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Utilities & Energy: Electric Utilities (IOU)

Electric Utilities (IOU) CX Stack Framework

Electric IOU contact centers run two operations on the same floor. Ordinary days bring billing questions, start and stop requests, and energy efficiency programs. Major storms can multiply volume many times over within hours. The operating challenge is staffing and routing for crisis without letting everyday service degrade, with agents trained for both.

Map your current capabilities across all 7 layers: 35 checkpoints. Mark what you have, what you need and what is planned. Your answers stay in this browser tab.

Figures for this segment

No public benchmark exists for these figures in this segment. Measure your own with the tool named beside each.

Electric Utilities (IOU): the 7-layer CX stack

For each capability, mark whether you have it, need it or have it planned.

0 of 35 marked

Layer 7: Analytics & Governance

0 of 5 in place

Measure and govern. Vendors in this layer include NICE, Verint, J.D. Power, Kubra.

  • J.D. Power satisfaction tracking tied to outage communication quality
  • Storm response analytics: call volume, wait time, abandonment by storm phase
  • Bill complaint root cause by rate component and customer segment
  • Energy efficiency program enrollment and participation analytics
  • PUC complaint tracking with regulatory response compliance

Key risk: J.D. Power scores declining without understanding which operational failure is causing it

Layer 6: Routing & Orchestration

0 of 5 in place

Route the work. Vendors in this layer include Genesys, NICE CXone, Cisco, Avaya.

  • Storm IVR intercept with geographic outage status and ETR
  • Priority routing for wire-down, gas leak, and life-threatening situations
  • Billing vs outage vs service routing separating call types
  • High-bill season routing with dedicated bill explanation agents
  • Medical baseline and life support equipment priority routing

Key risk: Life-threatening wire-down call waiting behind billing inquiry during storm

Layer 5: Conversation Management

0 of 5 in place

Hold the conversation. Vendors in this layer include Kubra, Notifi (Questline), Bidgely, Ada.

  • Proactive outage notifications via SMS, email, app push, and automated voice
  • Interactive outage map with real-time restoration status
  • Bill comparison tools showing month-over-month and year-over-year usage
  • Payment arrangement self-service with flexible plan options
  • Energy efficiency program enrollment and rebate tracking

Key risk: Customers learning about outages by losing power rather than receiving notification

Layer 4: Reasoning & Planning

0 of 5 in place

Decide the next step. Vendors in this layer include Cognigy, Ada, Google CCAI.

  • Outage status bots with real-time OMS data and estimated restoration
  • Bill explanation bots breaking down charges by rate component
  • Payment arrangement bots with flexible plan creation
  • Move/start/stop service bots with date scheduling and deposit calculation
  • Energy efficiency program eligibility bots

Key risk: Bot providing incorrect restoration estimate that the customer relies on

Layer 3: Policy & Guardrails

0 of 5 in place

Set the rules. Vendors in this layer include Oracle Utilities compliance, PUC-specific.

  • PUC disconnection rules: winter moratoriums, medical protections, income-based deferrals
  • Rate case compliance ensuring agents quote current approved rates
  • CARE/LIHEAP/LIPP payment assistance program eligibility enforcement
  • Customer data privacy (CPNI equivalent for utilities)
  • Safety protocols for wire-down, gas odor, and meter access reports

Key risk: Disconnecting a customer protected by medical baseline or winter moratorium

Layer 2: Workflow Execution

0 of 5 in place

Do the work. Vendors in this layer include Oracle Utilities, SAP IS-U, Itron, ServiceNow.

  • Outage management workflow: report, verify, dispatch, restore, confirm, notify
  • Move/start/stop/transfer service workflow with meter reading and deposit
  • Payment arrangement workflow with regulatory-compliant terms
  • High-bill investigation workflow with usage analysis and meter verification
  • Field service dispatch workflow for connects, disconnects, and investigations

Key risk: Outage-to-restoration workflow not updating customers at each stage

Layer 1: Data Access

0 of 5 in place

Know the customer. Vendors in this layer include Oracle CC&B, SAP IS-U, Itron, ESRI, Milsoft.

  • CIS: customer account, billing, payment history, rate schedule
  • OMS: real-time outage status, crew assignment, estimated restoration
  • MDMS: smart meter data for usage analysis and high-bill investigation
  • GIS: network topology, service territory mapping, outage area correlation
  • Field service: work orders, crew location, dispatch status

Key risk: Agent seeing billing data but not outage data, can't answer the question customers ask first during an outage

Mark at least 18 capabilities to see your profile (0 of 35 so far).

Sources and assumptions

Every figure on this page is a published figure checked on the publisher's own page, a labelled planning assumption you can test with your own numbers, or a worked example.

Worked examples

  • 15 minutes and 5 minutes: Illustrative lag between an outage and a status page refresh. A scenario; measure your own OMS to bot refresh interval.

No public benchmark

  • Average handle time, electric iou contact centers. No regulator or trade body publishes handle time for this segment. Measure yours in AHT Decomposition.
  • First contact resolution, electric iou contact centers. No regulator or trade body publishes first contact resolution for this segment; SQM Group's energy figure covers the industry as a whole. Measure yours in FCR Leakage Diagnostic.
  • Customer satisfaction, electric iou contact centers. No public contact center CSAT percentage exists for this segment; ACSI and J.D. Power publish utility index scores on other scales.
  • Storm day call volume against a normal day, electric iou contact centers. No regulator or trade body publishes storm call volume multiples; EIA publishes customer outage hours; contacts are outside its scope. Measure yours in Forecast Accuracy.