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Episode #126: 'Adopting Marketing Lessons to Implement Energy Equity' with Larry Glover, CEO of Glover Group [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast]

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Energy equity is a critical issue that is increasingly demanding our attention, as access to reliable and affordable energy remains unevenly distributed across the globe. Even in the United States where we expect that everyone is connected to the grid, marginalized communities still often face challenges in affording their utility bills and see advanced tools like IoT devices, EVs, solar and storage, and more being out of financial reach.

To shed light on the world of energy equity and highlight the critical work being done today to advance energy opportunities to low and medium income (LMI) communities, Larry Glover joins host Jason Price and producer Matt Chester in this episode. Larry, the CEO of the Glover Group, shares his personal experiences and insights, illustrating the profound effects that energy disparities can have on marginalized communities. In highlighting the importance of bridging these gaps and empowering all individuals to access affordable, clean, and reliable energy resources, listen in as Larry draws from real-world examples and success stories informed by his previous career in the world of marketing.

Prefer to Read vs. Listening? Scroll Down to Read Transcript.

 

Thanks to the sponsor of this episode of the Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast: West Monroe.  

 

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Did you know? The Energy Central Power Perspectives Podcast has been identified as one of the industry's 'Top 25 Energy Podcasts': blog.feedspot.com/energy_podcasts/ 

 

TRANSCRIPT

Jason Price: 

Welcome to the Energy Central Power Perspectives podcast, the show that brings leading minds from the energy industry to discuss the challenges and trends that are transforming and modernizing our energy system. And a quick thank you to West Monroe, our sponsor of today's show. Now let's talk energy.

I'm Jason Price, Energy Central podcast host and director with West Monroe coming to you from New York City. And with me as always from Orlando, Florida is Energy Central Producer and Community Manager, Matt Chester. Matt, our guest today is a regular listener to the Power Perspectives podcast and brings an important and relevant perspective with energy equity to our audience. He is here today to discuss energy equity through a modern lens, particularly with clean energy innovations and emphasis of equity in President Biden's IJA and the IRA.

Our guest has been a champion of energy equity his entire career, and this topic is no stranger to the Energy Central community. Matt, given the many dimensions to this issue, can you please give our listeners a recap on past guests discussing this topic?

 

Matt Chester: 

Sure, Jason. And you're right, this is the topic that we're grateful to have discussed in a couple of different ways with multiple guests over the course of our couple years on the air. In fact, it's a topic that we have built one of our episode playlists around on our SoundCloud page that hosts the podcast, with that playlist being called Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. There you'll find a conversation with NB Power on how they incorporate feedback and consideration of their local indigenous communities, an episode with a Pepco rep where we discuss how their innovative programs for new technologies are built with some community benefiting results in mind. And even a conversation on how modern microgrid communities create new equitable energy opportunities on some specific island communities. And we're excited of course to add today's episode to that playlist as well.

 

Jason Price: 

That's great. Excellent. That's a great starting point, but it's primarily from the voice of the utility. Now let's hear from the perspective of the community. Today we're being joined by Larry Glover, CEO of the Glover Group. In this consulting work, Larry is known for his experience in expertise in helping energy leaders to engage effectively, efficiently, and most importantly, equitably with their local communities. I encourage our listeners, particularly those in the C-Suite to take note. No doubt you are working hard to address these issues that Larry is raising, but as we can all agree, there is always more that can be done.

And he's here to share how this process, of course, is not a box to be checked off for the sake of doing the right thing, but rather a fundamental principle that can and should be integrated into the DNA of the power sector. This conversation is timely, full of substance and simply important. So let's get started. Larry Glover, welcome to the today's episode of the Energy Central Power Perspectives podcast.

 

Larry Glover: 

Jason, thank you very much. I'm excited to participate.

 

Jason Price: 

We're thrilled to have you here. So let's start with your background and how you got to where you are today in community advocacy around energy equity. You started your career in marketing and strategy communications, but take us through this journey to help us understand what got us to the Glover Group and why your voice matters.

 

Larry Glover: 

Jason, this is a great place to start because my career and the energy industry were absolutely started out far apart. In undergraduate school as a marketing major, I was not that energy guy. My two roommates who were engineers and a third roommate who was an architect, much more suited for this industry. But I was a marketing communications guy.

