Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Energy

Issue 5 | 2026

Drivers & dilemmas

Energy Voices How EDP, Prio, Sercel, and more lead through volatility Rising Stars Meet the new architects of energy branding

AI Productivity at speed: the great balancing act Spotlight HS Orka is rebuilding trust to power a nation

The brand consultancy delivering impact and unlocking growth at pivotal business moments.

Contents

The team

Beyond the reset The energy industry has never lacked ambition. What it wrestles with is complexity. Brands are defined when culture is tested Why the customer experience you want is only possible through the employee experience you design. Rising voices. Rising ambition Trust no longer follows scale. A new generation is earning it through proof, not spin.

14 Energy's pivot to pragmatism Proof, not promises, is emerging as the sector’s defining advantage.

Contibutors Will Bosanko CEO, EMEIA

Monique Berntsen Head of Nordics

Max Bhugra-Schmid Senior Consultant

Kevin Keohane Managing Partner, Culture Innovation, US

Andy Mayes Experience Director

Wayne Roberts COO

Dan Ryan Senior Designer

Clarity is a growth strategy Why clear brands outperform complex businesses.

Navigating energy’s defining decade How to drive value without losing control the next decade.

Darren Waller Design Director

Editorial & Design Sarah Baskcomb CMO

Make every click count Your website has only moments to prove you’re credible. Here's how to build brand trust through your digital experience. The AI balancing act Eight AI drivers and dilemmas shaping the next phase of energy transformation. Power the future. Protect the present. Strategy must now hold under pressure. Leaders are being judged not just on ambition, but on trade-offs

Ross Ellis Senior Designer

Bojana Lazarevska Digital Marketing Manager

Energy under pressure How brand, trust and disciplined execution become decisive advantages in complex systems.

When trust powers a nation How HS Orka shifted perception to create clarity.

Trust made visible How film and photography earn belief in energy.

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Contents

Editor's letter

L ast issue, we called on leaders to reset what leadership looks like. To choose momentum over drift. Many did. Today, the road ahead has shifted. The energy transition is not reversing. But it is recalibrating. Energy companies are no longer just transition actors. They are infrastructure stewards in an era of rising demand. Capital is more disciplined. Innovation is under greater scrutiny. AI promises productivity, but demands proof. Culture can unlock performance, but only if focused. Brand creates advantage, but only if credible. Momentum now meets reality Because once you commit to driving forward, you encounter two forces: the drivers accelerating progress and the dilemmas testing leadership. Resetting leadership was the first act. Sustaining momentum is the real test. Throughout this issue, you’ll hear from leaders confronting these tensions directly, turning brand into a growth engine, using culture as a performance lever, and bringing clarity to volatile markets. A consistent truth emerges: in uncertain times, clarity and trust are the ultimate drivers. And conviction is the differentiator. The next chapter of the transition won’t be shaped by those who avoid tension but by those who harness it. As you turn the page, consider: what is truly driving your business forward? And which dilemmas require decisive leadership now? Welcome to issue five. Drivers create momentum. Dilemmas demand judgment

Will Bosanko CEO, EMEIA, Brandpie will.bosanko@brandpie.com

The energy industry has never lacked ambition. What it wrestles with is complexity. Beyond the reset

"The energy transition is not reversing. But it is recalibrating."

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

The decade that decides who leads

T he energy sector has long balanced security and sustainability, short-term performance and long-term transition. What’s now clear is that these tensions are not temporary. They are structural. The balancing act is the operating reality of the decade ahead. Leaders understand the forces at play. What’s shifting is where advantage comes from. In this environment, hard levers alone won’t decide performance. Culture, brand, and vision, often labeled “soft”, are becoming critical commercial assets. They create clarity under pressure and confidence amid uncertainty. Those who treat them as strategy, not support, will define the decade.. How to drive value without losing control.

Navigating energy’s defining decade

Brandpie Energy - Issue 5

The decade that decides who leads

75 % energy leaders expect data center power demand alone to grow by more than 10% annually.

The same forces powering the sector forward are creating deep, unresolved dilemmas.

The commercial drivers reshaping the sector

At the heart of the sector’s momentum is demand. Electricity consumption is accelerating at a scale not seen for generations, driven by AI data centers, electric vehicles, industrial electrification and digital infrastructure. Research shows that over three-quarters of energy leaders expect data center power demand alone to grow by more than 10% annually, placing unprecedented pressure on generation, transmission and distribution systems. This demand surge is not optional; it is foundational to economic growth, national competitiveness and technological progress. Alongside demand sits energy security as a renewed strategic imperative. Continued geopolitical volatility, from the war in Ukraine to rising US-China trade tensions, has reframed energy from a cost input to a national priority. Governments and investors increasingly value resilience, domestic supply, diversified sourcing and long-term stability over lowest-cost optimization. For energy companies, this creates opportunity: those that can demonstrate reliability, adaptability and strategic alignment are becoming preferred partners to states, cities and industries. Technology is the third major driver. AI, advanced analytics and automation offer genuine operational acceleration from predictive maintenance and grid optimization to customer insight and capital efficiency. When applied with discipline, technology can unlock productivity gains, reduce outages and improve asset utilization, directly supporting margins in a capital-intensive industry.

