, explain how the old ways of designing rates are clashing with customer expectations.
For years the security community has viewed internal resources as presenting the greatest cyber risk to an entity. In 2021, shortly on the heels of the much-publicized SolarWinds breach, as well as many other supply chain/third party cyber breaches, it can be argued that supply chain/third parties now represent a greater cyber risk than insiders. This poses an extremely difficult problem to address given the number of third parties providing technology services to critical infrastructure entities and the nature of the services provided by the third parties. Acumen, a Hometown Connections cybersecurity partner, provides context and a 5-step process to address these risks.
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