The inaugural 2020 Utility Industry Spotlight Awards highlight companies and individuals advancing Sustainability, Electrification, Customer Advocacy, and Clean Energy Innovation FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT
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. | 
