The inaugural 2020 Utility Industry Spotlight Awards highlight companies and individuals advancing Sustainability, Electrification, Customer Advocacy, and Clean Energy Innovation   

Austin, Texas (September 22, 2020) – Zpryme, an Austin-based energy research company challenging the status quo of energy, announced today the 2020 Utility Industry Spotlight Award Winners. The Utility Industry Spotlight Awards honor companies and individuals who are advancing utility leadership, sustainability, customer service, innovation, research, clean energy, and digital transformation. Zpryme chose the inaugural award honorees from among 150 customers and partners. 

“We are grateful to work with customers and partners who are working on solving some of the most complex issues facing the utility and energy industry,” said Zpryme CEO and Co-Founder, Jason Rodriguez. “This year more than ever we felt it was important to recognize the important work our customers and partners are doing in their communities and across the globe to help build a more sustainable and inclusive future at such a critical time in history.”

The 2020 Honorees for each category are listed below and were announced at Zpryme’s flagship energy conference virtual ETS20. 

Customer Champion 

Jill Anderson, SVP of Customer Service, Southern California Edison: Awarded for leadership in providing customer education, awareness, and outreach for SCE customers during CoVid-19 and wildfire outages in California. Learn more at: sce.com

Global Collaboration Leadership   

Itron: Awarded for developing global partner innovation networks and ecosystems to advance smart cities and smart utilities. Learn more at: itron.com

Digital Transformation 

CGI: Awarded for providing exceptional guidance, expert support, thought leadership, and strategy for utility digital transformation. Learn more at:cgi.com   

Global Customer Innovation

Smart Energy Water: Awarded for providing innovative AI/ML and advanced cloud platform services that are empowering customers to better understand and control their energy and water usage, especially those in traditionally underserved communities. Learn more at: sew.ai

Community Champion 

CPS Energy: Awarded for excellence in serving the community of San Antonio during the CoVid-19 public health crisis with enhanced customer outreach programs, bill assistance, safety outreach, and virtual public information sessions. Learn more at: cpsenergy.com 

Positive Charge (Electrification)

Austin Energy: Awarded for outstanding electric vehicle programs, deployments, education programs, and marketing campaigns in the City of Austin. These programs include: Austin Energy’s Electric Drive, EVs for Schools, Electric > Gas campaign, and StEVie the T-Rex campaign. Learn more at: austinenergy.com 

Sustainability Leadership

Guidehouse: Awarded for leadership in providing innovative sustainable solutions, insights, and guidance to infrastructure providers, cities, utilities, and NGOs to help mitigate the impacts of climate change and build a low-carb future. Learn more at: guidehouse.com  

Industry Insight  

Esri: Awarded for excellence in providing innovative insights and data visualization tools for utility partners and communities during extreme events (fires, CoVid-19, hurricanes, etc.). Learn more at: esri.com 

Public Power Trailblazer 

Arlen Orchard, General Manager and CEO, SMUD: Awarded for leadership in developing national leadership in electrification, mobility, greenhouse gas reductions, renewable energy, and workforce transformation at SMUD and the city of Sacramento. These programs include: the California Mobility Center, the All Electric Smart Home program, and the company’s 2030 carbon neutrality target. Learn more at: smud.org 

For the People (Non-Profit Award)

Pecan Street: Awarded for ground breaking research and analysis of residential usage impacts of CoVid-19. Learn more at: pecanstreet.org 

Energy’s Rising Star 

Erin Hardick, Sr. Researcher and Content Strategist, Zpryme: Awarded for significant and innovative contributions in media, research, and engagement on digital transformation, mobility, and electrification. 

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Zpryme MEDIA CONTACT:    

Ricky Murray

Director of Marketing

512-709-7432

ricky.murray@zpryme.com

About Zpryme

Based in Austin, Texas, Zpryme is a research-based firm with agency-geared services

focused on energy. Based on the creative direction of our associates, Zpryme produces

influential research and events that challenge the status quo and marketing solutions for

fully-immersive brand experiences. For more information, visit www.zpryme.com.