E Source is pleased to announce the winners of the 15th annual Utility Ad Awards Contest. During a special session at the E Source Forum 2023, the winning utilities displayed their impressive results related to brand awareness, website traffic, and program participation.

E Source tasked an independent group of judges with identifying 12 winners from over 100 campaigns, based on messaging, creativity, results, call to action or brand connection, and overall impression. The judges chose the top two utilities within the following categories.

Energy efficiency and demand response programs

  • First place: Ameren Illinois for its “Matt at Home” campaign
  • Second place: PNM for its “Check with PNM” campaign

Solar, storage, EVs, and electrification

  • First place: Tennessee Valley Authority for its “In Charge: Life with an Electric Vehicle Season 2” campaign
  • Second place: Duke Energy for its “EV Garage 2022” campaign

Safety and emergency or outage communications

  • First place: FirstEnergy for its “FirstEnergy Drone Safety” campaign
  • Second place: SoCalGas for its “Safety Call Before You Dig” campaign

Brand

  • First place: Tampa Electric for its “Reliability” campaign
  • Second place: Otter Tail Power Co. for its “Power you can count on” campaign

Home energy management and smart home

  • First place: LG&E and KU for its “Energy Efficiency Friendly Reminders” campaign
  • Second place: Ameren Missouri for its “Power To Be Me” campaign

Self-service (bill pay, start or stop service, etc.)

  • First place: BGE for its “Power to Take Charge” campaign
  • Second place: Tampa Electric for its “New Technology” campaign

In addition, E Source presented the Crowd-Pleaser Award to takeCHARGE, a joint partnership between Newfoundland Power and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, for the “Go Everywhere in an EV” campaign. Facebook users voted by visiting the E Source Facebook page and “liking” their favorite video advertisement.

See the Utility Ad Awards Contest winners and learn more about the winning campaigns.

“Congratulations to the outstanding winners of the 2023 Utility Ad Awards Contest,” says Hailey Gish, senior product strategist of marketing and communications at E Source. “This contest is meant to contribute to marketers’ personal and professional growth, while also inspiring innovation and creativity in the utility industry. Each campaign has redefined excellence in utility marketing by authentically connecting with customers, understanding their needs, and embodying empathy. Your triumph underscores the pivotal role of building relationships with customers and inspiring them to be part of a sustainable future. Kudos for your commitment to innovation in marketing and communications!”

E Source would like to thank this year’s judges: A.J. Schmitz, creative director at Progressive Marketing Group; Joshua Olmstead, digital marketing consultant at Paper City Digital; Tracy Gehrts, brand campaign manager at JobsOhio; and Dan Mees, founder of Mees Communications.

Utilities and agencies submitted ads for the annual contest via E Source Energy AdVision, a robust database of utility marketing and advertising campaigns. Through Energy AdVision, members of the E Source Business Marketing, Residential Marketing, or Corporate Communications Services can see detailed background information on media type, campaign strategy, ad placement, intended audience, tracking methods, and results. To set up a demo of Energy AdVision or learn more about E Source marketing and communications offerings, contact us.

About E Source

E Source blends industry-leading research, predictive data science, and solution services to help utilities make better decisions to support their customers, their bottom line, and our planet. With a data-first approach and a commitment to practical innovation, we use more than three decades of utility-focused experience and our unique solution set to help clients achieve their goal of becoming a Sustainable Utility. E Source is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, with offices across the US.

Contributing Authors

Director, Marketing

Sannie Sieper is responsible for leading the marketing, event, and member communications for E Source. She is passionate about marketing...