Media Training for Utility Companies
Electric, gas, and water utilities operate under a press light that almost never goes dark. Outages, rate cases, community meetings, and infrastructure events all demand a spokesperson who can deliver warmth, specifics, and regulator-aware accuracy on demand.
Why Utility Companies Need Specialized Media Training
Utilities run on trust — trust that the lights come on, the water is safe, and the gas is delivered without incident. When that trust is tested, the spokesperson becomes the utility's most important asset. Media training for utility companies is the preparation that keeps the spokesperson credible across outages, rate cases, community meetings, and regulatory testimony. This work is led by Jess Todtfeld, a former producer at NBC, ABC, and FOX, the Guinness World Record holder for most media interviews in 24 hours, and a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) who has trained professionals at Fortune 500 companies and regulated utilities.
Outages are where the utility-customer relationship is made or broken. J.D. Power's customer satisfaction research consistently shows that communication quality — not restoration speed — drives the largest differences in customer perception. A line supervisor giving a warm, specific, three-sentence update to a local reporter outperforms a polished statement issued six hours later from corporate communications. Utility spokesperson training builds the muscle for the quick, credible field update.
Rate cases are where regulator, press, and customer audiences converge. Every word an executive says about rates can surface in a PUC hearing, an intervenor's filing, or an advocacy group's press release. Press interview training for utilities rehearses the language that is accurate for the press, compatible with the rate filing, and consistent with what regulatory affairs has already submitted.
FERC testimony and state commission hearings add another layer. A utility executive can be careful in a hearing and reckless in a hallway scrum ten minutes later; both end up in the same file. Training rehearses both settings so the spokesperson's register is consistent under regulatory scrutiny.
Finally, community meetings are a quiet but decisive audience. Pipeline projects, transmission lines, substation siting, and water-treatment upgrades all require community trust that is earned in church basements and high-school auditoriums. On-camera utility training builds the skills to handle both the camera and the angry resident at the microphone.
What Utility Leaders Learn in Media Training
- Deliver warm, specific outage updates from field or operations centers
- Handle rate-case and PUC-adjacent interviews without contradicting regulatory filings
- Navigate FERC testimony and state commission hearings without creating follow-up sound bites
- Manage community meetings on pipelines, transmission, and substation projects
- Communicate during major events — storms, public-safety shutoffs, water advisories — with speed and composure
- Translate grid, pipeline, and treatment concepts into plain customer-facing language
- Coordinate messaging across communications, regulatory affairs, and operations
- Prepare line supervisors and field leaders for local on-camera moments
Common Media Challenges Utility Spokespeople Face
The Storm Outage
A major storm has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands. A local reporter is live at the service center. Rehearse the thirty-second update with the specifics customers need and the warmth the community deserves.
The Rate Case Interview
A commissioner has scheduled a hearing. A consumer advocate is already on the evening news calling the increase unjustified. Practice the calm, responsive, filing-consistent answer that reframes the story without contradicting the submission.
The Public-Safety Power Shutoff
A wildfire-risk shutoff is coming. Customers are angry in advance. Deliver the explanation that acknowledges the inconvenience, describes the safety rationale with specifics, and handles the follow-up questions without defensiveness.
The Community Meeting
A transmission or pipeline project is being proposed in a skeptical community. Rehearse the patient, honest engagement that keeps you accountable while keeping the project on track.
Why Train with Jess Todtfeld
Jess Todtfeld is a former producer at NBC, ABC, and FOX who has booked, produced, and coached thousands of on-camera interviews. He holds a Guinness World Record for the most media interviews in 24 hours and carries the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation — the highest earned credential in professional speaking. He has trained professionals at Fortune 500 companies, regulated industries, nonprofits, and public-sector organizations through high-stakes press cycles.
His training is practical, on-camera, and tailored to the industry. Clients leave with a rehearsed message, a repeatable interview framework, and enough reps to walk into the hit with composure — whether it is a studio segment, a regulatory hearing, a conference keynote, or a hostile reporter at the door.
Frequently Asked Questions
Media training for utility companies prepares executives, field leaders, and communications teams to handle outages, rate cases, community meetings, regulatory testimony, and major events. It emphasizes regulator-aware language, community warmth, and on-camera composure.
A one-day intensive for a single executive typically runs in the mid-to-high four figures. Full-team programs covering communications, operations, and field leaders are quoted per scope and often delivered across multiple service territories.
Yes. Line supervisor and field leader training is a frequent request because local outages are often covered before corporate communications arrives. Training focuses on the short, accurate, warm update.
Yes. Training is coordinated with regulatory affairs counsel so language stays aligned with filings and does not create proceeding exposure.
Training builds the four-part statement — acknowledgment, action, empathy, next step — and rehearses the community-specific follow-up questions utilities reliably face.
Yes. On-site delivery is common, including mock briefings in actual operations centers during drill exercises.
Yes. While outage dynamics differ, the core spokesperson skill set applies across electric, gas, and water — and training is tailored to each.
Most executives and field leaders reach strong on-camera performance after a one-day intensive. Pre-storm-season refreshers are a common practice.
Related Training Programs
- Media training for energy companies
- Crisis media training — for storms, incidents, and shutoffs
- Spokesperson media training
- Our full media training services
Ready to Strengthen Your Utility Spokesperson Bench?
Build the regulator-aware, community-warm, on-camera skills your utility needs for the next storm or rate case.