Finally, sustainability remains a commercial driver not because it is easy, but because it is unavoidable. Access to capital, talent, partnerships and public consent increasingly depends on credible transition strategies. Organizations that can demonstrate progress, not just ambition, are better positioned to attract long-term investment and maintain their license to operate in an environment of rising scrutiny. Yet the same forces powering the sector forward are creating unresolved dilemmas. Infrastructure is the most visible. Grids are ageing, interconnection queues are growing, and nearly twice today’s installed renewable capacity is reportedly waiting The business dilemmas holding progress back to connect due to permitting, planning and network constraints. The dilemma is stark: demand growth is immediate, but infrastructure investment is slow, complex and politically exposed. Capital is another fault line. The energy transition requires unprecedented levels of investment when capital has become more expensive. Rising interest rates and inflation have pushed up project costs, forcing executives to

Brandpie Energy - Issue 5

The decade that decides who leads

Ageing grid infrastructure, and planning constraints and are holding back progress in renewables.

The real risk isn't change. It's distraction. The organizations that outperform are not those doing the most, but those doing the right things coherently.

prioritize short-term returns and delay or scale back longer-term initiatives. This creates tension between financial discipline and future readiness – a dilemma with no easy resolution. Affordability compounds the challenge. After recent energy price shocks, governments are acutely sensitive to consumer costs, turning energy pricing into a political issue and, in some cases, a regulatory risk. Sudden interventions, price caps, windfall taxes, policy reversals, undermine investor confidence and long- term planning, even as public expectations for fairness and stability rise. Then there is the transition dilemma itself: how to meet rising demand while reducing emissions at speed, without eroding trust. Despite record clean energy investment, global emissions are not falling fast enough, and confidence in achieving net-zero by 2050 is weakening across the sector. Overpromising on timelines, or communicating ambition without delivery, risks credibility at precisely the moment matters most. trust matters most. From tension to advantage: where focus matters In this context, the real risk isn't change. It's distraction. Chasing every technology, responding reactively to policy shifts, or fragmenting strategy across competing priorities can dilute commercial focus and destroy value. The organizations that outperform are not those doing the most, but those doing the right things coherently. Research consistently shows that leaders are treating traditionally “soft” issues as hard commercial levers. AI is approached not as hype, but as an operational tool. Culture is recognized as a performance multiplier in transformation. Brand is reframed as a trust-building

asset in volatile markets shaping investor confidence, regulatory relationships and customer loyalty. Above all, clarity becomes a competitive advantage: clarity of purpose, clarity of capital allocation, and clarity in narrative. Stakeholders, from governments to investors to customers, are increasingly skeptical. They reward organizations that communicate honestly about trade-offs, acknowledge constraints, and demonstrate progress with evidence rather than promises. Navigating the defining decade The defining dilemma for energy leaders is how deliberately to transform. This decade will favor those who align strategy with execution, ambition with affordability, and ensure transformation remains a source of commercial strength rather than a costly distraction.

Brandpie Energy - Issue 5

Xxxxxx Energy Voices: leading through volatility

Energy Voices Energy's pivot to pragmatism

You don’t do business with a brand you don’t know, You need to make the brand visible, and you need to

make it respectable, trusted, and credible.

Proof, not promises, is emerging as the sector’s defining advantage.

Rita Álvaro Dias, Deputy Director of Global Brand, EDP

T he closest word to brand, the synonym, is reputation.” For Rita Álvaro Dias, Deputy Director of Global Brand at EDP, that’s not a slogan. It’s a strategy. “You don’t do business with a brand you don’t know,” she says. “You need to make the brand visible, and you need to make it respectable, trusted, and credible.” In a market where politics shift, timelines stretch, and public confidence is fragile, managing reputation has become a strategic imperative.

Will Bosanko CEO, EMEIA, Brandpie

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Energy Voices: leading through volatility

The transition has recalibrated – oil demand is steady. Renewables investment is uneven. Politics are loud. Capital is cautious. For energy brands, the question is no longer, "How fast can we transition?" It’s more fundamental than that: how do you protect trust when the path forward is no longer linear? The answer is more pragmatic than ideological. This is a shift from purity to practicality. From bold promises to demonstrable outcomes. From debating the future to making it workable. We spoke to senior global brand and marketing leaders to understand how they’re navigating a market defined less by certainty and more by coexistence – and how disciplined pragmatism is becoming the sector’s defining leadership trait.

