A recent study by Climate Central found that between 2000 and 2021, weather-related events contributed to 83% of major power outages reported by U.S. utility companies. However, in the last decade, compared from 2000 to 2010, the average annual number of weather-related power outages jumped by 78%. The surge in weather-related outages reflects a macro trend of a general rise in the frequency of outages, with the same study discovering that there were 64% more power outages in the U.S. from 2011 to 2021 than the decade before. Whether it is heat waves, droughts, ice storms, floods, wildfires or hurricanes – these extreme weather events are increasing in regularity, intensity and duration, with scientists ascribing human-induced climate change as the primary culprit.

The negative effects of climate change are twofold as it both increases the likelihood of power outages, thereby jeopardizing the electricity supply, and skyrockets the electricity demand, placing an incredible strain on the nation’s old and complex electrical infrastructure. Unfortunately, when the U.S. built the current power grid, today’s climate crisis was unimaginable. In fact, most of the grid is aging, with some components being over a century old, which is well beyond their 50-year life expectancy. Likewise, 70% of transmission lines are already into the second half of their lifespans. And because of the interconnected nature of the country’s grid, extreme weather in one area can lead to power outages across multiple states and regions.

Until the nation’s grid becomes more robust, power outages will get worse. Power companies (PCs) are attempting to build more resilient systems through microgrids and other smart grid technologies. Nevertheless, their reliance on legacy communication systems represents a present (and preventable) threat to the safety of their constituents. Replacing 600,000 miles of transmission and 5.5 million miles of local lines will take decades – but, with the right partner, it could only take a few months to modernize an outdated contact center. It's time PCs took steps today toward upgrading their communication technology to address the issues of our modern climate, like power outages.

Digital transformation

During the restrictions of the pandemic, customers became more digitally savvy. For the first time, many scheduled an online doctor’s appointment, used a food delivery app or shopped online. Companies also began to provide an unprecedented level of service that was fast, personalized and consistent across channels. Today’s digitally native (and noticeably more impatient) consumers are not willing to settle for anything less than quality CX, whether they are interacting with their bank or PC. In addition to lower carbon technology and seamless billing integration with other industries, next-generation consumers want PCs to offer the same communication features they regularly enjoy from other brands. Moreover, Americans have become dependent on readily available and unbroken electricity for work and leisure.

To keep up with the expectations of modern consumers, PCs must upgrade their outdated methods of interfacing with constituents. One proactive approach is integrating a single automation package, like a communication API platform, into communications operations, empowering PCs to pursue digital transformation and enhance legacy processes. Purely relying on voice and human agents as the primary means of contacting clients during a power outage is insufficient. PCs need to meet customers in the channels they use to interact with brands, such as SMS, social messaging and chat features. And by integrating communication APIs into existing solutions, PCs can support advanced messaging and omnichannel experiences for customers.

With communication APIs, PCs can send notifications and real-time updates through SMS messages, keeping customers in the loop during severe weather and avoiding service disruptions due to disconnects. Likewise, since customers are more likely to respond and read SMS messages, utilities can circumvent late payments and boost revenue by texting bill reminders to drive better performance. Similarly, giving end users alternative channels to connect with their PC prevents one channel, like a contact center, from getting overwhelmed by callers. For example, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered communication solutions like chatbots and virtual assistants could offset much of the workload human agents would have to address during hectic weather events, allowing customers to answer general service-related questions themselves. Self-service capabilities boost engagement by granting customers the freedom to determine how and when they interact with a PC – even if no live agents are available, someone could still use a chatbot to check for updates on when service will get restored. Additionally, minimizing the instances that agents must speak to concerned and potentially angry customers will reduce stress, curbing burnout and turnover.

Communication APIs and these AI-enabled automation features can likewise handle other mundane tasks that come into the call center environment, including checking a balance, updating account information or requesting service support. Automating these monotonous and repetitive requests empowers human agents to focus on more challenging, creative and value-added tasks. Gartner predicts that conversational AI tools will decrease the costs of labor associated with contact center agents by $80 billion in 2026. Furthermore, advanced communication features accelerate the resolution time of a customer inquiry. AI can quickly identify a caller’s location and intelligently route them to the most appropriate contact center. In the case of a power outage or similar service disruption, the AI would direct the customer to a contact center with a lower traffic volume.

