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Energy and Utility Industry: Best Practices and Trends

What's the current state of the energy and utility industry? How are this industry's services being marketed?

By Josch Chodakowsky, Joanna Fragopoulos    July 9, 2026    

The energy and utility industry is undergoing a massive transformation due to technological shifts — and overdue brand modernization. An integral, and often invisible industry, energy and utilities not only make contemporary life possible; they literally light the way forward for growth across all sectors.

With the influx of anxiety around data center usage and its impact on rising energy bills due to customer needs and technological advancements such as artificial intelligence (AI), cost and affordability are major concerns for both consumers and providers.

Morningstar, unsurprisingly, found that "key themes in 2026 include data center growth, customer bill affordability, and new generation development." In its report, Morningstar also expects "renewable energy to continue growing to meet state mandates and corporate demand regardless of federal policy."

To appeal to consumers more effectively, Experian noted that "utilities may benefit from a more connected view of identity, risk and customer behavior."

Below are insightful resources that provide guidance on marketing for the energy and utility industry.

Trends and Best Practices

Below are the latest resources on trends and best practices relating to the energy and utility industry.

Energy and Utilities Industry Trends 2026 (Experian, February 2026). Utilities are managing elevated arrears, expanding digital service channels, and shifting grid demand-patterns at the same time. These developments are appearing at key points, including service starts, billing, and collections.

For instance, digital expansion introduces new risk considerations, as utilities expand digital service channels and self-service tools. Identity-based fraud risk may appear during digital service starts and account changes, particularly as more interactions shift online. In addition, fraud behaviors are becoming more sophisticated as more complex fraud patterns, including synthetic identities, name game fraud, and prior bad debt, may span multiple points of the customer journey, making risk more difficult to detect.

Utilities 2026 Outlook: Curtain Call or Encore? (Morningstar, January 2026). The utilities sector has had a rollercoaster of performance over the past few years, with 2024 flipping the script from 2023. Last year, utilities enjoyed a 27 percent return. To help investors understand the utilities landscape, Morningstar's researchers outline key themes for 2026, including data centers, customer bill affordability, and renewable energy.

The 2026 utilities outlook analyzes the factors influencing each of these key themes, their potential impact across different states and regions of the U.S., and top utilities stock picks.

2026 Energy and Utilities Industry Outlook (West Monroe, November 2025). This piece provides five key trends shaping energy and utilities in 2026. For instance, data centers and electrification are driving massive load growth, forcing utilities to overhaul planning cycles and grid infrastructure to maintain reliability. Moreover, customer affordability is at a tipping point. Rising rates and capital costs are colliding with customer expectations for choice and control, requiring data-driven affordability strategies and transparent communication.

2026 Power and Utilities Industry Outlook (Deloitte, October 2025). In 2026, the challenge for utilities will be quickly delivering uninterrupted, or "firm," capacity to stressed parts of the grid. Customer affordability will remain a central pressure point as retail prices continue to rise. The passage of the 2025 reconciliation bill rolled back many clean energy incentives, expanded foreign entity of concern restrictions, and narrowed safe-harbor provisions. These changes compress developer timelines and increase compliance needs. To address these challenges, Deloitte's "2026 Power and Utilities Industry Outlook" explores the strategies that utilities can use to respond, such as leveraging smarter systems.

Seven Strategies to Engage Utility Customers (ICF). Electric utilities face a perplexing marketing challenge. We, their customers, do not clamor for their product even though it's essential to our health, comfort, and prosperity. Instead, we take electricity for granted; it's invisible to us. We use it constantly but don't think about it. What we do think about is "a hot shower and cold beer" in the famous words of Amory Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute. We may not care about electrons, but we want the comforts electrons provide.

This problem is nothing new, but it's being discussed now as an array of new, and sometimes perplexing, electricity products beckon to electricity consumers. Green or conventional energy? On-site or grid power? Competitive energy or utility service? Should I join a community aggregation? How about a solar garden? How can I save the most energy: LEDs, energy displays, smart thermostats, or more efficient appliances?

Utilities have more experience and knowledge in maintaining grid health than any other energy players. They can act as our guides in the new landscape, but only if they can capture our attention. So, given that we're indifferent to their product, what can utilities do (short of offering us cold beers) to encourage our engagement? This piece offers seven strategies ICF has found to be successful with utilities.

How Utilities Can Build a Stronger Brand (Questline). Brand appeal is more than just a positive reputation: It's the foundation of utility customer engagement. When customers trust and value their utility, they are more likely to participate in programs, support rate changes, and feel satisfied with their service. To explore how utilities can build stronger brands, Questline Digital spoke with marketers from two of the country's top-ranked utilities in brand reputation to learn their strategies and success stories.

Examples

Below are examples of marketing successfully to energy and utility consumers.

Authentic Energy Leadership Beyond Greenwashing (ANA, July 2025). LS Power partnered with Prophecy to transform from a fragmented organization into a unified, modern energy leader by embracing its authentic mission: "solving complex energy problems to improve the world." Rather than relying on greenwashing, LS Power owned its full-spectrum energy expertise with confidence. The rebrand included a dynamic logo symbolizing an infinite loop of problem-solving, bold orange branding, and integrated marketing vehicles that positioned LS Power as honest leaders tackling real energy transition challenges, resulting in 84 percent logo favorability and enhanced employee engagement.

National Grid Promotes Energy Efficiency (ANA, July 2024). National Grid undertook a multi-year campaign to encourage its customers to pursue greater energy efficiency. Also from National Grid: How National Grid Positioned Energy Efficiency as a Business Opportunity.

This Brand Won New Business by Encouraging Consumers to Take Small Steps with Energy Efficiency (ANA, June 2024). Rhode Island Energy (RIE) was a newly formed utility company serving thousands of commercial customers. To help drive awareness of the brand and inform customers of its energy-efficiency programs, RIE created a multi-channel campaign that encouraged prospects to take small steps toward more efficient and ethical energy use.

FirstEnergy's "Light the Way" Campaign Aimed to Build Trust (ANA, June 2024). Energy is a relatively low-interest, low-engagement category for customers. But FirstEnergy is offering more than just energy — the company aims to be a catalyst, "Lighting the Way" for the livelihoods of the communities it serves. Its campaign not only delivered significant customer engagement but also contributed to a larger halo of positive sentiment and rebuilt trust for FirstEnergy. Also from FirstEnergy: How This Company Promoted Drone Safety Through Gaming.

Last updated July 2026.