Stop talking about “transition.” Start talking about balance A few years ago, the narrative was simple: accelerate the transition. Replace the old with the new. The moral arc felt clear. Today, that binary framing feels outdated, and, for many stakeholders, unconvincing. Trust has been strained by over- promising, political swings, and shifting timelines. What customers, investors, and communities now want is not ideology. It’s realism. Miguel Rangel, Marketing Director at Prio, doesn’t even use the word anymore. “It’s not a transition. It’s a coexistence,” he says. “We should activate all the alternatives we have.” At Prio’s stations, traditional fuels sit alongside biodiesel, LPG, and electric

charging. Customers aren’t forced into radical change. They’re offered accessible options. “We have the regular,” Rangel explains, “and then alternatives for people who are more concerned for the environment. With the same car, with no transformation, they can coexist.” Etienne Melo, Strategy, Marketing Director at Sercel, sees a broader societal shift. “People understand that there is a need for oil and gas,” he says. “There is a more balanced view between oil and gas and the other energies.” For him, the debate isn’t about abandoning legacy expertise. It’s about applying it differently. “We have this history. We know how to explore and extract oil and gas. At the same time, with our technologies, we can help the transition and explore new energies.”

Stakeholder confidence is built by demonstrating competence, reliability, and consistency in delivering value over time.

Carla Haag, Head of Global Marketing & Communications, GETEC

It’s not a transition. It’s a coexistence. We should activate all the alternatives we have.

Even companies firmly rooted in renewables acknowledge the growing complexity. Paul Shanks, Head of Brand, Communications & Online at RES, says remaining 100% renewables gives the company clarity. “That authenticity – always being focused on a zero-carbon future – helps build trust. That is our focus. That is our passion. And we’re never going to deviate from that.” But he’s clear that resilience requires realism. Strategy flexes by region. Messaging remains steady. The near-term future is focused on what matters to audiences right now – and brand leaders are acknowledging that their storytelling must be, too.

Trust is built in the real world Energy brands are operating in a credibility crunch. Grand promises don’t land the way they used to. At EDP, that realization triggered a strategic shift. “Four years ago, we were super focused on our ‘why’,” Dias adds. “But we understood that the ‘why’ is not what resonates in some markets. We needed to shift the narrative away from the ‘why’ into the ‘how’.” Instead of leading with abstract climate ambition, EDP began emphasizing tangible outcomes: affordability, energy security, and job creation – themes Dias describes when explaining the shift from purpose-led storytelling to benefit- led communication.

“We started focusing not only on climate and sustainability narratives, but more on tangible benefits, such as renewables are the most affordable technology – a great way to create new jobs,” she says. It’s a pragmatic recalibration, and one echoed across the sector. At GETEC, trust starts with delivery. “Stakeholder confidence is built by demonstrating competence, reliability, and consistency in delivering value over time,” says Carla Haag, Head of Global Marketing & Communications. “Our brand represents who we are, what we do, and what sets us apart. It brings together our vision, culture, competences, and experience.” It’s not about claiming leadership

Miguel Rangel, Marketing Director Prio

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Energy Voices: leading through volatility

in the transition. It’s about proving you’re structurally equipped to deliver it. Rangel echoes that sentiment from a challenger-brand perspective. When Prio introduced higher biofuel blends, skepticism was real. “In the beginning, they didn’t trust the new fuels,” he says. “But then they use them repeatedly and see there are no problems, and so they keep using them. It’s a long-term path.” Experience builds credibility, not just slogans. At RES, trust extends beyond customers to communities. “We’re not just in it for the short-term gain,” Shanks says. “We are committed within the communities in which we operate.” Long-term presence, and tangible local benefit, is part of the brand story.

Across the board, trust is no longer built on vision statements alone. It is built on proof and on making energy feel understandable, affordable, and relevant to daily life.

“This integrated approach enables stakeholders to recognize consistency, which is essential in creating confidence in a complex, rapidly changing energy landscape.” As Dias puts it: “If the context is against us, we try to do it in a smarter way, but always sticking to the same message and the same positioning.” In other words, tone may adapt. Strategy does not. At Prio, the tension is commercial as well as political. Competition on price remains intense. “We always have companies that are only focused on selling one product, at the lowest price possible,” Rangel says. “So, we need to keep passing information, being transparent, being coherent in our positioning.”

At the end of the day, the content we really spend time on involves people and gather communities – that’s the most engaging content.

Volatility isn’t a phase. It’s the environment

If 2020–2022 felt like crisis years, 2026 feels different. The turbulence has normalized. Etienne Melo describes it plainly: “It’s not anymore about, ‘Wow, we managed to deal with that crisis.’ It’s just that we are in the middle.” Geopolitics, tariffs, AI disruption, commodity swings – these are no longer shocks, but the backdrop. Haag agrees that consistency under pressure is what defines credibility.

Etienne Melo Strategy, Marketing Director, Sercel

Stability is about refusing to let volatility dictate your identity.

