Covering the new frontiers of the energy transition
img
May 20 – 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Transforming utility customer communications in an era of extreme weather

Watch Recording
Co-hosted with:

Fortifying customer trust through effective communication before, during, and after extreme weather

About

In 2024, the U.S. saw 27 confirmed extreme weather disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each. The increase in billion-dollar disasters is not isolated to specific geographies,  spanning events like droughts, floods, severe storms, wildfires, and tropical cyclones.

Electric utilities face new challenges in effectively managing and communicating with customers in advance of, during, and after extreme weather events. Join experts in a discussion about evolving customer and regulator expectations, best practices, and technology options that facilitate effective communications.

This is a past event. Register to view the recording.

Who should attend:

  • Utility customer experience teams
  • Utility communications teams
  • Utility resilience and emergency preparedness teams
  • Public utility commissioners and staff
  • Utility regulators
  • Federal, state, and local government
  • Community emergency response teams
  • Emergency preparedness teams
  • Telecommunications service providers
Watch the recording:
FEATURED SPEAKERS
  • Jim Kapsis

    The Ad Hoc Group

    Jim Kapsis

    Founder/CEO

    The Ad Hoc Group

    Connect via:

    Jim founded The Ad Hoc Group (AHG) to help accelerate the growth of start-ups and other innovative companies operating in the complex and highly-regulated energy sector.

    Prior to AHG, Jim spent six years building and leading the global regulatory and market development team at Opower, Inc., a Software-as-a-Service company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. At Opower, Jim supported the full life cycle of the business from startup to IPO to acquisition by Oracle in 2016.

    Before entering the private sector, Jim was an Energy Advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where he helped broker the Copenhagen Climate Accord in 2009. Jim has also worked in the State Department, Defense Department and in Congress. Jim earned a BA in Political Science from Haverford College and a MPA from Princeton University.

    Close
  • Patrick O’Connell

    New Mexico Public Regulation Commission

    Patrick O’Connell

    Commissioner

    New Mexico Public Regulation Commission

    Connect via:

    Patrick O’Connell, PE, was appointed to a six-year term by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and is one of the three commissioners appointed to replace the five elected commissioners on January 1, 2023. In addition to serving as the chair of the Commission, Pat is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners, New Mexico’s voting member of the Southwest Power Pool’s Regional State Committee and sits on the Committee on Regional Electric Power Cooperation and the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners Energy Resources and the Environment Committee. 

    Pat brings to the Commission experience developing and implementing strategies to maintain reliable and reasonably priced water, natural gas, and electricity to utility customers throughout New Mexico. This work has included the engineering disciplines of planning and design and the regulatory experience gained through providing expert witness testimony.   He has worked as a consulting engineer, an employee of Sangre de Cristo Water, and the Public Service Company of New Mexico in both the gas (now New Mexico Gas Company) and electric utilities.  After a career working in utilities and prior to joining the NMPRC, Pat led the Clean Energy program at Western Resource Advocates.

    A native and current resident of Albuquerque, Pat has lived most of his life in New Mexico. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of New Mexico in 1990 with a degree in Civil Engineering and is a registered professional engineer in the state of New Mexico. 

    Close
  • Latanza Adjei

    Georgia Power

    Latanza Adjei

    Senior VP, Customer Experience

    Georgia Power

    Connect via:

    Prior to her current role, Adjei served as Vice President of Corporate Services for Georgia Power, Southern Company Gas, and Southern Company. In this role, she provided leadership and oversight for an array of asset management functions. These included Facilities Services, Fleet Services, Forestry and Right of Way Management, Metering Services, Cable Locating and Claims, and the company’s industrial equipment repair shop.

    Adjei also served as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Georgia Power. In this role, she led the implementation of the company’s top line revenue growth strategy. She was responsible for product development, product distribution across channels, e-commerce, sales management, and energy efficiency. Her efforts were designed and executed to deliver top quartile customer satisfaction, create revenue growing relationships, and positively impact the organization’s culture.

