It’s been two years since President Trump announced plans for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. And while Congress continues to battle it out on how to proceed, utilities across the nation continue to step up and strengthen their commitment to a clean energy future, announcing ambitious goals for carbon reduction. Just last year, Xcel Energy became the first to announce plans to go carbon free by 2050. And the climate commitments keep coming.
There is a clear-cut business case for why utilities are choosing a path toward clean energy. Renewable sources and energy efficiency programs can be more cost-effective than traditional, fossil fuel sources. Furthermore, customer preferences indicate a desire to move toward renewables. And these types of investment can help influence JDP scores, especially around improving customer satisfaction.
For customers, climate concerns are driving day-to-day decision making. A majority of consumers believe that our energy consumption today will impact future generations. It's why more and more individuals are choosing environmentally friendly products and services, including energy efficient products and energy from renewable sources. Climate change is viewed as one of the most important issues our world is facing, and customers care how their utility is investing to improve this crisis.
Utilities recognize the business case and understand customer preferences are shifting, but there is still hesitancy to shout clean energy efforts from the rooftops. There continues to be risk aversion to taking a strong position on polarizing topics such as climate change. It comes down to creating internal alignment on how to best convey your message.
We recently partnered with National Grid to do just that. As part of their clean energy transition plan outlined in the Northeast 80x50 Pathway, National Grid has made a number of commitments from integrating renewable energy into the grid, investing in EV infrastructure, and piloting innovative energy projects, with the common goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. The challenge was to create awareness among customers of these efforts.
Through customer research and creative testing, we helped National Grid develop a campaign that resonated with customers in a meaningful way while remaining authentic to the brand. The output of the campaign is a message touching on the challenge we as humankind are facing, and how through our collective efforts we can help be a part of the solution. If you missed the full video in last week's blog post, check it out here.
What role can KSV play in your clean energy communication plan? Whether it's facilitating internal alignment on how to approach this topic or developing a research plan to ensure your message will resonate with customers, get in touch today to see how we can help.