Shanks says, “your ability to make it a success will be severely hampered.” Even in highly technical B2B sectors, the human element matters. “At the end of the day,” Melo says, “the content we really spend time on involves people and gather communities – that’s the most engaging content.” Where energy brands go from here The energy debate is often framed as a tug-of-war: fossil versus renewable, speed versus stability, ambition versus affordability. The leaders navigating this moment are not retreating from ambition. They are shifting from rhetoric to results. From ideology to proof. The transition is in its pragmatic phase. The brands that prove they can deliver in the real world will be the

That authenticity – always being focused on a zero-carbon future – helps build trust. That is our focus. That is our passion. And we’re never going to deviate from that.

Your frontline is your brand In a sector under scrutiny, internal alignment is a strategic necessity. At Prio, education is institutionalized. The company runs what it calls the “Prio School,” ensuring staff understand how to explain alternative fuels clearly and confidently. “One of our major concerns is training,” Rangel says. “Not only on safety, but explaining to customers why these products are different – to increase trust in the products.” At RES, cultural alignment was critical during acquisition. “If the people who need to deliver on that strategy are not all working together and under common values,”

Paul Shanks Head of Brand, Communications & Online, RES

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Execution under system pressure

How brand, trust and disciplined execution become decisive advantages in complex systems.

Energy Lessons from the Nordics under pressure

T he Nordics are no longer preparing for the future of energy. They are operating it. Across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland, leaders are running systems defined by high electrification, diverse power generation, rising demand, and constant geopolitical pressure. These are not edge cases or pilot conditions. This is daily reality. That is what makes the region relevant to US energy leaders now. Not climate ambition. Not ideology. But operational pressure. The real lesson from the Nordics is not what they built, but how leadership changes when systems are stretched or challenged.

Monique Berntsen Head of Nordics, Brandpie

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Execution under system pressure

Key findings

face resistance when communities feel excluded. High-trust societies do not remove friction; they raise expectations for fairness and shared benefit. At the same time, volatility is treated as permanent. Rising capital costs, policy uncertainty, and supply chain risk are assumed conditions, not temporary disruptions. That assumption changes behavior. Leaders prioritize projects that can be financed and operated under stress, not imagined under ideal conditions. Execution discipline sustains trust. As pressure becomes structural, collaboration stops being optional. Nordic energy systems are deeply interconnected because alignment enables movement under constraint. The driver: alignment under pressure Leaders who invest early in alignment – across capital, communities, and institutions – move faster without losing consent when trade-offs become unavoidable. The Nordic lesson The Nordic energy story is not about perfection or ideology. It is about focus under pressure. The Nordics offer no blueprint. They offer something more useful: proof that trust, collaboration, and execution are not soft virtues, but hard advantages when systems are under strain.

1 Leading for the next decade The Nordics are already operating under the conditions that will define the next decade of energy. 2 Clarity in complex systems Their advantage isn't technology or ambition, but leadership shaped by pressure: clarity over promises, systems over assets, and execution over rhetoric. 3 Advantage in the "soft" values As electrification accelerates and volatility becomes permanent, the lesson is simple: trust, readiness, and collaboration are not soft values. They are competitive advantages.

Dilemma one: ambition vs credibility In the Nordics energy landscape, trust functions like infrastructure: invisible when it works, catastrophic when it fails. High- trust societies place greater expectations on institutions and punish overstatement quickly. As a result, leaders speak plainly about what can be delivered now, what can't, and which trade-offs are unavoidable. This discipline accelerates permitting, stabilizes investment, and reduces friction when difficult decisions are required. The driver: disciplined clarity Leaders who trade distant promises for present realism move faster, earn trust sooner, and keep options open when pressure mounts. They replace aspiration with alignment by bringing stakeholders and employees into the reality of the system, including its limits, trade-offs, and immediate priorities. This is how the Nordics resolve the tension between ambition and credibility. Debate is not avoided but front-loaded and grounded in shared facts. Alignment reduces friction later in the process, allowing intent to translate into action without repeated renegotiation. That is why clarity moves faster than ambition when systems are under pressure. Dilemma two: growth vs readiness Energy security is rewriting the story. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marked a turning point. Energy stopped being treated primarily as an economic input, and started being managed as a strategic dependency as well.

Even in countries less exposed to Russian gas, the shock exposed vulnerabilities in infrastructure and interconnection. Resilience – physical, digital, and political – electrification. In Finland and Sweden, electricity demand is projected to double by 2040 as industry, transport, and digital infrastructure electrify (Nordic Energy Research). The question is no longer whether demand materializes, but whether systems can absorb it without compromising stability. All of that pressure converges in one place: the grid. Grid capacity has become the primary constraint on growth. Transmission, storage, demand response, and cross-border coordination are treated as strategic enablers of economic activity. Battery storage is now core infrastructure. Demand growth is predictable. Readiness is not. moved ahead of optimization. That reframing collided with The driver: infrastructure-first thinking Leaders who treat enabling systems as strategic assets, rather than bottlenecks to manage later, turn growth pressure into advantage. Readiness becomes the condition for growth, not its consequence. Dilemma three: speed vs consent Trust must be earned locally. High national trust does not guarantee local permission. Across the Nordics, wind farms, transmission lines, and new infrastructure

Energy security is rewriting the story.

