Just Power Podcast
Just Power Podcast
Podcast Description
Right now, our energy system is transforming before our eyes and the decisions we make today will shape how we power our world for generations to come. So how do we create a just transition to a clean energy future without leaving anyone behind?I’m Carolyn Parrs, and for the past 20 years, I've been in the trenches of our energy transition working with startups to utilities helping them bring more clean energy to our grid. The time is now to transform our energy systems to create sustainable and equitable energy for all.That is why I created the Just Power Podcast in collaboration with New Mexico State University. Each week, we bring you conversations with energy leaders, policymakers, tribal members, community champions, and more. People who are working hard to so everyone has access to clean, affordable, reliable energy, no matter what their zip code.Subscribe to the Just Power Podcast! Because everyone deserves a seat at the energy table.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast centers on crucial themes like energy equity, community empowerment, and sustainable energy solutions. Episodes tackle specific topics such as Scotland's just transition framework, the intersection of energy justice and indigenous rights, and the business implications of energy equity, exemplified through episodes featuring experts sharing transformative insights and strategies.
The Just Power Podcast is about making clean, affordable and reliable energy accessible to everyone. Created and hosted by Carolyn Parrs, CEO of Mind Over Markets, it features energy experts, policymakers, Tribal voices, and community champions who are working hard to make energy equity a reality in our energy transition.
What if the most radical thing a utility could do right now isn't build more infrastructure — it's decide that how it cares for customers is just as important as how it powers their homes?
Utibe Bassey grew up in Lagos, Nigeria without reliable power. Today she is Vice President of Customer Experience at Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest utility. She brings to that role a personal philosophy she calls Love as a KPI — the idea that love, defined not as sentiment but as a genuine commitment to the greatest good of another person, can be taught, measured, and operationalized. In this conversation, Utibe speaks both as a utility leader navigating one of the most challenging affordability moments in recent memory, and as a thinker who believes the human dimension of this work is not separate from the business case — it is the business case.
In this episode:
- Why there's no single message that works for every customer — and how to think about what actually resonates with the person in front of you
- How Dominion embeds empathy across its entire organization, from call center training to website copy to leadership modeling
- What it actually took to put contact center agents live on the news — and why the team was already ready
- How grace, one of the five indicators of Love as a KPI, shows up within the real constraints of rate structures and collection policies
- Why every Dominion employee is a de facto community ambassador, and how the company equips them for it
- What love-led leadership looks like in the age of AI — and why the human dimension will matter more, not less
- The one shift Utibe would ask of every utility leader navigating this affordability moment
Referenced in this podcast:VIDEO: How do we express Love through business?
About our guest, Utibe Bassey: Utibe is Vice President of Customer Experience at Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest utility. dominionenergy.com; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/utbassey/
About our host, Carolyn Parrs: Carolyn is a Senior Strategic Communications Leader and the CEO of Mind Over Markets. mindovermarkets.com; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolynparrs/
Just Power Podcast is about the human side of the clean energy transition. The podcast focuses on grid modernization, energy affordability, and community engagement — featuring leaders from utilities, policy, technology, and frontline communities navigating the real-world impacts of energy infrastructure change.
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