MEDIA ADVISORY
SRP launches social media platform
Will communicate with customers through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
In a society increasingly participating in new ways to communicate, Salt River Project this week started connecting with customers through social media like Twitter and Facebook.
SRP currently communicates to its customers using newsletters, advertising, e-mail and online via www.srpnet.com and www.savewithsrp.com. Gena Trimble, SRP's manager of Communications and Community Relations, said SRP views social media as a new way to interact with customers and inform them about important energy issues - as well as to offer ways to better manage their energy use.
"A new generation of customers is actively using social media to engage with peers, and sometimes with companies," said Trimble. "We want to provide them with an opportunity to have conversations about our products and services, and share their opinions directly with us."
According to Trimble, social media could help increase customer participation in programs that encourage energy efficiency and offer money-saving rebates. Trimble adds that SRP will post some of its future news releases to these sites an hour before sending them by e-mail or fax, and also is considering using Twitter to help communicate the status of major power outages and power-restoration efforts during storms.
To follow SRP on social media, customers can visit www.twitter.com/SRPconnect, www.facebook.com/SRPconnect and www.YouTube.com/srpconnect.
SRP's first major effort at engaging customers through social media will begin on Oct. 12, when SRP will be "tweeting" live from the dedication of the Dry Lake Wind Farm - Arizona's first wind energy farm and the newest renewable-energy resource for SRP customers.
SRP is the third-largest public power utility in the nation, serving more than 930,000 electric customers in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.
