Utility Executive Concerns in 2023 and Beyond: Navigating Resiliency, Rates and Rising Expectations
The headlines are clear. Residential and business customer satisfaction are dropping as rates and monthly bills rise. Meanwhile, even as utilities struggle to help customers in need during hard economic times, they must also pay for mandates to boost resiliency, reliability, and increased security – all the while, enabling clean energy investments brought on by federal, state and corporate actions. This panel of seasoned utility veterans will tackle the most pressing concerns facing utility leaders today, offering strategies and identifying opportunities to adapt to the changing utility landscape to provide excellent customer service, satisfy regulators and position your organization for long-term success.
Moderator:
Tracie Boutte, Executive Advisor, Chartwell, Inc.
Panelists:
Marc Ulrich, VP of Operational Excellence, SCE
In Marc’s current role as vice president of Operational Excellence, he is committed to continuous improvement in safety, reliability, customer and employee satisfaction, affordability, risk reduction and predictability, among other responsibilities. Ulrich oversees performance management and continuous improvement for SCE. He previously served as vice president of Customer Service Operations with responsibilities for the contact centers, billing, payments, credit and program operations.
With more than 20 years of executive experience at SCE, Ulrich has also served as vice president, Customer Programs & Services; vice president, Energy Contracts and Trading & Energy Operations, and vice president, Renewable & Alternative Power.
Steve Lopez, Senior Director of Customer Strategy, SRP
Steve Lopez is the Senior Director Customer Strategy at SRP. In this role, Steve leads and develops processes aimed at Customer Technology, Customer Experience, and Commercial Customer Engagement. Steve has been with SRP for 23 years and has served in a variety of engineering, operations and leadership positions in transmission, distribution, and customer services. He has successfully led high profile design and construction projects and provided oversight of system implementations related to work management, financial management, and design software.
Erica Borggren, VP of Customer Solutions, ComEd
Erica currently serves as Vice-President of Customer Solutions at ComEd, where she leads the company’s sustainability programs like energy efficiency, demand response, and beneficial electrification. Previously, she led ComEd’s customer channels and communications functions, including media, stakeholder, and employee communications.
A Rhodes Scholar and West Point graduate, Erica Borggren is a former Army captain who served in Iraq, in the Republic of Korea, and throughout the U.S. Central Command region in the Middle East. She previously served as the Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, where she spearheaded the launch of Illinois Joining Forces, an award-winning public-private network of organizations committed to working together to serve veterans better; Borggren was selected in 2014 as a White House “Champion of Change” for her veteran-related efforts. She also served as Acting Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation. A Leadership Greater Chicago and Crain’s 40-under-40 alumna, she resides in Chicago and serves on the boards of Metropolitan Family Services, Illinois Joining Forces and the Alliance to Save Energy.
