Enhancing Outage Communications with Artificial Intelligence
By Russ Henderson, Director of Research
At Chartwell’s PowerUp 2025 Conference in Dallas, utility leaders explored how artificial intelligence is transforming outage response, customer experience, and operational efficiency.
The session, “Enhancing Outage Communications with Artificial Intelligence,” featured three Chartwell Best Practices Award winners whose innovative use of AI is already producing measurable results:
Tampa Electric — Bronze Outage Communications Award
Jordan McDonald, Manager of Digital Customer Experience, shared how TECO used AI to analyze social media sentiment in real time during the 2024 hurricane season, helping communicators better understand and respond to customer needs.
👉 Read about TECO’s bronze award-winning initiative in this case study: Tampa Electric’s Holistic Approach to Outage Communications
San Diego Gas & Electric — Gold Outage Operations Award
Joaquin Sebastian Peral, Wildfire Risk Analytics Manager, discussed SDG&E’s Wildfire Next Generation System (WiNGS), which applies AI-driven predictive modeling to deliver targeted Public Safety Power Shutoff alerts and reduce unnecessary disruptions.
👉 Read about SDG&E’s gold award-winning initiative in this case study: Web Platform Equips SDG&E With Real-Time Data to Mitigate Wildfire Risks and PSPS Events
Alabama Power — Innovative Use of AI in Customer Feedback Analysis
Wayne Boone, Principal, IT, described how the company is developing AI-powered tools to streamline outage communications analytics and survey logic, turning vast amounts of customer feedback into actionable insight.
The discussion walked through the why, the what, and the so what of each initiative, highlighting the problems these utilities set out to solve, the AI solutions they built, and the measurable results they’ve achieved.
Together, these award-winning utilities demonstrated that AI in outage communications isn’t just a future goal but a present reality, driving meaningful change across the industry.
As utilities navigate the convergence of technology, customer expectations, and resilience, Chartwell’s research provides a data-driven foundation for decision-making. By highlighting successful applications like those shared in this panel, Chartwell continues to guide the industry toward a future where communication during outages is smarter, faster, and more customer-centric.
To learn more about the Outage Communications Leadership Council, please get in touch with Tim Herrick.
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