Lessons From the Field: How Leading Utilities Show Up in Moments of Need

November 12, 2026

Affordability is the challenge every utility shares, but few have time to see how their peers are tackling it. We did the benchmarking so you don’t have to. Organized around a Five-Pillar Framework, we've compiled verified case studies from utilities such as BGE, PG&E, OPPD, ENMAX Energy, Consumers Energy, Austin Energy, and Snohomish County PUD into a single, field-tested resource, along with industry benchmark data from Chartwell.

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Key Findings

  • 71% of utilities use qualified LIHEAP applications to identify vulnerable customers. When methods are ranked by effectiveness rather than usage, that same data source comes out on top, well ahead of census or ZIP code data.

  • 85% of utilities engage vulnerable customers through their website, but when ranked by effectiveness, 78% point to email and 73% to one-to-one engagement as what actually moves the needle.

  • Nearly 40% of customers with household incomes below $50,000 report being unaware of any assistance programs at all, even when such programs exist.

FAQs

What is the Five-Pillar Framework?
It’s the structure Chartwell identified in KUBRA’s webinar, Supporting Vulnerable Utility Customers in Moments of Need, covering the five areas utilities need to address to effectively support vulnerable customers: Identification, Engagement, Payment/Credit, Assistance Resources, and Cultural/Language.

What kind of outreach actually builds trust with vulnerable customers, not just awareness?
Digital channels scale outreach, but in-person and community-partnered engagement is where trust and enrollment actually get built, according to the utilities featured in this research.

Is the biggest barrier to enrollment in assistance programs a lack of funding?
Not usually. The bigger opportunity is removing friction between “I might qualify” and “I’m enrolled,” since a utility can offer every program in the book and still leave eligible customers unserved if they can’t quickly tell whether they qualify.