So after graduate school, I began working at in brand management at Procter and Gamble. And for me, that experience boiled down to a couple of critical issues. The first is really a good understanding of consumerism and how to understand and analyze customers. The second is the ability to build a strategic business plan because we didn't build it for today, we built it for long term effect on customer generation.

Following Proctor, I went to work for Coca-Cola in the non beverage division and I ran new products. One of the successes of my new product experience was a little product known as the drink box. You may know it if you had children, it's the little small box with the straw in it. I had the opportunity to be the first to develop and introduce that product nationally. That comes, for me, out of this understanding of consumerism and how do we gauge consumers for long-term benefit.

Following Coca-Cola, I did a stint at Sarah Lee in new business development before I turned my experience on to the advertising industry. I worked with major agencies such as Leo Burnett, Y&R, McCann World Group, as well as some specialty agencies that focused on African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American marketing. And that's where I really gained my expertise and the designation as a multicultural subject matter expert. So it's the integration of my career path and this energy space that really was significant for me. And in doing so, a couple of things just really jumped out at me.

One of them was that the customer relationship in the energy industry seemed to me to be way out of sync for where it really needs to be. So for me, Jason, it's always been about the customer and how we improve those relationships and how do we judge the impact on those customers. So when we talk LMI, low to moderate income consumers, it's absolutely in my wheelhouse and that's the piece that excites me.

 

Jason Price: 

Yeah, gotcha. I mean, being such a customer centric brands that you've discussed and the career that you had facing the customer is so foundational. And then you go to the energy industry, it's not a very customer oriented industry, at least not traditionally. So I'm sure they saw your perspective as a complete value. So tell us more now. Take us from where you were in the commercial product side to the energy field. Give us sort of a history of your experience in the energy sector.

 

Larry Glover: 

As part of that career path. I was part owner of an advertising agency. And as we looked for a new business, we actually won a contract with the New Jersey Utility during the time of deregulation. And so our assignment was to provide deregulation education, the engagement and community outreach for target markets. African American and Hispanic markets of New Jersey. We went on to do research and new business strategies with other utilities because at that time, utilities beyond being deregulated and having to deal with choice, there were also began the phase of introducing new products and services that were unregulated services.

So we got a chance to see how this industry continues to evolve. I've also spent time and hired it throughout the industry and led strategic communications for the American Association of Blacks and Energy, ABE, as we like to refer it. So there's been a lot of experience hands on for this industry. My solution team that manage solutions that work with the utilities to improve their customer response and receptivity to energy assistance programs. Some of the big takeaways is that companies see customers as rate payers and not customers and therefore deal with them very differently.

A second piece was the poor coordination between agencies and support services for LMI customers and the focus was to get them only to pay their bill. The third, and probably the biggest drawback from an assignment like that, was the fact that individuals who in fact qualify for energy assistance don't want to be seen or referred to as LMI customers who need the assistance. And so for me, when I work on these projects and I share my marketing and communication experience, I look for the opportunity for each assignment to help me understand a little bit more of this energy industry. To help me understand the nuances and what the interdependencies are across industry issues. And that's the way I build my industry knowledge.

 

Jason Price: 

Larry, that's an impressive journey because you cover so many different interest group perspectives and stakeholder perspectives. So tell us, the Energy Central community covers a national audience. And giving the essential conversations today about equity and investing in the low and medium income communities, set the stage for us to define what this looks like and why the energy industry needs to pay attention to these principles, maybe more so than with other industries, particularly ones that you've worked in.

 

Larry Glover: 

Thanks Jason, for the opportunity to tee up this because it is a really important industry issue. I'll start here. Recognizing that our utility system of connected utilities actually began in the early 1900s. There was a point where in 1910, for example, the US population had 92 million people. We fast forward today, the census identified 331 million people in the US.

My point is this, our population has more than tripled which means that we see that the expansion of utility infrastructure has had to be continuous and we know that it's ever changing. There's three key points that I'd like to make at the stage for this energy transition. First is that the US has set a goal to impact climate change. We've made the commitment to the Paris Accord. There are national and statewide and even local commitments to climate change, reduced greenhouse admission, reduced carbon.

