When I first started in the energy industry fresh out of school, my colleagues referred to customers as “ratepayers” and utility customer departments were named Meter To Cash. One director I worked with closely would often say “load thinks” or “load wants” as if kWs were moody.

But back then, none of this was surprising. There was no AMI, no EVs, climate change wasn’t a socialized concern, and energy prices were low relative to household incomes. Everyone I knew had a candle ready for a power outage, which didn’t disrupt life much beyond not being able to watch Sportscenter.

Today, electricity matters. A lot. I don’t need to tell you that we’re going through an energy transition. Outside of IPPS, energy companies cannot achieve their own goals by themselves - they need customers to be collaborators and partners.

And yet, the relationship between customers and the utility industry is still stuck in the patterns of yesteryear. Customers don’t want to call; they want predictability and clarity. The “early majority” persona is digitally native. People who are interested in EE programs, EVs, and heat pumps don’t want to pick up a phone - or read a PDF - to understand how to get involved. When that’s all that’s available to them, they postpone their electrification projects. The good news is that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Practically every other industry has digitized successfully - even healthcare has Epic Systems.

We started Bellawatt to help energy companies and their customers work together. From EE to VPPs, we build digital products that delight customers. We also provide services that support the buildout of digital products including strategy & planning, customer research, and software development.

We're organized to best serve the energy industry. We’re revenue-funded to avoid investor pressure to grow at all costs. My regulatory background motivated us to architect our products to be tailorable to each customer, as even large IOUs have different regulators, management teams, weather considerations, and customer bases. And since our founding, we’ve exclusively worked in the energy industry with experienced software and energy experts so that we could build the highest quality products without any hand-holding

As I write this in 2025, did I think our industry would still be so behind? Not at all. But at a time when both prices and sales are increasing, it’s never been more important to build trust for the energy consumer.