ABSTRACT
Strategically, the electric utility industry must take control of its own destiny and mold customers’ perceptions: it must successfully educate customers about electricity’s value and the role it plays in their daily lives. Electricity’s value comes from its utility—the basic needs it fills, the tasks it performs, the services it renders. Commercial and industrial enterprises, including public institutions, are facing intense pressure to increase productivity and reduce operating costs without compromising quality of production or service. Electric utilities themselves face obstacles to serving as effective partners in this regard. Identifying and measuring the prime opportunities for electrification in a given service territory can be elusive. Utilities have needed to reconcile electrification strategies with mandated energy efficiency goals that are usually narrowly defined in terms of kilowatt-hour reductions. Finally, utilities that want to enhance electricity’s value must consciously do so—they must incorporate this goal into all of their planning processes.
