The Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) announced the recipients of its 2019 Best Practices Awards today at the 2019 Consumer Symposium. The awards, now in their second year, highlight successful programs, products and strategies from electricity providers in five categories.

While electricity providers have made considerable investments in developing a smarter energy ecosystem, the Best Practices Awards aim to ensure that consumers are receiving tangible benefits from these energy innovations by showcasing success stories that can serve as examples to the industry at large.

After receiving many nominations throughout the fall of 2018, the award winners were selected by an independent advisory panel of 10 experts from a wide range of energy industry stakeholders.

The five winners of the 2019 Best Practices Awards are:

• Reliant has been awarded with the Smart Energy Innovation Award for their groundbreaking work around voice assistants for home energy management.
• Entergy has been awarded with the Culture Transformation Award for transitioning to a more customer-focused internal culture that’s more adept at meeting consumers’ needs.
• NB Power has been awarded with the Consumer Engagement Award for revitalizing their energy efficiency portfolio with a focus on achieving high customer engagement marks.
• AVANGRID has been awarded with the Underserved Markets Award for developing an energy efficiency program that effectively educates and engages lower-income consumers.
• Austin Energy has been awarded with the Consumer Education Award for its Austin Energy All-stars program that educates students, parents and teachers to build a more energy-conscious community.

More information on the five winning programs can be found in the 2019 Best Practices Guide, and a webinar featuring representatives of the five award winners will be held on Wednesday, March 6 at 1 p.m. (ET).