You must stay close to your customers, especially now. Back by popular demand, a special year-end offer from Hometown Connections and GreatBlue Research will help your municipal utility learn firsthand what your customers need and expect. Place your order by December 31 and for the incredibly low fee of $3,850, you will receive a link to send to your customers to fill out a brief online survey.
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On September 9, 2021, Hometown Connections, Inc. (HCI) published a Request for Quote (RFQ) REF#: HCI_MDR_VMS_RFQ_0827. HCI is soliciting quotes from qualified vendors offering Managed Detection and Response Solutions (MDR) & Vulnerability Management Systems (VMS) that meet the identified cybersecurity requirements of community-owned utilities. HCI seeks to partner with the selected vendor(s) to provide these solutions / systems.
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Back in January 2020, our GreatBlue Research team published an article discussing Margin for Error. We realized, though, that we could definitely do a better job explaining it. Buckle up everyone, we’re getting nerdy.
Building a clean, actionable email list is key to cultivating a community of loyal members. Collecting email addresses and maintaining an updated email list can be a daunting task, but it is essential to sustain effective email campaigns. Email marketing is a proven way to nurture relationships and increase customer satisfaction, and engagement.
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On August 30 at the 2021 Annual Conference in Fort Collins, Colorado, Hometown Connections announced award winners in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the organization and to community-owned utilities.
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Federal and many state regulations require electric, water, wastewater, and gas utilities to establish an identity theft prevention program. Utilities must have policies and procedures in place to detect, prevent, and mitigate the theft of personal customer information. What does this mean for your community-owned utility? You must evaluate and address all of the ways people can open and access your customer accounts which contain personally identifiable information (PII). Failure to comply with these regulations puts your utility at risk of hefty financial penalties and potential civil lawsuits.
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The success of the public power business model depends on utility managers receiving clear guidance from engaged and well-trained governing boards. A high-performing governing board can be one of the utility’s most valuable assets. To be successful, these officials must understand their responsibilities, stay current on industry challenges, and serve as ambassadors for public power by promoting the value of living and working in communities that deliver their own utility services.
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Join us for a special event during the American Public Power Association’s 2021 Business & Financial Conference in Denver. Come for lunch on Sept. 20 to learn what’s happening in the municipal cyber and business insurance markets and how you can lower costs and improve coverages through a national group program for APPA members.
The threat of ransomware attacks on the public utility sector is steadily increasing. Historically, these attacks have targeted credit cards and social security numbers sent over email. Lately, attackers are getting more innovative and are stealing from more sources as technology continues to advance[1].
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Apogee Interactive recently
collected and analyzed results from utilities using our outbound engagement platform for the first quarter. We are proud to announce that with approximately 2 million messages sent by IOUs, Co-ops, and Municipals, our Video Bill Explanation received click-through rates as high as 30%. Utilities sending Mid-Cycle Alerts saw open rates up to 50%.
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