ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc., presented 15 North Carolina communities with Public Power Awards of Excellence at our 2023 Annual Conference. The awards reflect public power’s strategic priorities, recognizing exceptional achievement during 2022 for the following categories: Future-focused, Strengthen Public Power, Provide Superior Power, Customer-centered Innovation, and People.
To continue the celebration, we’re sharing more about each award category and highlighting a few of the communities whose efforts stand out. As you learn about the endeavors in public power communities throughout our region, it becomes clear that excellence lives here.
The Customer-centered Innovation Award celebrates communities that innovate and invest to better serve their customers. Meeting customer expectations in the long term requires listening to customers today to prioritize and deliver valuable energy solutions and programs. These winners excelled in this capacity.
2022 Winners:
- Apex
- Fayetteville PWC
- Gastonia
- Greenville Utilities Commission
- Maiden
- New Bern
- New River Light and Power
- Rocky Mount
- Wilson
The Town of Maiden exemplified Customer-centered Innovation by launching the Maiden Mobile app, available for free on any mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
The Town listened to customers who requested the ability to pay their utility bills online. Now, through Maiden Mobile, customers can do that and more. Customers may also contact the utility, receive notifications about planned or unplanned power outages, and report issues like downed power lines, power outages, and trees near power lines.
Customers have shared positive feedback with the Town about the accessibility the app provides.
New River Light and Power (NRLP) showcased Customer-centered Innovation by implementing its Green Power Program, a renewable energy initiative offering customers the option to become carbon neutral.
Participating in an ElectriCities Retail Customer Survey, NRLP learned that 76% of residential customers would pay for renewable energy to offset their carbon usage. To meet their demands, NRLP created the Green Power Program.
Through the program, customers pay $5 per month for a 250-kWh block of clean hydroelectric power. The average customer uses approximately 750 kWh of electricity monthly, so most customers can become carbon neutral for as little as $15 per month.
The Green Power Program is also successful with commercial customers, including the Town of Boone, Watauga County, and Appalachian State University, which have all met or exceeded their carbon neutral goals through the program.
Continue learning about the excellence that lives here by reading about the Future-focused Award, the Strengthen Public Power Award, the Provide Superior Power Award, the People-focused Award, and the communities that exemplified them in 2022.