OVERVIEW: This program is designed to assist cooperative employees in the challenges they will face during high bill complaints. It will provide employees with a skillset required to communicate the causes behind high bills, ways to mitigate member frustration, and then provide a detailed audit they can utilize to help resolve the issue. The program will help educate the employee on how weather adversely affects power usage, other energy issues that cause an increase in the consumption of electric energy, provide the skills required calculate the energy used with heat pumps and air conditioners, and will demonstrate heating energy differences between heat pumps, furnaces, and space heaters. It will provide guidance on educating the employee on how to tell the member the main sources of energy consumption within their home and some techniques to minimize energy usage during peak times. (Previously Responding to 254.G1 High Bill Complaints and Helping Customers Conserve Energy)

Those who would benefit include:
o Member services & call center staff – first responders to high-bill complaints
o Energy services advisers/energy auditors – those who conduct on-site audits or field questions about energy use
o Billing & collection personnel – who must explain usage vs. costs in difficult member conversations
o Communications staff – who prepare educational content on energy efficiency
Why? It’s directly tied to handling high-bill complaints, member frustration, and technical explanations about energy use.

March 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. – lunch is provided

Instructor: Chellie Phillips
Price for EMC employees: $400/pp