Small utility, big impact
Currently, there are nearly 2,000 municipal utilities (also known as public power utilities) across the United States. With their strong ties to the community, municipal utilities have myriad opportunities for building long-term customer satisfaction.
Recent data illustrates that municipal utilities are seeing an uptick in customer engagement. Questline Digital’s 2023 Energy Utility Benchmarks Report finds that municipal utilities achieved higher engagement with their email communications compared to other utility types, including investor-owned utilities (IOUs). In fact, municipal utilities experienced the highest overall click-through rate of all utility types at 3.4%.
For Elk River Municipal Utilities (ERMU), hyper-local initiatives have had a significant impact on customer engagement. The utility serves a population of about 28,000 customers (with 13,000 metered accounts) in Minnesota.
“I think the ability for Elk River to act locally allows customer engagement to come more naturally to us,” says Tony Mauren, Governance and Communications Manager at Elk River Municipal Utilities. “We have a clear market of people we serve, and we exist solely at their discretion. That’s why communicating our value to customers is a top priority.”
Out and about in the community
For municipal utilities, community involvement goes beyond sponsorships and brand recognition. ERMU recently hosted an open house event for Elk River residents to tour the new ERMU Field Services Building.
The event featured live demonstrations and building tours, giving customers a better understanding of what ERMU does and how the new building will support the community.
“In a smaller town, we don’t just sponsor events, we’re actually participating in them,” says Jenny Foss, Communications and Administrative Coordinator at Elk River Municipal Utilities. “We’re putting a face to our utility. It’s incredibly important that we’re out in the community and engaging with customers.”
Rochester Public Utilities (RPU), which serves over 57,000 electric customers and 41,000 water customers in Rochester, Minnesota, also makes community involvement a priority.
For the past 20 years, RPU has played a major role in the city’s annual Arbor Day Celebration in partnership with Rochester Parks and Recreation, Maier Tree & Lawn and Sargent’s Gardens. The festival is the perfect opportunity to educate customers on conservation and energy efficiency.
“Sustainability is a really big part of our community,” says Patty Hanson, Manager of Utility Programs & Services at Rochester Public Utilities. “The City of Rochester has a Sustainability and Resiliency Plan in place, and our utility has conservation programs and sustainability goals. We’re continuously out and about in the community meeting with our customers and trade allies to achieve these goals.”
Community collaborations
As part of the local city government, municipal utilities naturally have close relationships with various agencies and departments. These connections are great opportunities for collaborations to benefit the community and improve long-term customer satisfaction.
RPU partners with natural gas provider Minnesota Energy Resources on weatherization events at mobile home parks. They hand out LED lightbulbs and educate customers on conservation measures, how to read their energy and water bill, and more. During the Neighborhood Energy Challenge, RPU provided free attendance to the utility’s “Saving Energy 101” workshops, along with free energy audits to low-income customers.
“We sent out multilingual postcards in Spanish, Somalian and English to promote the event to low-income customers receiving financial assistance,” Hanson says. “We have a very diverse, multicultural base in Rochester.”
ERMU collaborated with the City of Elk River Housing and Redevelopment Authority and the Tri-County Action Program (Tri-CAP) to increase awareness of its Energy Assistance and Weatherization Assistance Programs for residents facing financial hardship.
Prior to the utility’s involvement, the city’s housing rehabilitation loan program had a zero-percent participation rate. ERMU’s Communications team created an educational direct mailer to reach customers who may qualify for the programs. The one-page factsheet provided a quick snapshot of available programs, eligibility requirements, how to apply and other valuable information.
Following the direct mailer send, the City of Elk River received 17 inquiries (with four households participating in the HRA program) in 2023. “We had a great response with the Home Improvement Resources direct mailer,” Foss says. “To date, this is the City’s most successful initiative for increasing awareness of the HRA loan program while simultaneously bringing attention to assistance available through Tri-CAP.”
Educating customers on public power
One of the biggest challenges for municipal utilities is explaining what they do, how they operate and the value they provide to customers.
For RPU, educating customers about their various programs, services and sustainability initiatives is a priority. For example, the utility runs entertaining commercials called Tips From Tony on the local TV station. RPU Communications Coordinator Tony Benson educates customers on utility programs and timely seasonal topics.
“We’re public power — we are owned by the people of Rochester,” Hanson says. “Engaging with our customers and educating them on what we can offer as a public power utility goes a long way to help us achieve our energy efficiency and sustainability goals.”
Municipal utilities may be smaller in size, but they have a tremendous impact on their communities. With their hyper-local focus, engaging with customers is a balance of education, community collaborations and impactful utility touchpoints.
“We don’t answer to stakeholders — we answer to the community,” Mauren says. “It’s vital to communicate this distinction so customers understand the benefits of public power. We regularly communicate the value of being a public power utility and why it’s something to be proud of and excited about.”
