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Leading Through Energy Affordability: When Love Is a Business Strategy (S5:E6)
What if the most radical thing a utility could do right now isn't build more infrastructure — it's decide that how it cares for customers is just as important as how it powers their homes?
Utibe Bassey grew up in Lagos, Nigeria without reliable power. Today she is Vice President of Customer Experience at Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest utility. She brings to that role a personal philosophy she calls Love as a KPI — the idea that love, defined not as sentiment but as a genuine commitment to the greatest good of another person, can be taught, measured, and operationalized. In this conversation, Utibe speaks both as a utility leader navigating one of the most challenging affordability moments in recent memory, and as a thinker who believes the human dimension of this work is not separate from the business case — it is the business case.
In this episode:
- Why there's no single message that works for every customer — and how to think about what actually resonates with the person in front of you
- How Dominion embeds empathy across its entire organization, from call center training to website copy to leadership modeling
- What it actually took to put contact center agents live on the news — and why the team was already ready
- How grace, one of the five indicators of Love as a KPI, shows up within the real constraints of rate structures and collection policies
- Why every Dominion employee is a de facto community ambassador, and how the company equips them for it
- What love-led leadership looks like in the age of AI — and why the human dimension will matter more, not less
- The one shift Utibe would ask of every utility leader navigating this affordability moment
Referenced in this podcast: VIDEO: How do we express Love through business?
About our guest, Utibe Bassey: Utibe is Vice President of Customer Experience at Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest utility. dominionenergy.com; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/utbassey/
About our host, Carolyn Parrs: Carolyn is a Senior Strategic Communications Leader and the CEO of Mind Over Markets. mindovermarkets.com; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolynparrs/
Just Power Podcast is about the human side of the clean energy transition. The podcast focuses on grid modernization, energy affordability, and community engagement — featuring leaders from utilities, policy, technology, and frontline communities navigating the real-world impacts of energy infrastructure change.
🔔 Never Miss an Episode of This Series! Subscribe Now.
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheJustPowerPodcast?sub_confirmation=1
💖 Spread the Love
Like, comment, and share this episode with a friend, policymaker, or energy provider who needs to hear this.
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New Mexico State University Microlearning
Mind Over Markets
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By Carolyn ParrsWhat if the most radical thing a utility could do right now isn't build more infrastructure — it's decide that how it cares for customers is just as important as how it powers their homes?
Utibe Bassey grew up in Lagos, Nigeria without reliable power. Today she is Vice President of Customer Experience at Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest utility. She brings to that role a personal philosophy she calls Love as a KPI — the idea that love, defined not as sentiment but as a genuine commitment to the greatest good of another person, can be taught, measured, and operationalized. In this conversation, Utibe speaks both as a utility leader navigating one of the most challenging affordability moments in recent memory, and as a thinker who believes the human dimension of this work is not separate from the business case — it is the business case.
In this episode:
- Why there's no single message that works for every customer — and how to think about what actually resonates with the person in front of you
- How Dominion embeds empathy across its entire organization, from call center training to website copy to leadership modeling
- What it actually took to put contact center agents live on the news — and why the team was already ready
- How grace, one of the five indicators of Love as a KPI, shows up within the real constraints of rate structures and collection policies
- Why every Dominion employee is a de facto community ambassador, and how the company equips them for it
- What love-led leadership looks like in the age of AI — and why the human dimension will matter more, not less
- The one shift Utibe would ask of every utility leader navigating this affordability moment
Referenced in this podcast: VIDEO: How do we express Love through business?
About our guest, Utibe Bassey: Utibe is Vice President of Customer Experience at Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest utility. dominionenergy.com; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/utbassey/
About our host, Carolyn Parrs: Carolyn is a Senior Strategic Communications Leader and the CEO of Mind Over Markets. mindovermarkets.com; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolynparrs/
Just Power Podcast is about the human side of the clean energy transition. The podcast focuses on grid modernization, energy affordability, and community engagement — featuring leaders from utilities, policy, technology, and frontline communities navigating the real-world impacts of energy infrastructure change.
🔔 Never Miss an Episode of This Series! Subscribe Now.
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheJustPowerPodcast?sub_confirmation=1
💖 Spread the Love
Like, comment, and share this episode with a friend, policymaker, or energy provider who needs to hear this.
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
New Mexico State University Microlearning
Mind Over Markets
LinkedIn