In Finland and Sweden, electricity demand is projected to double by 2040.

High-trust societies do not remove friction; they raise expectations for fairness and shared benefit.

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

How brand powers trust

How HS Orka shifted perception to create clarity. When trust powers a nation

Brandpie Energy - Issue 5

How brand powers trust

The challenge wasn't whether they were capable of delivering energy. It was whether they were trusted to do so.

W hen trust is high,

infrastructure fades into the background. The lights stay on, the system works, and

society moves forward without question. But when trust fractures, even the cleanest energy can become contested. Nowhere is that tension felt more sharply than in Iceland, a country built on geothermal and hydro power, and whose identity is inseparable from its landscape. It's a society that expects its energy system not only to perform, but to reflect shared values of responsibility, transparency, and care. For HS Orka, one of Iceland’s leading geothermal energy companies, this created a defining dilemma. The business was performing its role of reliably powering homes, communities, and industry. Yet trust, once assumed, had begun to feel somewhat conditional. The challenge wasn't whether they were capable of delivering energy. It was whether they were trusted to do so, and in turn, continue to meet Iceland’s growing energy demands. Beneath the surface HS Orka’s challenge was perceptual more than operational. Despite operating in one of the world’s most advanced renewable energy markets, the company found itself subject to growing scrutiny. In-depth market research, led by Brandpie partner Brandr Index, revealed a lack of clarity around

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

How brand powers trust

HS Orka’s role, values and long-term contribution to Iceland. That ambiguity allowed uncertainty to fill the gaps. This is a familiar tension across the energy sector. Businesses doing essential work, but struggling to secure legitimacy in the eyes of the communities they serve. A gap opens between performance and perception, and once that gap exists, no amount of data can close it. In energy, branding isn’t about image. It’s about permission. Facts inform. But trust is emotional. And in moments of uncertainty, people look not for expertise alone, but for clarity. From authority to accountability For years, HS Orka communicated as many energy companies do: with confidence rooted in technical expertise. The assumption was simple: if the science is sound and the system is clean, trust will follow. It didn’t. The realization was uncomfortable but necessary. Trust could not be asserted. It had to be earned. And earning it required a clear decision: HS Orka needed to take control of its narrative. The business set out to articulate what made it distinct, not as an abstract energy provider, but as a company deeply rooted in Icelandic society. The result was a core creative idea: Respectful Innovation. It captures a central truth about HS Orka’s role: innovation grounded in care for nature, community, and the future. A balance between ambition and responsibility that reflects both Icelandic values and the realities of running a modern energy system. This marked a fundamental change in how the company understood its place in Icelandic society. HS Orka wasn’t just an energy provider. It was a participant in a national system that depended as much on social legitimacy as technical performance. Clarity as a driver of performance In a small, highly engaged society like Iceland, clarity is operational. Without it, uncertainty grows. And uncertainty slows everything from decision-making to investment, from community support to long-term planning. Respectful Innovation gives HS Orka a more human voice, and a platform to

The business set out to articulate what made it distinct, not as an abstract energy provider, but as a company deeply rooted in Icelandic society.

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

How brand powers trust

HS Orka didn’t attempt to reinvent itself. It clarified itself. The brand doesn’t promise transformation; it offers understanding.

build trust, shift perception, and tell a story that truly reflects who they are. This clarity was reinforced through a visual identity rooted in what Icelanders recognize and trust: nature, opportunity, and community. Photography and film played a critical role. Instead of leading with assets, infrastructure, or abstract symbols of energy, HS Orka chose to show the people behind the power. Employees at work. Communities in motion. Everyday Icelandic life unfolding alongside the landscape that makes geothermal energy possible. Shot on location across Iceland, the imagery deliberately avoided polish or spectacle. It is honest, human, and grounded, positioning HS Orka not as a distant operator, but as part of the social fabric. A company working in harmony with nature and community, not apart from them. In a sector where trust is often eroded by distance, visibility became a deliberate attempt to build trust. By making its role tangible and its people visible, HS Orka is seeking to reduce abstraction, and with it, suspicion. Rebuilding trust from the inside out This shift demanded more than external messaging. It required internal alignment. Employees needed to believe in the story being told, not as a script, but as a reflection of reality. HS Orka brought its people into the process, giving them language to explain the company’s role with confidence and honesty. As the brand evolved, so did its tone to become less abstract and more human.

