"This Messaging Guru Is Helping Utilities Clean Up Their Appearance"

"The industry’s new crisis communications expert advocates “reputation management.”"

"The U.S. utility industry, beset by stricter pollution regulations and market forces that have made renewable energy more competitive, is seeking to rebrand itself into something more appealing to the public.

CEOs of many of the country’s major utilities met at a January board meeting of the Edison Electric Institute, the trade organization representing investor-owned electric companies. The institute revealed that it has hired a communications consultant who will help utilities upgrade their image. That includes shifting language, for example, from “utility-scale solar” to something friendlier, like “community solar.”

“What we are seeing is generally a lot of negative attacks on our industry,” Brian Wolff, EEI’s executive vice president for public policy and external affairs, said at the meeting. Those attacks, he said, include ads that are “designed to harm our industry” and “create more distance between our companies and customers.”

The Huffington Post obtained a full audio recording of the meeting and a transcript from a source who was present."

Kate Sheppard reports for the Huffington Post March 29, 2016.