Chartwell's EMACS Best Practices Awards: Excellence in Customer Transformational Leadership

Transitioning to the new energy ecosystem demands more from utilities and their leadership teams than ever before. Successfully engaging, supporting, and leading utility customers to this new ecosystem requires utilities to embrace customers’ increasing expectations of a seamlessly personalized experience to gain sustainable loyalty and growth. While utilities anticipate future challenges, the exact barriers that the industry will face are unknown.

Chartwell’s Award for Excellence in Customer Transformational Leadership recognizes a utility operating in the United States or Canada that has undertaken groundbreaking efforts to lead its customers and stakeholders toward the clean-energy future, as well as the individuals in executive leadership positions who are the driving force behind those initiatives.

The award will be presented at a ceremony during the 29th annual Chartwell’s EMACS: The Customer Experience Conference, set for September 22-24, 2026 at the Hilton Atlanta.

A Chartwell advisory panel of industry experts and veterans will evaluate entries and select the winner based on the following criteria: 

• Development of a transformational plan to achieve the utility’s stated goals for customer engagement, retention, growth, and loyalty in alignment with enterprise goals. 

• Use of innovative technology or processes to achieve transformational objectives. 

• Empowerment and development of utility employees to enable continuous growth and create an agile workforce. 

• Initiatives undertaken by the utility to achieve a customer-centric culture supporting all stakeholders including customers, employees, community members, and shareholders, if applicable. 

• Key factors contributing to their success include: 

• Customer-centric approach: Placing the customer at the center of their digital strategy. 

• Digital tools and technologies: Leveraging technology to enhance customer experience and provide personalized services. 

• Data-driven decision-making: Using data analytics to understand customer needs and preferences. 

• Proactive communication: Keeping customers informed and engaged through various channels. 

• Continuous improvement: Continuously evaluating and adapting their strategies to meet evolving customer expectations. It’s important to note that customer transformation is an ongoing process, and utilities must continue to innovate and adapt to stay ahead of the curve. 

• Specific examples of strategies, goals, metrics, and achievements related to highlighted initiatives. 

• Articulation of critical learnings and successes to date, as well as significant challenges encountered and overcome. 

(Submissions for 2026 Open March 23rd)

Entries are limited to one per utility.

Some or all of the effort should have been undertaken between January 2025 and the deadline.

Submissions require a detailed description (1,800 words maximum in PDF or Word format) that includes the following:

• A history of the initiative including significant dates, major participants, and target audience.
• The goals and results, including how results were measured.
• The facts and features making the effort innovative and unique.
• How the initiative meets the criteria for the respective award, as outlined above.
• The reason it should win the award.

Utilities may upload supporting components along with the submission form, such as print or digital advertisements, video/audio files, social media posts and photographs.

Chartwell will announce the award winner and coordinate associated marketing with the utility in advance of the EMACS Conference.

Award entries will become the property of Chartwell Inc. and may be displayed or distributed during EMACS or for Chartwell members on Chartwell’s websites.

The award winner will be announced during the EMACS Awards Ceremony and will be recognized in subsequent presentations as well as featured articles in Chartwell’s Insight Center. Images and videos of the winner may be used in Chartwell promotional material.