The sixth annual Best Practices Awards shine spotlight on innovative utility programs that are advancing energy equity and engagement

The Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) today announced the recipients of the 2023 Best Practices Awards at the 2023 Consumer Symposium, a one-day event that is hosted as part of DISTRIBUTECH International, the leading annual transmission and distribution event.

The Best Practices Awards, now in their sixth year, recognize leadership from electricity providers in the transition to a smarter, more consumer-focused energy ecosystem. The awards highlight programs, technologies and strategies that have demonstrated clear benefits for residential or small business utility customers.

Selected by an independent advisory panel of industry experts, the 2023 winners are:

• United Illuminating has been honored with the Smart Energy Innovation Award for empowering customers to engage in the clean energy transition by supporting the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and implementing the first EV managed charging program in Connecticut.
• SMUD has been honored with the Culture Transformation Award for developing the Community Impact Strategy, which takes a boots-on-the-ground approach to tackling issues in their community and ensuring that the goal of zero carbon by 2030 is being achieved equitably.
• Evergy has been honored with the Consumer Engagement Award for leveraging its new online Marketplace sub-platform, the Offer Center – in partnership with Uplight, to effectively reach income-eligible customers and offer free energy-efficient products to approximately 183,000 Missouri households through a simple, streamlined process.
• Consumers Energy has been honored with the Energy Equity Award for focusing on income-eligible residents with qualifying respiratory issues and supplementing typical whole-home retrofit energy efficiency measures with an array of extra measures aimed at reducing indoor environmental triggers.
• Xcel Energy has been honored with the Consumer Education Award for implementing a robust, multi-channel customer experience that helped customers learn the specifics of a new time-of-use rate and empowered them with digital tools and energy efficiency programs to manage their energy use.
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has been honored with the SMB Engagement Award for developing the Community Centered Growth program that is bringing transformative and valuable energy efficiency solutions to small businesses in underserved communities.

Previous winners of SECC’s Best Practices Awards include Con Edison, Rocky Mountain Power, CPS Energy, JEA, Ameren Illinois, National Grid, Puget Sound Energy and others. This year, Consumers Energy and TVA join Austin Energy and ComEd as multiple-time recipients of the Best Practices Awards.

More information on the winning programs and the two runners-up for each category can be found in the seven-page “2023 Best Practices Guide”.