    Adjei began her career with Georgia Power in 1994 as an Industrial and Systems Engineering co-op student from Georgia Tech. During her career, she has served in positions of increasing responsibility in pricing & planning, marketing, sales, and customer service, including Business Call Center supervisor, lighting services sales manager, assistant to the executive vice president of Customer Operations and director of Georgia Power’s Customer Care Center.

    A native of Atlanta, Adjei earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a graduate of Leadership Rockdale, DeKalb, and Atlanta. In the community, she is currently a trustee of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association and Leadership Atlanta. She also serves on the boards of Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering Advisory, Grady Health Foundation, and the Fox Theatre.

    Latanza resides in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband Solomon. They enjoy playing tennis and traveling extensively, having visited 5 different continents.

    Close
  • Aaron August

    Puget Sound Energy

    Aaron August

    Chief Customer and Transformation Officer

    Puget Sound Energy

    Connect via:

    Aaron August is senior vice president, chief customer and transformation officer for Puget Sound Energy (PSE).

    Aaron is responsible for overseeing our Customer Energy Management, Business Services, New Product Development, and Customer Solutions teams.

    Prior to joining PSE in July 2023, Aaron served as vice president of Utility Partnerships and Innovation at Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). He was responsible for non-traditional utility partnerships, research and development, solutions management, load management, clean energy transportation and business development. Prior to that, he was responsible for the strategy, design, implementation, and effectiveness of PG&E’s energy programs including energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, low income and clean transportation. He also had oversight over PG&E’s account management team for small, mid-market, and large commercial business, and agriculture accounts, as well as business development and local customer experience programs, including wildfire customer engagement for Customer Care. Under his leadership at PG&E, his teams earned national recognition, including the Edison Electric Institute’s (EEI) National Key Accounts Team of the Year award, the MSI Business 

    Customer Champion award, and the Chartwell Gold Customer Service Awards for small and mid-size business experience delivery.

    Aaron earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California State University, East Bay, and is a graduate of the Energy Executive Course at the University of Idaho and the Organizational Leadership Executive Program at Stanford University School of Business.

    Close
  • Maulik Datanwala

    Convey

    Maulik Datanwala

    CEO

    Convey

    Connect via:

    Maulik is the Chief Executive Officer for Convey (formerly Message Broadcast) bringing nearly 25 years of experience driving scale, growth and innovation at various enterprise software companies. Prior to Convey, he served as the Chief Operating Officer at Advantive LLC, a leader in Manufacturing and Distribution ERP software where he led the platform build and operational transformation of the business integrating 12 acquisitions. Maulik also served as the Chief Operating Officer for PowerSchool Holdings (NYSE: PWSC), a global leader in EdTech software. While at PowerSchool, Maulik was a board member for PowerSchool’s India entity. His leadership helped PowerSchool grow fivefold during his 7 years there and was recognized with various awards from Business Intelligence Group and Stevie for excellence in scaling Customer Operations. Maulik’s leadership was integral in the growth of the company leading to a successful IPO for PowerSchool in 2021.

    Maulik worked at SumTotal Systems in the Human Capital Management technology space for 9 years running a number of operational functions as a part of the Executive Management team. There he built several teams, including a Client Operation team to champion the experience of strategic customers that made up half of Fortune 500. During Maulik’s tenure leading the customer-facing functions, the Customer Experience and Net Promoter Score both saw a dramatic improvement. He maintains a keen passion for Education Technology and currently serves as a board member for PikMyKid, a leader in Student Safety and Parent communication software solutions. Additionally, at a very early age, Maulik co-founded two software and services companies which saw successful outcomes. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and Economics from the Mumbai University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Information Technology from the National Institute of Management.

    Close
EVENT DETAILS
Transforming utility customer communications in an era of extreme weather

Tuesday, May 20

2:00PM – 3:00PM ET

The Power Resilience Series is a collection of events co-hosted by Latitude Media and The Ad Hoc Group. These webinars showcase innovative solutions to the growing challenges in designing and maintaining resilient energy systems. Each event features timely, in-depth conversations between leading voices in the industry and Q&A sessions with attendees.

Watch Now