Second, we've allocated historical sums of money to innovate and support this tremendous energy transition. But the real challenge for us when we talk about LMI communities is that so many of these communities are not ready to make this transition. And we as a nation cannot make a successful energy transition and leave these communities behind. In some cases, it's estimated that they are north of 20% of the communities that we look for. So we know all too often whether these communities are rural or LMI communities or high burden communities or just communities that have been disinvested systemically for a long period of time.

We know that these communities are also generally the ones with older housing stock, extremely inefficient housing. Densely of multi-unit structures with varying decision makers. It makes for a difficult process for us to achieve this. And make a reference to a YouTube segment that I recently viewed, it's called the Rational Middle. It is produced by a gentleman by the name of Gregory Kallenberg. Great story because it talks about how do we make this energy transition?

What's the difference between the coal mining towns of Kentucky or the woefully inefficient housing stock that in some parts of Georgia and Alabama. He talks about the need for trust. They talk about the impact on those communities when their energy system does not provide the support. We see Jackson, Mississippi, we see Flint, Michigan, where the water side of the industry had terrible impacts on these communities.

What we also know, Jason, is that these are the same communities that have been disinvested through other industries as well. When we talk about communities that have been disinvested based on redlining and lower investment in those communities. When we talk about communities that don't have broadband. When we talk about communities who are food deserts or experienced other health or environmental related issues. The challenge is, is that we cannot go forward and not address these communities.

Importantly in this energy transition and we talk about what I like to term the big muscle movement projects, be they EV or transportation. Be there, electrification. Be there, grid modernization and alternative fuels. These are all critical measures, particularly for these LMI communities. When we talk about EVs and transportation as an example, we see that there is an adoption pattern. There's early adopters who generally get into the market quickly, then it moves more slowly around the adoption period.

In early 2022 of all of the vehicles on the road in the US, only about 1% of them were electric vehicles. So think about this. When the goal is really 80 plus percent, and when you look at states like California who decided that after 2035 no combustion engines will be sold in the state, we see the arduous task that's ahead of us and particularly for these communities.

Then I turn to this idea of electrification and we talk about electrification and how do we move this system through this electrification without understanding the cost impact and the added burden of those communities. We also have to be concerned with, how do we build and revise codes so that these communities will meet the new standards, not today, but in 2035 and 2050.

When we talk about, for example, grid revitalization, we find that the critics often accuse utilities of a fix to failure strategy in these disinvested communities. What that says is that as the system has been built out, these disinvested communities, these are often communities where the repairs are done only after failure. Which means that the technology advances that are implemented in these communities are really under invested and have to be dealt with differently.

 

Jason Price: 

Larry, you've covered a lot of important topics there and I want to ask you, you were at NARUC in DC. I'm curious, what was the reaction like by the audience? Did you get any feedback from the regulators in the room or utilities executives in the audience who are listening to this message? Do you think it lands on an audience that is paying attention and is responsive? Just share with us what was the kind of feedback you got by sharing these same sentiments to the audience back in February?

 

Larry Glover: 

The feedback was actually really good. And I'm really pleased to be able to discuss this issue with regulators. Because even as we understand that their core responsibility comes out of an economic regulator pattern where they are concerned about cost and rates and investment recovery and all of the economics of stabilizing. But in so many cases, these regulators, they stand between companies, the IOUs and the munis, the transmission and distribution companies on one side. And then the public to which they have the responsibility on the other.

And as technology continues to advance, as we learn more and faster, they don't always have the opportunity to learn as quickly as we do as industry experts. So sometimes they are then forced to wear the striped shirt, if you will, if you'll live with the analogy. That make sure that everyone abides by the rules. That we are looking to have a balance and impact on the economy. But then all of a sudden they throw this thing called DEI and diversity on their laps, to which we know that they are not necessarily experts in that, but they have to judge and adjudicate with the thinking that DEI and equity are important measures for our industry now.

So how do they do that? They only get that when they hear from subject matter experts who share new learning with them. And so for me it was an absolute pleasure to talk with them and to help them see the world, the industry through a different set of eyes. They become really important because the difference is, unlike a sporting event where you let the chips fall where they may, these regulators must guide us to a very specific outcome. And the outcome is to prepare these communities for this transition in energy future.