Field operations

Utilities can utilize these advanced communications powered by communication APIs to support their field operators, boosting efficiency and increasing the bottom line. A small or large utility could have anywhere from ten to hundreds of thousands of field techs. Worker capabilities can be enhanced enormously by having access to, for example, their desktop while on site. One such solution is Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), a cloud-based model that, as the name implies, unifies all of a PC’s communication applications, like email, chat, audio and voice, into one package accessible from any device. The game-changing ability of UCaaS is that it enables field operators to figuratively take their desktops with them even if they are at a remote site, on a truck or perhaps working on a telephone pole, massively improving efficiency.

Additional communication technologies like scheduling software and automated messaging can boost field techs’ effectiveness. Field operators could receive real-time alerts to challenges affecting the grid, allowing them to redirect their attention to much more pressing tasks. For example, some field technicians could be busy upgrading the plant in one location, but a telephone pole could get damaged in another. Through automated SMS, updates get sent directly to the operators’ phones, the PC rapidly sends the technicians to the location they are needed most, minimizing the duration and scope of potential damages. These communication and scheduling solutions can also help PCs understand where their people are physically and which tasks they have lined up for the day. Knowing these finer details empowers field operations to work more efficiently with limited time and location constraints.

Moreover, communication automation would be pivotal to enhancing the success of short-staffed field operators, especially considering labor shortages brought on by the Great Resignation. As it stands, there are still roughly 100,000 fewer oil and gas workers than before the pandemic. Likewise, data from the U.S. Department of Energy revealed that there was nearly a 10% drop in the number of jobs across electric power generation, transmission, distribution and storage during the summer of 2021. Not only have PCs struggled to recruit these vital employees, but they’ve found it challenging to retain them. In fact, some surveys found that more than 40% of workers in the power and utility sector this past year considered switching jobs rather than staying with their current ones. By automating alerts and using advanced scheduling software, PCs can help their field operators prioritize and maximize their efforts successfully despite a lack of staff and finite work hours.

Modernizing existing communication systems will drive efficiencies and enrich customer interactions to overcome the challenges of intensifying weather conditions and escalating power outages. PCs must coalesce their needs into a single, advanced communications package. By implementing an elastic solution – like cloud queuing – knowledgeable workers and field operators are brought into the same data environment, swiftly resolving the requests of digitally-savvy end users.

Cloud queuing

Imagine a major storm comes through an area and disrupts services – the first thing the PC’s customers will want to do is report that they have a challenge. The second thing they will want is to know when service will get restored. PCs need an elastic solution that can maintain communications during these extreme weather events and other major disruptions; the customers, likewise, must have the assurance that they can contact their PC to communicate concerns and receive instructions. Cloud queuing is that elastic solution. Simple and flexible, cloud queuing layers over the top of existing contact center infrastructure, allowing the network to absorb mass call events in a meaningful way that prioritizes the safety of the utility’s customers.

By implementing cloud queuing, calls from a PC’s constituents will pass through a cloud workflow before reaching the contact center. Should the contact center be unavailable due to high traffic or a weather-related outage, the cloud queuing solution will direct incoming calls to a different location or department, ensuring the clients can still resolve their requests. Cloud queuing also manages the influx of calls against a pre-established inbound call volume threshold. If the capacity gets reached, the calls will remain in a virtual waiting room for the next available agent. Cloud queuing is not only ideal for the increase in natural disasters and inevitable power outages, but it can manage mass call events triggered by a data breach, the deadline for a mandatory password update, bill payment issues, etc. Furthermore, cloud queuing lets PCs improve agility, foster redundancy and increase efficiency without having to make significant, costly or disruptive upgrades to their infrastructure.

Another reason PCs need to deploy a modern solution like cloud queuing is mounting pressure from regulators like public utility commissions. Regardless if critical communication infrastructure is at risk, PCs must demonstrate an aptitude to support their constituent base in the face of worsening weather. Usually, when someone smells gas in their home or sees a downed and sparking powerline, they call 911. However, the primary emergency outlet for that type of game theory is to call the power company. But, if the power company is not reachable and the caller keeps getting a busy signal, that could potentially put the customer in danger. Indeed, due to these recent challenges, regulators are scrutinizing PCs at a much higher degree than in the past. Many PCs are looking for partners to help manage their critical infrastructure, empowering them to remain reachable despite mass call events and pursue digital transformation to boost customer experience.