HS Orka deliberately shifted the focus away from infrastructure alone and toward the people behind the power. Employees, communities, and everyday Icelandic life became central to how the company showed up, bringing warmth, realism, and relatability to a sector often defined by distance and scale. The identity became a vehicle for conversation rather than control – a way of signaling openness rather than certainty. A brand rooted in nature, designed for life. Importantly, HS Orka didn’t attempt to reinvent itself. It clarified itself. The brand doesn’t promise transformation; it offers understanding. technology. Capital can follow opportunity. But trust, once lost, is slow to recover. And without it, even the most advanced energy systems struggle to scale. HS Orka’s journey shows that in a world defined by complexity and scrutiny, leadership is not about removing doubt. It’s about navigating it with clarity. By shifting perception – through transparency, accountability, and human engagement – HS Orka is starting to strengthen its role within Iceland’s energy system. Because in the end, power isn’t just generated underground. It’s granted above it. And when trust powers a nation, everything moves forward. Trust defines the future Trust is emerging as the ultimate differentiator. Markets can replicate

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Building EX-to-CX capability for energy’s pivotal moments

Brands are defined

when culture

is tested

Why the customer experience you want is only possible through the employee experience you design.

I n US energy, customer experience (CX) is not a “soft” metric. It reflects affordability stress, reliability anxiety, and brand trust – amplified by political scrutiny, economic pressure, and the operational reality of extreme weather and grid modernization. At Brandpie we call this the test of pivotal moments: the periods when expectations spike, attention intensifies, and reputation moves quickly. In energy that might be a major outage, a wildfire event, a high-visibility rate case, a new time-of-use program, an arrears surge, a cyber incident, or an M&A integration. In those moments, customers don’t judge a brand by its promises.

Kevin Keohane Managing Partner, Brandpie

Kevin Keohane Managing Partner, Culture Innovation, US, Brandpie

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Building EX-to-CX capability for energy’s pivotal moments

They judge it by what happens when they need help. And what determines that experience is rarely frontline intent alone. It’s the employee experience (EX) sitting behind it. Your brand is whatever a customer experiences at 2 AM during a storm. Not what you publish at 2 PM on a website. The hidden cause: employee friction Many CX breakdowns aren’t caused by a lack of intent. They’re caused by internal friction that makes great service hard to deliver in a regulated environment: fragmented data across billing, outages, and programs; legacy tools that force swivel-chair work; unclear handoffs; and incentives that reward activity over outcomes. Under event pressure, these frictions compound. Employees feel they can’t help because the system doesn’t: no single view, unclear guidance, limited authority. Trust erodes. This is the truth of EX-to-CX: your brand makes promises and it’s your people that either keep them or break them. When they can’t access information, take action, or explain the “why,” it’s your business that gets the blame. Drivers that enable better service from EX • Simplification through digital and proactive communication: invest in self-service and proactive updates, plus agent tools and automation, to cut repeat contact and free humans for high-empathy cases. • Resilience maturity that improves “explainability”: build hazard playbooks and real-time updates that translate into frontline prompts, so teams can explain “what’s happening/ what’s next” with confidence.

• Operating models aligned to outcomes: align technology, people, and process to resolution and customer outcomes – not handle time – so teams solve issues end- to-end, not just route them. The dilemmas leadership must navigate • Affordability vs. investment: bills are sensitive, yet resilience and modernization demand capital. • Prioritize “work-twice” investments that cut cost-to-serve and empower staff: single customer view, clear eligibility flags, simple payment-plan guardrails, and authority to resolve at first contact. • Safety vs. speed and certainty: wildfire and extreme weather events can slow restoration or require proactive shutoffs. Equip teams with real-time situational updates, scripted “what we know” language, and clear escalation paths for vulnerable customers to sustain trust under uncertainty. • Digitization vs. inclusion: a digital-first mindset can widen experience gaps. Give staff tools to assist digitally (such as submitting on behalf of customer, or co-browsing), plus language support and seamless channel-switching without restarting journeys. • Standardization vs. local reality: consistency matters, but disruption is local. Standardize policy and tone, then empower local teams with decision rights and playbooks. Where trust is built The uncomfortable truth is also the most liberating: you can’t design your way out of customer experience problems without addressing EX first. In energy, trust compounds interaction by interaction. It’s built when employees have clarity, context, and confidence. When systems support judgment rather than constrain it.

The friction customers feel Affordability and bill shock Customers want clarity and predictability – understandable bills, transparent changes, and quick access to support. Reliability and safety trade-offs More disruption means higher expectations for early warnings, frequent updates, and consistent care for vulnerable customers. Transition complexity EV tariffs, interconnection, rebates, and time-varying rates can feel like paperwork, waiting, and “not-my- department” handoffs. Fairness and scrutiny Disconnections, arrears, and eligibility decisions are under brighter regulatory and community attention – raising the bar for empathy and consistency.

The brands that perform best in pivotal moments focus on the basics that scale: fewer handoffs, guidance for complex rules, aligned incentives, and leaders who coach judgment as much as compliance. In a sector facing higher bill pressure, greater disruption risk, and increased scrutiny, the path to better customer experience doesn’t start with messaging. It starts inside the organization, by designing an employee experience that makes the promise easy to deliver. That’s where trust is really built.

Trust compounds interaction by interaction. It’s built when employees have clarity, context, and confidence.

