Mutual Assistance for Customer Experience: Building the Next Utility Mutual Aid Network
Utilities have long relied on mutual assistance to restore power after major events, but no comparable model exists for sharing customer experience professionals during surges in customer demand. This session explores the emerging concept of Mutual Assistance for Customer Experience (MA for CX), developed through collaboration among utility customer, communications, operations, and emergency management leaders. Panelists will discuss why traditional overflow models fall short, the operational and governance considerations involved, lessons from one of the industry’s first multi-utility tabletop exercises, and the roadmap toward pilot implementations. Attendees will gain practical insights into strengthening customer support, organizational resilience, and industry collaboration during any high-impact customer event.
Panelists:
- Stephenie Howard, Vice President of Customer Strategy & Platform Development, CenterPoint Energy
Stephanie has over 25 years’ experience in the Utility Industry supporting and leading engineering, construction, analytics and customer service organizations. In her current role she serves as business owner for CenterPoint Energy’s customer and agent facing technologies along with a number of customer support functions such as QA, Workforce Management, and Rapid Resolutions. During her career, she has held various roles in business process design, testing, and program management for 6 major SAP implementation projects, Web and IVR Design implementations, and most recently CNP’s new Outage Tracker solution. Stephenie is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering.
- Michael Williams, Utility Advisory Services and Business Development, DataCapable
Michael Williams spent over 15 years at Southern California Edison in several capacities, including outage management and PSPS operations — high-impact events that push contact centers to their limits. He led customer journey transformation during these events, aligning customer engagement, digital channels, and field response to deliver consistent communication under pressure. Now with Thrive Advisors, Michael helps utilities optimize processes and deploy solutions that strengthen performance and build lasting customer trust.
- Sandy Buzzard, Chief Customer Communication Officer, DataCapable
Sandy Buzzard, MBA brings over 15 years of utility experience from Duke Energy, with a focus on customer communications and self-service customer applications. She has deep expertise in the challenges IOUs face when managing customer and stakeholder expectations—especially during high-pressure events. Sandy leverages this experience to provide a unique, utility-informed perspective to DataCapable customers, helping them integrate innovative technologies, AI, and customer data into practical, cost-effective solutions that enhance customer satisfaction and drive measurable ROI.
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