Kyle Roadman, EPUD General Manager
Hello Emerald Customer-Owners,
Earlier this year, we asked for your input to help us put together a new strategic plan, and you came through in a big way. More than 2,000 of you took our customer survey, and many more joined focus groups to share your thoughts. I want to take a few minutes to tell you what we heard.
First, thank you. The picture you painted is a reassuring one. Ninety-one percent of you told us you’re satisfied with your service, and you rated our reliability, customer service, and communication especially highly. That means a great deal to the people who work here and deliver the electric service you count on.
You were also clear about what matters most going forward, and one thing came through above everything else: affordability. Keeping your bills manageable is your number one priority. We heard that loud and clear, from every corner of our service territory.
On that same topic, you told us you want more programs that can help lower your bills, including expanded energy efficiency opportunities. This is encouraging because investing in energy efficiency doesn’t just lower an individual bill, it helps hold down power costs for all of us.
We also heard what would help you the most during outages, from proactive text alerts to estimated restoration times. And you told us EPUD should play a bigger role in helping our communities prepare for storms and wildfire season.
What happens next
Over the next several months, our Board of Directors will use what you told us to shape our next strategic plan. Your feedback, alongside input from our staff, senior leadership, and Board, pointed us toward six big issues to work through:
- Rates and affordability
- Service reliability
- Resilience and emergency preparedness
- Outage communication
- Organizational readiness
- How we position ourselves for growth
Our Board kicks off this work on June 29, with a goal of adopting the new plan in November. We’ll keep you posted as it takes shape.
The full summary of what we heard is available on our website at the link below:
We’ve also made available the complete customer survey report prepared by our research partner, Pulse Research, here:
I’d encourage you to take a look at both documents and reach out if you feel like there’s anything we’ve missed.
Thank you for being part of this process, and for being an EPUD customer.
Please stay safe,
Kyle Roadman
General Manager
Emerald People’s Utility District