Developing customer partnership in a competitive energy market

All utilities will find some of their most important and valuable customers to be at-risk over the next several years. To maintain profitability, return to shareholders, and bring at least some stability to customer rates, all utilities will need to identify which of their customers fall into this category and develop a strategy to deal with and reduce the risk. Utilities not taking special efforts to track customer activities and designing special programs to better serve customer needs will find other electric suppliers more than ready to provide this service. The CARE{reg{underscore}sign} program helps utilities prepare for the increasingly competitive marketplace by helping utilities identify their most at-risk customers with business needs that can be met by the utility, helping the customer gain a competitive advantage and helping the utility keep the revenue stream. By developing a business--rather than an energy--partnership, a utility can retain customers and establish a foundation for continued improvements in all aspects of their customers' business.