 

Jason Price: 

I agree. All right. So with that in mind, ultimately, when do you know when you hit it? What does it look like? How will you know when it's achieved to sort of paint that picture for us?

 

Larry Glover: 

Too many times, we see equity as a destination. And you've heard me say this before, equity is not a destination. You can't get there and stop. But in fact, it's an action verb. It's about repetition. It's about doing the same things over and over. And so when we find a successful process, it's difficult. We should not be willing to walk away from that. But for me, the real goal here is not measuring equity because that's kind of like measuring effort.

The real goal is to be able to measure impact and how do we now measure impact with these LMI communities because as we talk about IRA and IJA, they're all based on impact to these communities? And so how do we begin to measure that? What are the tools that we're looking at that help us to measure impact? Well, we know that there are energy burden tools that we're trying to determine how that impacts customer behavior based on their energy burden. The Department of Energy has issued a tool that gives us 24 to 26 different factors that identifies what this invested low to moderate income communities look like. There's also an equity screening tool that comes out of the Office of Environmental Justice and others.

So the issue for me is not measuring equity. Like I said, it's kind of like measuring effort. But we have to be able to establish a baseline and be able to measure the impact on these communities. And these tools will help us to measure impact because that's the only way that we're going to see our way forward to this, is knowing what we've done in our ability to replicate it.

 

Jason Price: 

Absolutely. Okay, so Larry, we're going to give you the last word, but first we want to learn more about you, the person, rather than just the professional. So we have something called the lightning round where we ask five questions and typically the response should be in a word or a phrase. So Larry, are you ready?

 

Larry Glover: 

I am ready. I've seen this and I've seen others struggle with it. Some are doing really, really good.

 

Jason Price: 

Okay, fantastic. All right, so you shared with us that you're a regular listener of the Power Perspectives podcast, but I want to hear, what's another show you'd recommend for our listeners to check out from your rotation?

 

Larry Glover: 

Give me a little bit of latitude on this.

 

Jason Price: 

Go ahead. No problem.

 

Larry Glover: 

I listen for information and education. I look to be a little bit smarter. For example, for a while back you did a podcast called Creating Real Change with Calvin Butler. I think he's a phenomenal leader and really the example of equity. But you also had a podcast here several weeks ago by Meena Byers from Nicor Gas and she talked about the smart city approach in Illinois. I was really fascinated and really pretty riveted because she's talking about peeping around the corner and looking at cities in the future. I'm sorry that was a really long answer, but those are two that have sparked me and I have been particular. I'm a sports guy as well. So Skip Bayless and Shannon Shark are high on my list along with this issue of Slow Burn, which is a historical perspective for podcasts.

 

Jason Price: 

Walk us through your perfect day off.

 

Larry Glover: 

I'm a proud granddad and so my perfect day would be an early morning call for my two youngest grandkids who make me smile every day. My wife has really spent a great deal of time building out a flowered back deck. Early morning reading becomes a great time for that. And for me, getting away in the afternoon and maybe getting in a round of golf is a perfect day off.

 

Jason Price: 

Okay. We've never asked this question before. What's the first major splurge you'd make if you won the lottery?

 

Larry Glover: 

I'm going to sound like a geek because I'd solarize my home with battery storage. And not because I'm enamored by it, but I like to have a personal experience so when I talk about it, I know what I'm talking about. The other splurge is really my wife would like to have the BWV EV. I'm sure that would be on the list.

 

Jason Price: 

What would be an alternative career path if you hadn't found yourself fallen to the energy industry?

 

Larry Glover: 

Would be hopefully gearing for the Hall of Fame because I would've been a catcher for the New York Mets, had I not gone into marketing and advertising.

 

Jason Price: 

How do you define success in your job and career?

 

Larry Glover: 

For me, it's making a real difference. It's the ability that when I leave I can point to a real value change. And working with LMI communities, I think that's a great place for me to drop my stake.

 

Jason Price: 

Larry, thank you for giving us a peek into your world. Much appreciated and certainly insightful. And I know that given that we have a lot of listeners on the C-suite, I'm sure there's a lot that they've appreciated as well as your peers in the industry listening to this conversation today. So I want to thank you, but I also want to give you the final word. What's the final insight or advice you'd share based on your experience with feet on the ground in the thick of these issues?

