AWWA ACE95207

There's an old saying in American slang: "Talk's cheap," or in other words, it doesn't mean much. At Moorhead Public Service, a municipal water and electric utility in Moorhead, Minnesota, we think the opposite. "Talk's not cheap. It's invaluable." Talking with your water customers, and more importantly, listening to what they have to say, can reap benefits for everyone involved, especially when there's a gap between your perception of your customers and their reality. This paper describes the experiences of Moorhead Public Service and their use of consumer task forces. The author gives several "how-to" steps for dealing with task force groups and offers some pro's and con's about the use of task forces in utility planning. The author concludes that consumer task forces are extremely time and labor intensive, but they also provide an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas, reduce tensions over some issues, and in the end, generate publicly-supported policies and programs.

Product Details

Published:

01/01/1995

ISBN(s):

0898678315

Number of Pages:

5

File Size:

1 file , 220 KB