Lessons Learned at Chartwell 2025: The Line Between Operations and Customer Is Blurring
“What is the number one data element customers are most concerned about?”
That was the question raised during one of the mega-sessions at Chartwell 2025, posed to one of the largest utilities on the planet.
The answer wasn’t a surprise, but it’s had me thinking a lot about where our industry is headed.
A Conference That Brings Both Sides Together
For those who haven’t attended, Chartwell’s EMACS and PowerUp conferences are unique. They’re not just another technology showcase or benchmarking event. They’re one of the few places where outage managers, customer-experience strategists, field operations leaders, and digital transformation executives all sit at the same table.
Utilities have plenty of conferences that focus on specific domains, JD Power, IUCX, DistribuTECH, and others, but Chartwell brings both sides of the business together. It’s where people, process, and technology meet in real time. And it’s that cross-functional energy that’s shaping the next era of the utility industry.
The days of siloed departments are gone. The wall between operations and the customer has dissolved. In its place, we’re seeing an entirely new structure emerge, an IT-centric model where the customer team isn’t a separate function; it’s the core of utility operations.
Why the Shift Is Happening
During this year’s show, the DataCapable team was showcasing our Customer-Facing Outage and Event Map and Community Portal. Again and again, conversations circled back to the same truth: customers and stakeholders are no longer just asking for more data during major events — they’re expecting it.
Transparency isn’t optional anymore; in many jurisdictions, it’s becoming regulated.
Map performance is an expectation. Data accuracy is measured. Update frequency is monitored. These aren’t aspirational goals, they’re requirements.
That shift presents an enormous opportunity. For DataCapable, it means applying advanced software engineering and AI to help utilities meet these expectations while keeping communication personal, timely, and accurate. But behind all of this change, there’s one acronym driving the industry conversation: ETR, Estimated Time of Restoration.
Back to That Question
The number one data element customers care most about today is accuracy. Not speed. Not web design. Accuracy.
Accuracy is the foundation of trust between a utility and its customers. When someone refreshes an outage map or checks for updates during a storm, they’re not simply looking for information, they’re looking for reassurance.
An accurate ETR builds confidence that the utility understands the situation and is working toward resolution. An inaccurate one, even if delivered quickly, erodes that trust almost instantly.
That’s why ETR accuracy has become the single most important metric for the customer experience during outage events. It’s also why the line between operations and customer communication continues to blur. Delivering an accurate ETR isn’t just a customer-care function anymore, it’s an operational one.
Utilities that get this right aren’t just improving satisfaction scores; they’re redefining the customer relationship.
Where We Go From Here
The utility of the future is one where data moves as freely between systems as it does between people, where outage intelligence, weather models, field data, and customer insights are unified to create a single, trusted story.
That’s the direction we’re all moving toward. And the conversations happening at Chartwell prove that the industry is ready. The next generation of outage communication will be built on transparency, accuracy, and collaboration, values that connect the field to the customer in ways we’ve never seen before.
If there’s one takeaway from Chartwell 2025, it’s this:
Operations and customer experience aren’t two halves of a business anymore. They’re one continuous, connected mission, keeping communities informed, confident, and safe.
And that’s exactly where DataCapable is focused: helping utilities turn real-time data into human-centered communication that builds lasting trust.
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About the Author: Zac Canders
Zac Canders is a seasoned expert in the utility industry with 20 years of experience, specializing in business process improvement and IT strategy. With an MBA and Project Management Professional Certification, he excels in leveraging emerging technologies to enhance safety and optimize data sharing in the energy sector. Zac's extensive skill set includes product management, software project management, and management consulting, making him a valuable partner to leading consulting firms and major utilities like Accenture, Deloitte, and PG&E.
