The Question Is No Longer Whether AI Can Participate in Outage Communications
Content
For decades, utilities have built outage communications processes around one fundamental assumption: when the lights go out, people call us.
But what if the future looks completely different?
Imagine an outage management ecosystem where AI is the first point of contact for virtually every customer interaction. Before the first customer calls, AI has already identified the outage by analyzing AMI data, OMS information, weather feeds, and even social media activity.
When customers do reach out, AI handles the interaction across every channel:
- Telephone
- SMS texting
- Web chat
- Mobile apps
- Social media
It can collect outage reports, answer questions, provide restoration updates, create and update outage maps, generate estimated restoration times, post social media updates, notify internal staff, and proactively communicate with affected customers—all in real time.
Many small and medium-sized utilities don’t have overnight operations staff monitoring every customer interaction. During major storm events, thousands of inquiries can arrive within minutes, overwhelming even well-prepared teams. This is where AI becomes more than a productivity tool. It becomes a force multiplier.
The economics are simple: every time a human agent must manually answer a routine outage question, update a communication channel, or collect basic outage information, costs increase and response times lengthen.
Human expertise remains essential, but the future role of utility staff may not be at the front end of outage communications. It may be at the back end: reviewing exceptions, managing complex situations, providing oversight, and making critical operational decisions. The technology to do much of this already exists. The question is no longer whether AI can participate in outage communications.
The question is: how much of the process should it own?
Is your utility actively thinking about an AI-first approach to outage communications?
And if not, why not?
Image Text
John McClean
John McClean is Director of Business Development at Util-Assist, bringing nearly 40 years of experience in electric utility operations. He previously served as VP of Centralized Operations Services at Alectra Utilities, where he led outage management and emergency preparedness efforts and helped shape major provincial emergency plans, including the OPSRP and OEEP.
Want to continue the conversation?
Reach out to John directly at jmcclean@util-assist.com