Outage Communications for Business Customers – Strategies for Meeting Expectations
As expectations rise among commercial and industrial customers, outage communications are becoming a defining element of the business customer experience. This panel brings together leaders from midsize business and key account management to explore how utilities are tailoring outage communications to meet the needs of diverse business segments. Topics include proactive outreach, account-based communication strategies, coordination during major events, and aligning outage communications with broader customer relationship management efforts. Panelists will share practical approaches to improving transparency, minimizing disruption, and strengthening trust with business customers when it matters most.
Moderated by: Jennifer Gary, Senior Consultant, Chartwell, Inc.
Jennifer Gary is an experienced utility industry professional specializing in customer communications, stakeholder engagement, and outage response strategy. Throughout her career, she has led initiatives focused on enhancing customer experience, strengthening operational communications, and supporting cross-functional collaboration across the energy sector.
As Chartwell’s Senior Consultant for the Outage Communications Leadership Council (OCLC), Jennifer partners with utility leaders across North America to facilitate industry collaboration, share emerging best practices, and drive conversations around outage preparedness, crisis communications, and customer engagement. She is passionate about helping utilities build trust, improve resiliency, and deliver exceptional customer experiences during both everyday operations and emergency events.
Panelists:
- Steve Daulton, Midsize Business Account Manager, SRP
Steve is a seasoned utility leader with nearly 30 years of experience at Salt River Project (SRP). He currently serves as Midsize Business Account Manager, leading a team that supports more than 2,800 commercial customers. Steve brings deep expertise in metering, field operations, and safety, with a strong track record in process improvement and cross-functional collaboration. He is known for developing future journeymen and emerging leaders, as well as advancing rebate and sustainability initiatives. Combining hands-on technical knowledge with clear, impactful communication, Steve focuses on strengthening customer engagement and delivering measurable results across SRP’s operations.
- Tomaso Giannelli, Principal Key Account Manager, Georgia Power
Tomaso is a Key Account Manager for Georgia Power’s largest customers in Savannah and Coastal Georgia. Tomaso has more than 20 of experience at two of the largest electric utilities in the United States, much of it focused on serving business customers. During his tenure at Southern California Edison, he had the opportunity to work in several offices and departments. Through discipline and dedication, he ascended through the ranks from meter reader to senior manager. In his current role at Georgia Power, Tomaso is a Key Account Manager and Team Lead in Savannah and Southeast Georgia.
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