Nashville Electric ServiceOur Social Media Experiment

About NES

• One of the 12 largest public electric utilities in the nation

• Buy power from the Tennessee Valley Authority

• Serve more than 355,000 customers within a 700 square mile area

• Revenues of $1 billion each year

NES on Twitter

“The messaging system we didn't know we needed until we had it.”

NES on Twitter

• Launched http://twitter.com/nespower on March 2, 2009– One month later NES had 170 followers– Current Stats

• NES has 912 followers

• and NES is following 770 profiles

NES on Twitter

• Who is following us?– Residents– Businesses and non-profit organizations– Other electric utilities across the country– Media outlets/news reporters– Energy consultants– Green/environmental organizations

NES on Twitter

• What are we posting about?– Conservation tips– Promoting NES programs– Directing people to the NES website– Power outage information– Linking to new “how to” videos– General NES news– Answering questions on the NES Twitter feed

NES on Twitter

• NES Call Center Problems– Our call center is experiencing problems, and

you may have trouble reaching us by phone. We are working diligently to fix the problem.

– If you need assistance right away you can send us a direct message.

– Our phones are back up and running. Thanks for your patience.

NES on Twitter

• Street Light Issue– Thanks for the heads up about the streetlight.

We’ll send out a crew to repair it.– Also, NES has an online form to report street

light problems. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/kv7pla.

NES on Twitter

• Power Outage Updates– It sounds like you have been in touch with

someone regarding your power outage, but please let us know if we can help.

– 17,000 people were without power at some point last night. About 1,000 now.

– About 1,000 people still without power. NES crews are working to restore power as quickly as possible.

NES on Twitter

• Monitoring– Daily searches to see what people are saying

about NES in their posts.• Search by keywords (NESpower, NES, Nashville

Electric Service, Nashville power out, NES bill)

• Not a lot of negative information out there

NES on Twitter

• Posts from some of our followers:– AuntBShut up! Not only can I pay my power bill online

in a pleasant and easy manner, @NESpower has a twitter feed and thanked me. Cool.

– catalystrxn@auntb Well, that's pretty cool! I think @nespower's customer svc on twitter is surprising in a good way!

– mmasseur8@nespower it's cool to see a utility using Twitter. Are there others like you that get it?

– energythoughtsNES is certainly ahead of the curve.

NES on Twitter

• Looking Ahead– Adding a social media section to the current

Crisis Communications Plan– Providing detailed training for Corporate

Communications staff

NES on Facebook

• Launched “Edison’s Conservation Corner” on March 23, 2009 – Went live with www.facebook.com/NESpower

one month later on April 23, 2009– NES currently has 231 fans

NES on Facebook

• Who are our fans?

Age Group Male Female Total

41% 59%

13-17 0% 0% 0%

18-24 5% 6% 11%

25-34 8% 18% 26%

35-44 12% 10% 22%

45-54 10% 14% 24%

55+ 6% 11% 17%

NES on Facebook

• What do we use it for?– Posting news– Sharing conservation tips– Providing links to NES website– Posting photos and videos– Posing questions to spark discussion

NES on YouTube

• Launched YouTube page on June 30, 2009 www.youtube.com/user/NashvilleElectric– Channel Views: 227– Videos Posted: 8– Subscribers: 2

NES Online

• Promoting Social Media Channels– Bill Stuffers– Customer Newsletter– Links on NES website– Twitter & Facebook icons on homepage– Cross referencing among three sites– Word of mouth/Viral networking

NES Online

• Security Issues/Problems– Twitter

• Anyone can follow us, but we do patrol for spammers

– Facebook• Cannot control who becomes a fan or what

comments are posted

• No problems with negative/inappropriate posts

NES Online

• Behind-the-Scenes Strategies– Staff time to manage all 3 accounts

• About an hour per day

– All news releases go to Social Media account manager prior to releasing them to the media

– Major stories announced on Twitter first

Laurie ParkerNashville Electric ServiceEmail: lparker@nespower.comWeb site: www.nespower.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/nespowerFacebook: www.facebook.com/NESpowerYouTube: www.youtube.com/NashvilleElectric