News Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Mark Litos
Office: 401-435-8900
Mobile: 508-889-7929
mark.litos@litossc.com

New ‘Get Smart/Smart Grid’ Toolkit helps utilities educate consumers about smart grid

(Providence, Rhode Island, January 2, 2013)  Litos Strategic Communication – a leading marketing communication consultant to the energy and utility industries – today announced the launch of a new resource to help utilities educate consumers about the smart grid.

The Get Smart/Smart Grid Toolkit is designed to increase consumer awareness and acceptance of the smart grid in order to help the nation’s utilities accelerate program implementation focusing on AMI installation, HANs, PEVs and other utility initiatives. While utilities recognize that successful smart grid implementation requires a much broader level of consumer understanding and engagement than currently exists, many don’t have the time, expertise or resources to do it all on their own.

“The daunting task and costs associated with developing a relevant smart grid consumer education campaign are a significant barrier for many utilities,” said Mark Litos, president of Litos Strategic Communication. “The Get Smart/Smart Grid Toolkit is an affordable resource that removes this barrier and allows them to hit the ground running.”

Industry studies have shown that while many consumers are concerned about energy costs, reliability and environmental impact, most don’t understand how the smart grid’s developing network of technologies, controls, communications and transmission lines can work together to help utilities and customers respond rapidly to the increasing demand for more efficient, reliable and cleaner energy. As a result, consumer concerns and misconceptions surrounding privacy and safety – among others – can hamper utilities’ program implementation efforts and delay anticipated benefits.

“Connecting with the consumer as a smart grid ally, rather than just an account, is critical in building acceptance for a utility’s smart grid program,” said Steve Hauser, Chief Technology Officer at New West Technologies and nationally recognized smart grid advocate. “In this way, utilities that use this engagement Toolkit can help customers understand and feel far more comfortable participating in smart grid programs.”

Developed in cooperation with leading utilities and allied organizations, the Get Smart/Smart Grid Toolkit is a set of research-based, creatively driven consumer education materials designed in a concise, easy-to-understand format that utilities can quickly integrate into either new or existing smart grid programs. Its campaign-style components are designed to promote the benefits of the smart grid across all customer demographics, to provide a smoother transition toward consumer buy-in and to help reduce the time and resources necessary to advance utilities’ smart grid goals.

“I know first-hand that the success of energy-efficiency, demand-response and other utility programs hinges on connecting with consumers in language they understand,” said Joseph Desmond, former California Energy Commission Chairman. “The Get Smart/Smart Grid Toolkit does just that.”

The Toolkit consists of an overview pamphlet, direct-mail campaign, poster series, fact sheets and a PowerPoint presentation. These templated components can be branded with the utility’s logo and contact information and are ready for use by any municipal, co-op or IOU wishing to streamline smart grid consumer engagement.

For more information on the Get Smart/Smart Grid Toolkit, including pricing and ordering information, visit http://www.litossc.com/smart-grid-toolkit/.

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About Litos Strategic Communication

Litos Strategic Communication has been involved in virtually every sector of energy for nearly three decades, from demand-response to energy efficiency to the smart grid; from utilities to transmission to technology; from natural gas to renewables. In 2007, the firm wrote the strategic plan to advance the Smart Grid Initiative for the GridWise Alliance. A year later, it authored The Smart Grid: An Introduction, for the U.S. Department of Energy, the first book of its kind to convey to a broad audience, in layman’s terms, the power and promise of the smart grid. Following the success of An Introduction, Litos engaged in stakeholder outreach, publishing six additional guidebooks to address key stakeholder groups which ranged from utilities to regulators to consumer advocates.