 

Larry Glover: 

I take this moment to offer the industry what I believe is one of the greatest underused resources that we have. And that's the ability to partner with HBCUs. Historically black college and universities. I mentioned earlier that I am a proud graduate of the HBCUs, but HBCUs represented by 50% of the black professional in the US. They overwhelmingly provide 40% of black graduate degrees across science and technology, 23% among them. There are 109 institutions over 25 states and represent 323,000 students annually.

As an industry, we don't collaborate with these HBCUs because they are also in all of these communities that I talk about, they are situated oftentimes in the center of those communities that are greatest influencers. They have the academic rigor, they provide the facilities challenge. I think that as we go forward ans trying and build innovative plans forward, we've missed the opportunity to work with HBCUs and use them as critical partners as we move forward in this energy transition. So my last word would be industry, wake up. Take a look at these HBCUs. They're a great resource that we're not using as well as we could.

 

Jason Price: 

Absolutely. They have some very strong engineering programs and I've met a number of graduates that are quite impressive and talented, so I agree with you whole heartedly.

 

Larry Glover: 

Yeah, I said my two roommates and college were engineers and much better set for this.

 

Jason Price: 

This has been really insightful and really appreciate your time and we certainly welcome our listeners to share their thoughts and perspectives, including posting questions. And Larry would welcome your feedback on any of those questions that people may have posted to you. So definitely keep an eye on this podcast and the dialogue that will come from it. So until then, we would just want to thank you and much appreciate again, sharing your insight in today's show.

 

Larry Glover: 

Jason, thank you very much. It's been a wonderful experience and I'm humbly grateful. Thank you.

 

Jason Price: 

As are we. So you can always reach Larry through the Energy Central platform where he welcomes your questions and comments. And we also want to give a shout out of thanks to the podcast sponsors that made today's episode possible. Thanks to West Monroe. West Monroe works with the nation's largest electric gas and water utilities in their telecommunication, grid modernization and digital and workforce transformations. West Monroe brings a multidisciplinary team that blends utility operations and technology expertise to address modernizing aging infrastructure, advisory on transportation, electrification, ADMS deployments, data and analytics.

And cybersecurity. Once again, I'm your host Jason Price. Plug in and stay fully charged in the discussion by hopping into the community at energycentral.com. And we'll see you next time at the Energy Central Power Perspectives

Podcast.

 

About Energy Central Podcasts

The ‘Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast’ features conversations with thought leaders in the utility sector. At least twice monthly, we connect with an Energy Central Power Industry Network community member to discuss compelling topics that impact professionals who work in the power industry. Some podcasts may be a continuation of thought-provoking posts or discussions started in the community or with an industry leader that is interested in sharing their expertise and doing a deeper dive into hot topics or issues relevant to the industry.

The ‘Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast’ is the premiere podcast series from Energy Central, a Power Industry Network of Communities built specifically for professionals in the electric power industry and a place where professionals can share, learn, and connect in a collaborative environment. Supported by leading industry organizations, our mission is to help global power industry professionals work better. Since 1995, we’ve been a trusted news and information source for professionals working in the power industry, and today our managed communities are a place for lively discussions, debates, and analysis to take place. If you’re not yet a member, visit www.EnergyCentral.com to register for free and join over 200,000 of your peers working in the power industry.

The Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast is hosted by Jason Price, Community Ambassador of Energy Central. Jason is a Business Development Executive at West Monroe, working in the East Coast Energy and Utilities Group. Jason is joined in the podcast booth by the producer of the podcast, Matt Chester, who is also the Community Manager of Energy Central and energy analyst/independent consultant in energy policy, markets, and technology.  

If you want to be a guest on a future episode of the Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Podcast, let us know! We’ll be pulling guests from our community members who submit engaging content that gets our community talking, and perhaps that next guest will be you! Likewise, if you see an article submitted by a fellow Energy Central community member that you’d like to see broken down in more detail in a conversation, feel free to send us a note to nominate them.  For more information, contact us at [email protected]. Podcast interviews are free for Expert Members and professionals who work for a utility.  We have package offers available for solution providers and vendors. 

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