HIGHLIGHTS FROM WORLD’S FIRST ENERGY BRANDING CONFERENCE

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND; SEPTEMBER 19-20, 2016

Presented to:Sustainable Networking Breakfast Meeting Northern Virginia Regional CommissionJanuary 25, 2017

Presented by:Janine FinnellExecutive Director & Clean Energy AmbassadorLeaders in Energy

Living in a World Where Many Commodities Are Branded as Products

A banana is a commodity. When consumers are asked about a banana brand – 72% of them think of the same brand name

Without branding, even Smirnoff is a mere commodity.

• Some energy companies (oil and gas) but no power companies on list (yet!)

Source: 2016 BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking; http://www.millwardbrown.com/brandz/top-global-brands/2016

Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands

Tectonic Shifts in Utility Industry Worldwide

• Figure

• Tectonic plates at Thingviller National Park (Iceland) that come together in a rift valley marking the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Photo Credit from Huffington Post article on Thingviller National Park

Some key drivers:• Decarbonization• Deregulation• Digitization• Distributed Energy• New players entering the electricity

business• Prosumers, net metering• Move from product-centric to

customer-centric• New breed of pro-active,

empowered and more informed consumers

Electricity Moving from Commodity to Branded Product

• Services like energy efficiency, energy management, storage, renewables, home security, EV, and the smart grid, offer much more innovative and creative approaches than with branding the commodity only.

• Those services also create more room for innovativeness in terms of marketing and branding, not only in terms of business development.”

Source: TOMAŽ OREŠIČ Elektro Maribor d.d., Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Slovenia

Hydro-Quebec – Benefits of clean, green hydro and how these attributes assist in marketing the company to export this power to the US.

Became intrigued about energy and green energy branding.

Green Energy Branding – A Strategic Advantage for a Utility?

Iceland – A Leader in Renewable Energy and Green Electricity

• 21% of electricity produced by geothermal;

• 79% of electricity produced by hydropower

• 100% green grid• 85% of all primary energy provided by renewables

Statistics from “Iceland Clean Energy” video available at:https://vimeo.com/148233997?ref=tw-share

Opening Address by Iceland Prime Minister – Sigurour Ingi Johannsson

Harpa Conference Center in Reykjavik

Attendees at Charge ConferenceView of Conference Room

Sigurour Ingi Johannson

Energy Companies Nominated at Charge

Best Energy Brand

Best Green Energy Brand

Best Transmission & Distribution Brand

Innovative Approaches from 5 Companies Around the GlobeCompany Name Location TypeOvo Energy UK Private, 60 employees

ENEL Italy, operating in 35 countries, including the US

Multinational, 70,000 employees

PowerShop Based in New Zealand, with services in Australia

Quasi-state, 65 employees

Nordic Green Energy Norwegian company with offices in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark

Private with investments in municipalities

FinGrid Finland Quasi-state, NA on employees

OVO Energy − David vs. Goliath

• Simple idea – supply energy more competitively to UK customers than the existing big six energy suppliers!

• Utilities only focus on fulfilling their obligations to meet regulations; opens the door for smaller companies who thrive on doing what the big organizations will not.

• What is best for customers will ultimately win out

• Supplies 50% of power from renewable energy; no coal or nuclear. If you have to be cheaper, there is not much value. The best balance is between renewables and price.

• Ovo Energy was the recipient of the Best Energy Brand Award

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Founder & CEO

OVO Energy: Consumer Trust and Rating Systems

ENEL – Vision of Open Power

• ENEL recently rebranded itself; realized industry changing rapidly and they need to change with it; operating in a new energy paradigm characterized by “disruption.”

• Active in 35 countries with 90 GW of installed capacity from nuclear to wind and has 70,000 employees.

• New “Open Power” strategy which places innovation and sustainability at the heart of its corporate strategy to provide energy to more people.

• With 1.2 billion people in the world without access to power.

Enel has signed an agreement with Formula E to become a Global Power Partner, to develop zero emission racing cars. Source: https://www.enel.com/en/media/news/d201605-enel-takes-to-the-track-with-formula-e.html

ENEL Open Partnership Example: Formula E

PowerShop − “Same Power, Different Attitude”

• Online electricity retailer, founded in 2007 in New Zealand and also available in Australia.

• Powershop is reinventing power, marketing and brands, and bringing a new attitude to power.

• 51% New Zealand state-owned enterprise; consumers can choose between different brands of electrical power listed on the website and switch between them with the click of a button.

• Offers consumer friendly and easy-to-understand dashboards on electricity usage through apps.

PowerShop: High Customer Satisfaction Ratings

Nordic Green Energy − 100% Renewable

• First energy retailer in the Nordic countries to provide energy purely from renewable sources (founded in 2000)

• Largest supplier of renewable energy in the Nordic Region, offering renewable energy solutions for corporations, the mass market and the public sector.

• Three core values: 100% renewable energy, affordable prices and exceptional customer service.

• Represented in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

Nordic Green Energy

• National transmission and distribution company in Finland.

• Company is working very proactively with communities regarding the placement of transmission lines rather than waiting until it becomes confrontational.

• Customers – not “loads”; they are in the people business, not just building transmission lines.

Fingrid – Customers – Not “Loads”

Global Trends Towards Customer Focus and Cleaner Energy • Listening to the customer • Offering relevant and helpful services• Treating customers individually and not as “loads” or

“ratepayers” • Utilizing consumer trust and rating systems, e.g.,

feedback profiles like on Ebay where customers rate provider

• Utilizing partnerships• Providing greater mix of clean energy in power mix

The Greening of American Utilities − MidAmerican Energy

Additional Resources on the Competitive Advantages of Green Energy Branding

• “Highlights from the World’s First Energy Branding Conference in Iceland,” by Janine Finnell, https://lercpa.org/energy-branding-conference/

• “Capitalizing on Green Energy as a Strategic Branding Tool to Promote Clean Energy Demand and Investment,” by Janine Finnell, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/capitalizing-green-energy-strategic-branding-tool-promote-finnell?trk=mp-reader-card

• “The Greening of American Utilities,” by Janine Finnell and Edie Ann Feigles, https://lercpa.org/greening-american-utilities/

• “It’s Challenging to be Green,” by Dr. Fredrik Larsen, CEO of LarsEn Energy, https://lercpa.org/challenging-to-be-green/

Janine FinnellExecutive Director and Clean Energy AmbassadorLeaders in Energy

www.lercpa.org@Leaders in Energy

Email: CleanEnergyAmbassador@lercpa or jafinnell@yahoo.com

Phone: 703-203-0766

Thank You & My Contact Information