Alabama Power summer outreach efforts empowering customers, helping communities

Reliability. Community engagement. Providing customers with tools to help control energy use and reduce costs. This summer, special outreach efforts in Greene, Sumter, and Marengo counties have brought that “energy that matters” message to customers aged 55 and over in Alabama Power‘s Western Division.

The division’s efforts have been spearheaded by Community Relations Manager Diane Brooker and Community Development Specialist Leah Banks. Targeting both senior citizens groups and the more general audience of “55-plus” customers, Banks said they have found audiences who were “enthusiastic, asked thoughtful questions, and were very appreciative of the opportunity to learn more about what Alabama Power is doing in their community.”

In June, Banks spoke to 18 members of the Eutaw Senior Citizens group. She demonstrated tools like My Power Usage, Rate Advisor, and Budget Billing, and shared simple, practical tips for managing uses, including changing air filters, sealing air leaks in windows and doors, and keeping a regular check on thermostat settings. As “a reminder that small steps toward efficiency can brighten your home,” she handed out energy efficient light bulbs as a “party favor.”

Banks reminded the group of Alabama Power’s pledge to keep customer rates steady through 2027, and of the things Alabama Power employees do every day to deliver reliable service that meets the needs of customers and communities throughout the state.

“We talked about what ‘energy that matters’ really means for Alabama Power,” recalled Banks. “How we work every day to be reliable, and what that means in rural areas where there are long stretches of power lines, heavy tree cover, and frequent storms that can make reliability challenging. They were interested to hear about the smart grid technology that’s helping us detect and prevent outages more quickly.”

More recently, on August 4, Brooker and Banks spoke to 52 attendees at the Cuba Golden Friends meeting at Cuba Baptist Church. Leading the discussion, Brooker covered a range of topics of interest to the group. She explained the primary causes of power outages, noting that with approximately 42 percent of Alabamians living in rural areas and nearly 70 percent of the state forested, trees rank number one.

“Alabama experiences some of the most severe storms in the Southeast,” observed Brooker. “That requires strong energy infrastructure and rapid restoration capabilities, which adds to the level of challenges storms present. Despite that, Alabama Power maintains a reliability rate of 99 percent.”

Brooker pointed the seniors to the Alabama Power app and online tools designed to help manage energy usage and better align bills with household budgets and fixed incomes. The audience was especially interested in the outage map available at alabamapower.com, which gives users the ability to track outages and obtain estimated restoration times; there were numerous comments about the map’s usefulness to customers in their age group.

Brooker also highlighted the recent “Safe-T-Zone” training Alabama Power hosted for first responders and city workers in Sumter County and surrounding areas. The training focused on working safely in the vicinity of downed power lines and resulting outages.

Completing the program, Banks updated the group on community involvement through the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO), the employee volunteer program. That included APSO’s longstanding Adopt-A-School partnership with York West End Elementary School, where a recently completed service project helped fourth graders learn about pollination and environmental stewardship. Also highlighted were the efforts of a single APSO volunteer who dedicated more than 60 hours to re-sodding the softball field at University Charter School, in Livingston.

The meeting concluded with a Q&A session that covered topics ranging from billing options such as Budget Billing and FlatBill to potential opportunities for additional tree trimming in areas within the local community.

In addition to the events targeting senior citizens, Brooker spoke to the Demopolis Rotary Club in July. Her remarks focused most specifically on the money-saving ideas and opportunities accessible to customers through Alabama Power’s app and online tools. The response was much the same as among the seniors in terms of interest and enthusiasm, Brooker reported, with at least 10 people downloading the app while at the meeting.

Reflecting on the division’s outreach efforts, Banks said the curiosity and responsiveness of attendees indicate the importance of direct outreach into the communities served by Alabama Power. It helps the company do its job better, while meeting the needs of customers and communities.

“Each meeting turned into a great conversation,” said Banks. “We talked — and heard — about reliability, customer tools, and community partnership. These are wonderful examples of how Alabama Power’s work is about more than electricity.

“It’s about people. And it’s about helping communities.”