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

How Rising Stars are tackling energy's challenges

overclaim. Instead, they are rebuilding trust from the inside out through clarity, presence, and evidence. Clarity is a leadership discipline For this new generation, clarity doesn’t start with communications. It starts with decisions. At Fervo Energy, Chief of Staff Nour Ghadanfar is helping lead one of the first next-generation geothermal projects in the US at scale. The stakes are high, the scrutiny intense, and the margin for error slim. “Clear, transparent communication lies at the heart of excellence in execution and planning, especially when you’re doing something for the first time,” she explains. But clarity, in this context, isn’t about simplifying the story for external audiences. It’s about aligning internally before saying anything at all. “One of our core values is ‘do what we say we’re going to do,’” Nour adds. “You will rarely find us saying something we’re not fully committed to delivering.” That restraint matters. In an industry where credibility can evaporate overnight, overpromising can be a risk. At Con Edison, Lucia Game, Senior Specialist – Electric Vehicle Demonstration Projects, sees clarity as a matter of sequence. Working on electric mobility and large-scale demonstration projects, her focus is not on flooding stakeholders with information, but on giving them what they need, when they need it. “The goal is well-informed decisions,” she says. “When expectations are clear, confidence follows.” Across roles and technologies, the pattern is consistent: clarity is not a communications output. It’s a leadership discipline, rooted in alignment, accountability, and follow-through. If clarity starts inside, trust is earned outside – often far from the spotlight. Maile Resta, Communications Manager at rPlus Energies, views audiences as collaborators, believing trust is built face- to-face and true understanding comes from spending time with the communities and teams you serve. "I don’t really identify as a PR or comms person,” she says. “I identify more as a Trust is built through presence, not campaigns

Clear, transparent communication lies at the heart of excellence in execution and planning, especially when you’re doing something for the first time.

Rising voices. Rising ambition

Nour Ghadanfar Chief of Staff Fervo Energy

Trust no longer follows scale. A new generation is earning it through proof, not spin.

If people don’t trust you, you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall and watching all of it fall.

P rogress doesn’t fail because energy leaders now. And it’s where a new generation is stepping in, not to polish the message, but to change how belief is earned. "If people don’t trust you, you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall and watching all of it fall,” says Kristina Zagame, Senior Researcher at EnergySage. It’s not a line you’d expect from an industry built on engineering, regulation, and certainty. But it captures the shift underway. Across geothermal, renewables development, utilities, marketplaces, and climate media, a new cohort of rising leaders is rejecting spin, noise, and solutions don’t exist. It fails when people don’t believe them. That is the real challenge facing

Kristina Zagame, Senior Researcher EnergySage

Rising Stars in Energy Branding

Brandpie proudly sponsors the CHARGE Rising Stars in Energy Branding award.

Max Bhugra-Schmid Senior Consultant, Brandpie

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

How Rising Stars are tackling energy's challenges

Honestly, my favorite days are the ones spent in the field just listening. You have to listen first if you want the story to resonate.

The goal is well-informed decisions. When expectations are clear, confidence follows.

Lucia Game, Senior Specialist, Con Edison

Maile Resta, Communications Manager, rPlus Energies

From information to agency Ultimately, clarity matters because it changes how people feel and what they believe they can do. “I want people to feel like they’re not powerless,” Kristina says. “Clarity gives people agency.” That sense of agency sits at the heart of Kiana Michaan’s work as a climate storyteller. Facts alone, she argues, rarely move people. “People don’t respond to data alone,” says the Climate with Kiana podcast host. “They need emotional connection to feel called to action.” For Kiana, storytelling is about restoring a sense of participation in systems that often feel remote and politicized: “We’re all stakeholders in the energy system, whether we want to be or not,” she reflects. Maile reframes that participation as pride: “Solar and wind are just another resource our land provides,” she says. “Using them should be a point of pride.” Together, these perspectives point to a different kind of leadership – less focused on control, and more focused on credibility. Less about certainty, more about honesty. These Rising Stars are not waiting for uncertainty to disappear. They are designing clarity within it, helping teams, communities, and customers move forward with confidence, even when the path is still taking shape. Trust, after all, is the hardest infrastructure to build. And the most valuable once it’s in place.

developer, because I work in-house with people who are boots-on-the-ground every day. Honestly, my favorite days are the ones spent in the field just listening. You have to listen first if you want the story to resonate." The most effective work, Maile argues, often doesn’t look like branding at all. “The most effective branding often feels really quiet,” she explains. “It’s just showing up.” This idea of presence – consistent, human, accountable – comes up repeatedly. Lucia sees its impact directly in adoption rates. “If people don’t trust that solutions will work for them,” she says, “they simply won’t electrify.” And at Fervo Energy, trust is treated as something that can be built painstakingly, and lost instantly. “Trust is built bit by bit, but can be lost so quickly,” Nour reflects. That’s why transparency, from publishing results to naming trade-offs, is a non-negotiable.” The message is clear: in energy, trust doesn’t come from persuasion. It comes from proximity. Making complexity usable without losing credibility. Energy is complex. These rising leaders don’t deny it, but they refuse to hide behind it.

