EPCOR USA - Communications Professional of the Year

Company: EPCOR USA - Phoenix, AZ
Entry Submitted By: KS Communications
Company Description: EPCOR is among the largest private utilities in the Southwest, providing water, wastewater and natural gas service to approximately 665,000 people across 44 communities and 15 counties in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Headquartered in Phoenix, we're proud to have been recognized for our industry leadership and providing a safe, healthy and rewarding work environment for our employees.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications Professional of the Year

Nomination Title: Rebecca Stenholm, Director of Public and Government Affairs

Rebecca Stenholm is Director of Public and Government Affairs for EPCOR USA – an award-winning regulated water and natural gas utility and one of the largest in the southwest. EPCOR serves 780,000 water, wastewater and natural gas customers in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Rebecca has led EPCOR’s communications since the company entered the US market in 2012, ensuring business initiatives and branding align with corporate strategy during a time of remarkable growth. Her reach includes customer communications, media/public relations, government affairs and corporate responsibility, plus internal communications for 425 employees.

Rebecca’s communications experience spans 20 years. She holds a Masters in Mass Communications from Arizona State University. This year, she won the American Water Works Association’s Distinguished Public Service Award - other recognitions include 14 Copper Anvil Awards, seven Copper Quill Awards, and EPCOR’s highest internal achievements, the Bob Phillips and President’s awards.

Rebecca served as president of the Jim Stenholm Foundation and supports The 100 Club of Arizona and Association of Law Enforcement Women. She is a graduate of Leadership West and sits on the International Association of Business Communicators, National Association of Water Companies Communications Council, and Leadership West Board of Directors.

Directing communications for EPCOR USA’s interim management and acquisition of Johnson Utilities, Inc. In 2018, Arizona regulators appointed EPCOR USA as Interim Manager of the troubled Johnson Utilities, Inc. – a water provider with a long history of public health violations – and in 2020 approved EPCOR’s acquisition of the company’s assets. Rebecca Stenholm’s skilled communications leadership was key to overwhelming improvement in customer satisfaction at Johnson Utilities during these challenging years. Selected achievements:

-Monthly operational updates for 40,000+ customers and local stakeholders
-All public communications required by regulators
-News releases, web copy, social media, public meetings, and other customer messaging around EPCOR’s response to serious operational problems in place when EPCOR stepped in as Interim Manager
-Detailed internal messaging for Johnson Utilities’ customer service team
-All communications related to EPCOR’s acquisition of Johnson Utilities

Being named a Utility of the Future Today. Rebecca’s small team submitted a successful nomination to join the Water Environment Federation’s Utility of the Future Today program – documenting EPCOR’s progress toward strategic business and branding goals.

Leading EPCOR’s external and internal COVID response. Rebecca directed all aspects of EPCOR USA’s COVID communications response – issues addressed include: water supply safety, customer guidance on reopening closed buildings, EPCOR’s COVID-related charitable donations, paying bills and accessing customer service, safe disposal of cleaning supplies, and many others. Importantly, Rebecca successfully implemented nuanced messaging about customer bill assistance and collections. Internally, she directed communications for implementing workplace protocols, emphasizing employee wellness and mental health.

Johnson Utilities interim management and acquisition. EPCOR’s role as Interim Manager of another utility was highly unusual, and the communications challenges could have had negative PR outcomes in the hands of a less skilled communicator. EPCOR was legally responsible for providing safe, reliable services to the utility’s 40,000+ customers before and during a pandemic, but without the financial leverage of owning its assets. A rate review was also needed to begin securing funding for long-term improvements. Even with all these thorny issues, customer satisfaction at Johnson Utilities went from 54% to 88% during EPCOR’s tenure as interim manager. Rebecca Stenholm’s balanced, transparent communications with customers and other stakeholders was a key factor in this success.

Utility of the Future Today recognition. This was a communications “win” publicly documenting, during an especially challenging year, EPCOR’s achievement toward strategic business goals.

COVID response. EPCOR’s services are essential to public health, and Rebecca’s regular job of providing public and customer communications about operations, safety, customer service and billing were immensely more complex in 2020. Communicating about safety water supplies during the public health crisis of the pandemic was complicated by dealing with three states and their regulatory agencies in two industries (water and natural gas), and coordinating with EPCOR USA’s parent company in Canada.

These achievements are outside of Rebecca’s everyday responsibilities for all facets of EPCOR’s communications. Remarkably, she accomplished them with a small 2-person team – and, in the last 12 months, working from home with two teenage children.

These correspond to points outlined above sections.

Link: News Release - EPCOR USA to Acquire Johnson Utilities. Illustrates Rebecca’s skilled handling of the nuanced communications surrounding the complex relationship between EPCOR USA and Johnson Utilities.

PDF: Customer bill insert for Johnson Utilities. Demonstrates Rebecca’s skilled handling of communications with customers and stakeholders of the utility during a time when EPCOR was responsible for providing essential services, but without the financial leverage to invest in needed infrastructure improvements.

Link: News Release - EPCOR Named a Utility of the Future Today. Illustrates Rebecca’s communications “win” that publicly documented EPCOR’s achievement toward strategic business goals.

PDF: Utility of the Future Program application.

PDF: EPCOR Customer Collections Materials from late 2020 (Arizona customers). Illustrates Rebecca’s thoughtful approach to collecting customer bills during the pandemic – express EPCOR’s commitment to help those financially impacted, balanced by the company’s need to generate revenue.

PDF: Art Nunez LTE. This LTE drafted for the signature of EPCOR’s Director of Operations illustrates Rebecca’s grasp of sensitive COVID customer messaging early in the pandemic.

PDF: EPCOR USA Master Communications Timeline 2019-2020. Demonstrates Rebecca’s skill managing all aspects of EPCOR’s complex external and internal communications.