The 2018 California wildfires underscored disproportionate environmental and health burdens in disadvantaged communities. We explore the energy-health nexus by asking, ‘what actions are required to ready our most vulnerable communities for climate change?’…

Rallying around aggressive carbon reduction goals means big changes. But how can our industry change when we cling to the familiar? Read the magazine article

Climate change and social and environmental injustice is inspiring all of us to become better energy citizens. But is our industry ready to take on the difficult work of centering communities? Read the…

Sometimes approaching research with the standards of evaluation can be costly and deliver fewer valuable insights when other research methods might be better suited for nascent offerings. Read the magazine article

The West Coast gets a lot of attention when it comes to beneficial electrification, but other parts of the country are making important strides to move away from carbon-generated electricity. Read the magazine…

As U.S. automobile manufacturers prepare for an all-electric future, we can’t help but ask the question: are domestic battery companies positioned to meet our needs? Read the magazine article

Addressing inequality requires that we test our own assumptions. Our data-viz team uncovers patterns and clusters of information using GIS tools to inform program participation and reduce adoption barriers. Read the magazine article

Learn how Puerto Rico and other islands have deployed technologies like microgrids and solar and storage to meet their renewable energy goals while creating resiliency in the face of climate catastrophes. Read the…

What go-to-market models are needed to drive adoption of DERs and maximize their grid benefits? Here’s how smart thermostats are providing important learnings for scaling DER adoption and increasing program participation. Read the…

We have seen a shift in innovation away from smart device hardware and toward a more connected infrastructure. With so many companies pivoting into this space, what will an energy ecosystem enable? Read…

Electric vehicles made their debut during the era of the horse and buggy! In honor of more than a century of EVs, we dug into automobile archives in search of forgotten history. Read…

Are you going to be underwater or sweating it out? We break down data from the ND-GAIN Urban Adaptation Assessment to map how five U.S. cities are preparing for climate change. Read the…

We kick-off our 2020 magazine, Ingenuity and Resilience, by framing two truths that we must contend with to design the policies, programs, and interventions necessary to ready our communities for climate change. Read…

Everyone is talking about EVs, but ownership is limited to a few. In this article, we talk about EV affordability as cities and states pursue aggressive climate mandates. Read the magazine article

ILLUME Co-Founder Anne Dougherty sits down with Val Jensen to talk about his role as Vice President of Strategy & Policy at Exelon Utilities, the utility of the future, equity, and connected communities.…

CenterPoint has long been interested in an energy efficiency dashboard. How does a utility, operating across multiple verticals, create an intelligence platform for decision making? Read the magazine article

As our homes get smarter, utilities can offer ways to meet customer expectations and provide seamless participation in DR programs. Here are some technologies offering new load management opportunities. Read the magazine article

We are proud to share the second volume of ILLUME’s annual publication, Ingenuity and Resilience, as we take on the most pressing topic of our time: climate change. Read the magazine    …

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are putting customers back in the driver’s seat. Here are five ways we can meet customer needs while balancing the needs of the grid. Read the magazine article

Asking would-be participants to navigate offerings in a language that is not their own is like getting invited to a dinner party where you don’t feel welcome. So how do we ensure our…

Our nation, and our organizations, are contending with failed equity policies. To remedy historic and structural wrongs, we need a roadmap. Read the magazine article

ILLUME sits down with Visceral Change’s Sherard Robbins to talk candidly about diversity, equity, and inclusion and reflect on the hard truths of 2020. Read the magazine article

Rather than treating the pandemic as an outlier, states should look to the pandemic as a dry run for devastating, and costly, future climate disasters. Read the magazine article

The year 2020 was marked by a global pandemic, racial injustice, and climate change. This is the journey of how ILLUME advised our industry through a year of uncertainty. Read the magazine article

The year 2020 was marked by disasters. In this article, we look back at history as we reflect on past environmental disasters and the major changes in policy that followed. Read the magazine…

The pandemic elevated public health back into the national conversation. How will utilities continue to value, reframe, and extol the many measurable public health and safety benefits of our industry after COVID-19 recedes?…

In this article we take a closer look at ways utilities and the private sector are being called upon to generate smart, pro-social, and more forward-thinking business and policy strategies to mitigate the…

Rooting out bias from our industry’s lexicon requires intention. Here we explore a framework to shift commonly-used phrases from harmful framing to more dignifying language. Read the magazine article

Participatory design can help utilities gather input from a wide range of stakeholders before offerings hit the market. Here’s a step-by-step guide. Read the magazine article

As utility customers grow increasingly diverse, our industry has an opportunity to evolve how we outreach and communicate with our customers. Here are a few strategies to get the conversation started. Read the…

Program evaluation has largely been the tail wagging the dog. But for emerging and pilot initiatives, evaluation can also play a strong research and information support role. Here’s how. Read the magazine article

Learn how DTE partnered with ILLUME to develop a customer-centric model to discover smart home offerings, test customer responses, and show savings potential. Read the magazine article

Innovating shouldn’t feel like trying to pry open a black box. We explore go-to research approaches to help utilities uncover new markets and expand program offerings. READ THE MAGAZINE ARTICLE

Frugal, socially-conscious, and born online, Generation Z deviates from Millennials and other generations in key ways. Here are six things you should know about Gen Z. Read the magazine article

Utilities are turning to rate reform to manage peak loads and engage customers. Learn how ILLUME supported utility clients to across rate communications strategy, design, and evaluation efforts. Read the Magazine Article  

The Biden administration is bringing coherence to the EV landscape. But what about customers and site hosts? Are there persistent barriers we need to overcome? Read the magazine article

Small and medium businesses present an untapped opportunity for energy savings. Read how ILLUME employed a Statewide Commercial Behavioral Segmentation and Potential Study to uncover millions of therms of energy savings in Minnesota.…

Utility driven marketplaces show promise for expanding revenue streams. But how can utilities meet the high—and growing—customer expectations for fulfillment, communications, and service that are the hallmark of the Amazon model? Read the…

When it comes to energy efficiency, context is everything. Learn how ILLUME used in-home and in-business ethnographic research to help Georgia Power explore how social and local culture impacts residents’ perceptions of light,…

Social media is giving voice to a new generation of customers who are using its tools to show where they do and do not align with utility values and behaviors. Read the magazine…

In this article, we take a closer look at how utilities can best position themselves to define their value to stay on course with customers. Read the magazine article

What does it mean to enjoy the rights of our community as energy consumers? In our third magazine, ILLUME explores energy citizenship across four critical themes: equity, climate, technology, and citizen/corporate action. Read…

The voice of the customer is front and center in this illustrated piece as we accompany customers and retailers (virtually) on a shopping trip to understand one simple task: How to purchase a…

Electrify everything?! We get to the heart of some of the key themes and tensions around beneficial electrification in our interview with Kathy Kuntz. Read the Magazine Article

ILLUME conducted one of the largest nonparticipant studies in Massachusetts. Here’s what we learned about those who we are missing in our programs and services. Read the magazine article

In ILLUME’s debut issue, we take on everything from defining the customer journey, to how utilities are finding new revenue streams, to our featured story on our work with Georgia Power. Read the…