The challenge, as Kristina sees it, is not dumbing things down. It’s understanding them deeply enough to make them accessible: “You have to fully understand something to explain it clearly,” she says. “If I don't understand something, I'll keep asking the right people questions until I can explain it with ease.” That approach is grounded in respect for the audience. Jargon can create unnecessary distance. “The second you start throwing jargon around, people tune out,” Kristina adds. Lucia tackles the same challenge structurally, designing tools and processes that let customers engage with complexity at their own pace. Rather than forcing people to commit upfront, she focuses on creating entry points that reflect real-world constraints – cost, timelines, and trade-offs. At Fervo Energy, narrative plays a role too but with guardrails. “Narrative lets us pull on what people care about right now,” Nour explains. “But without changing the truth.” The goal isn’t to remove complexity. It’s to make it navigable and to give people a way through that builds confidence rather than creating confusion.

We’re all stakeholders in the energy system, whether we want to be or not.

Kiana Michaan, Podcast Host, Climate with Kiana Podcast

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Making the invisible, visible

Trust, made

visible

How film and photography earn belief in energy.

T rust is the real currency of the energy transition. Leaders are expected to move faster, be clearer, and prove progress in a system most people never see. Energy powers everyday life, yet remains abstract, technical, and distant.

Darren Waller Design Director, Brandpie

Dan Ryan Senior Designer, Brandpie

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Making the invisible, visible

Authenticity for HS Orka means showing real people, in real places, doing real work.

That is why film and photography matter more than ever. Not as outputs, but as drivers of belief. Used with intent, visual storytelling does something harder than explanation. It turns scale into something human and builds confidence without leaning on hype. Authenticity starts with proximity Authenticity is not a style but a choice. Real photography captures real people, in real places, doing real work. It resists polish for polish’s sake. In a sector under scrutiny, that restraint matters. For HS Orka, the challenge was not to explain the technology. It was to show what it gives back. Authenticity meant starting with people, not infrastructure. We chose to feature HS Orka employees at work and in own communities, shot on location across Iceland. Showing real places, conditions, and weather. Iceland appears as it is lived, not as an idealized, camera-ready version. The stories focus on individuals and the role they play in everyday life, showing how energy supports communities rather than dominates them. Employees are not presented as corporate spokespeople, but as neighbors, contributors, and custodians of the places they live and work. The result feels grounded and human. It's less about energy as an industry, and more about energy as service.

SLB faced an additional challenge: scale – a global business can easily become abstract. The answer was to go closer and show their impact on the industry. Photography was shot on location across regions, featuring employees alongside partners and clients to show how local teams operate within their communities. The images reflect how

For SLB, photography was shot on location across regions, featuring employees alongside partners and clients to show how local teams operate within their communities.

In energy, differentiation does not come from dramatic visuals or louder narratives. It comes from consistency and ownership over time.

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

Making the invisible, visible

way, wherever they were in the world. Not to flatten difference, but to create consistency. A shared visual language that said: this is one business, one identity, and with one future. The images were designed to align. Beauty mattered, but meaning mattered more. Photography became a cultural tool, helping people see themselves as part of something whole. Over time, this consistency compounds. The brand stops needing explanation. It starts to feel familiar and credible on sight. Connection creates belief People trust what they recognize. When employees see themselves reflected honestly in photography and film, pride builds, belonging grows, and culture becomes visible. Film can deepen this effect by letting people lead the story. For HS Orka, that meant putting employees at the center of the narrative. We produced a set of three short employee films, each offering a day-in-the-life perspective of people working across the business. Through everyday moments – tending horses, playing basketball with

Scale and impact are also shown through SLB's technology.

the business actually works, not how it wishes to be seen. In both cases, authenticity came from specificity. From being there and showing the world as it is. Distinctiveness is built, not bought Stock imagery is borrowed. Bespoke is owned. In energy, differentiation does not come from dramatic visuals or louder narratives. It comes from consistency and ownership over time. Bespoke photography becomes part of a brand’s visual language. Recognizable. Ownable. Hard to imitate. For SLB, this meant stepping back before moving forward. A photography audit revealed there was visual fragmentation and dilution. The response was not a single hero shoot, but the creation of a global system: clear art direction, consistent standards, and guidance that enables teams to create strong imagery wherever they operate. Scale without losing integrity. For OneSubsea, photography became a unifier. Formed as a joint venture of three businesses, the challenge was to create coherence across the new business. With different histories, cultures, and geographies, the work needed to signal one organization, not a collection of parts. Bespoke photography was able to do that work quietly but decisively. Employees were photographed in the same

An entire photography style helps to bring OneSubsea to life.

When OneSubsea employees see themselves reflected honestly in photography and film, pride builds.

In energy, differentiation does not come from dramatic visuals or louder narratives. It comes from consistency and ownership over time.

Brandpie Energy - Issue 05

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