Storms, droughts, wildfires, extreme heat.

These are no longer once-in-a-decade events. They are seasonal realities.

For utility leaders, the question is no longer if disruption will occur. It is far more existential:

Field teams are out there right now racing to fix lines and get the grid stable. But while those crews are moving, something just as important is happening with the customers. Or maybe it isn’t happening.

Here is the worst-case scenario. You get the power back on in 48 hours, but the customer felt like you forgot about them for those same 48 hours. In this business, what people think is happening is just as real as what is actually happening.

Climate volatility is intensifying at a systemic level. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025 continues to rank extreme weather at the top of the list for big risks to the economy over the next decade. For a utility, this isn’t just a bad week. It’s the way things are now.

So why does this matter? Because customer trust is now tied to how much you tell them and how fast you say it. People want to see what’s going on, what happens next, and when they can expect things to get back to normal. When they don’t see that, they get frustrated.

Customer experience teams can’t control where a storm goes or how fast a crew can drive. But they can control how that delay feels to the person sitting in the dark. That difference is what builds or breaks trust over the long haul.

Since the McKinsey source is unreliable for that point, it’s better to replace it with a customer-trust / communication credibility source that directly supports the argument you’re making. The best fit here is PwC’s Global Customer Insights Survey, which is widely cited and stable.

Here is the clean corrected version of your section with a valid source:

Here is another credible and working option you can use instead of J.D. Power. This one is highly relevant to utilities and climate resilience and comes from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

We usually judge how we’re doing by how long an outage lasts. That still matters, of course. But customers now judge us by how clear and consistent we are.

When your Estimated Time of Restoration (ETR) jumps around without explanation, or when your mobile application says one thing while your text alert says another, people become uneasy. They assume the systems behind the scenes are not aligned.

The International Energy Agency’s Electricity Grids and Secure Energy Transitions report highlights how increasing climate-related disruptions are placing growing pressure on electricity networks and require utilities to strengthen both operational resilience and grid management capabilities.

For utilities, this means resilience is no longer defined only by stronger infrastructure. It also requires the ability to translate operational intelligence into clear, timely information for customers.

Communication reliability must evolve alongside infrastructure reliability.

The customer team doesn’t fix substations. But they are the ones who make sure the customer doesn’t feel abandoned. There are three big things that decide if a customer feels taken care of.

Talking Early and Being Human

You have to start talking before the storm hits. People want to know what you see coming, how you’re getting ready, and what they should do. Sending an alert early stops the panic. Being honest about the risks builds a lot of credit. Also, the way you say it matters. In a crisis, being clear and calm shows you’ve got it under control.

Accurate Estimated Time of Restoration

The ETR is the most important piece of info you have during a blackout. Getting a good number means looking at weather, the state of the gear, and what the crews see on the ground. And things change. You find more damage as you go. More than coming up with an estimate, it’s making sure that time is the same on your website, your app, and your phone lines. If the times don’t match, you lose people.

Keeping the Conversation Going

When things stay broken for a long time, silence feels like you’ve walked away. People get that storms cause damage. What they hate is not knowing what’s happening. Keeping a stream of updates to tell them the work is still going, with the frequency that matches their expectations.

Big storms aren’t a fluke. They are the new baseline. Utilities have to stop just reacting and start using a system that connects everything:

• Weather data
• Where the grid is weak
• Old outage patterns
• Customer needs
• Live data from the field

When these pieces don’t talk to each other, you get gaps in your story. When they are linked, the info flows right to the customer. Your ETRs update on their own. Your messages stay the same across the board. The people who need help most get it first.

This isn’t just about buying a new app. It’s about making sure your grid systems, and your communication tools are built to work together. The companies doing this well aren’t just fixing power faster. They are changing how the whole experience feels.

Keeping customers happy when the weather is wild isn’t just a “support” goal. It shows how strong the company is. The utilities that keep people’s trust have three things in common:

• They see what’s happening in real time.
• They use data to predict what’s next.
• They speak with one voice.

Building a more resilient distribution system is part of it. But how you handle the info and the people determines how the crisis is remembered. At CriticalRiver Inc., we help utilities close that gap. We help link the systems that manage the outage with the ones that talk to the people, making sure your data stays consistent everywhere.

The goal isn’t just a faster fix. It’s making sure the customer feels as supported as they are. You can’t stop the weather, but you can stop the loss of trust.