Working with facility communities

Outside of project-specific community engagement, we conduct many ongoing engagement activities which help foster and retain meaningful relationships with the communities in which we operate.

​Community pa​​nels

​Edmonton, Collingwood, Kananaskis, French Creek
Our community panels bring together groups of seven to 25 participants representing a variety of customer rate classes (residential, multi-residential, commercial and industrial) and major stakeholders in specific communities and/or neighbourhoods. These groups provide feedback and input on a community’s priorities related to all aspects of service delivery.

​One-on-one me​​​etings

All co​mmunities
We organize meetings with individual key community influencers, stakeholder groups, and community groups. These meetings can help discover issues, gain insight into community values, issues and events that may be of interest to us and be a means to determine perceptions of our operations in the community.

​Joint communications ​proto​​col

Edmon​​ton
EPCOR and the Rossdale Community League jointly developed a Communications Protocol which expresses the mutual commitment of the parties to engagement and communications about the Rossdale site and community issues, defines a process for information sharing, and outlines standards for documenting decisions.

​Tour​​​​​s

Edmo​​nton, Kananaskis, Canmore, Strathmore, Britannia, French Creek, Regina, USA
We offer tours of our water treatment plants and wastewater treatment plants. Tours can be used to increase awareness in a community about operations, improve community relations and increase general education. While tours were suspended in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect to resume tour programs once public and company health protection measures permit.

​Regular community newsl​​etters

Edmonton, Fre​​nch Creek, USA
We distribute community newsletters to residents located around our existing water and wastewater treatment facilities in Edmonton and to customers in San Tan Valley, Arizona. These newsletters provide updates to the community and educate the public about upcoming activities at our facilities.

​Project-rela​​​ted communications

All commu​nities
We distribute project-related information through a variety of communication channels, including website content, newsletters, public notices, social media, emails, doorknockers, and bill inserts. The level and method of communication is tailored to the initiative or project.

​Participation ​​in community events

Edmonton, Canm​ore, Chestermere, Strathmore, Collingwood, Aylmer, Kincardine and USA
Our engagement teams participate in existing community events and, in certain areas, hosts events, demonstrating our commitment to our communities. It's also an opportunity to educate people about specific topics relevant to the community, including public safety, watershed protection and operational information.

​Custome​​r surveys

All commun​ities
We connect with stakeholders regularly to understand how it is performing as neighbours and as their utility. This research seeks to understand how we can adapt our operations or approach in subjects ranging from rate applications to utility services and day-to-day operations.

​Developer ​portal

Edmont​on
We maintain a portal where builders and developers can quickly and conveniently review the status of their commercial and land development projects, receiving updates on milestones and project details.

Safety consultat​ions

We continue to offer powerline safety awareness sessions to organizations and contractors whose work puts them in close proximity to high-voltage electrical infrastructure. There, individuals learn about electrical hazards, steps to take to better ensure their safety and how to respond in an emergency. This is part of our commitment to ensuring the safety of our employees and the communities we serve.

​Keeping customers informed of maintenance and upgra​des

We continue to provide reliable electricity to our customers, although weather, for example, can lead to outages. When the power goes out in Edmonton, subscribers to our outage alerts receive emails or text messages letting them know the cause and estimated time of restoration and engage with us on social media. Customers in Edmonton and Ontario can also find details on our power outage maps.

Some upgrades require us to disconnect power to safely perform critical maintenance and upgrades. We work closely with commercial customers to limit impacts to their businesses, where possible. In 2020, we provided notice of planned outages to over 7,000 residential and commercial customers through phone and/or email.

Providing reliable power to customers also means that we maintain a robust vegetation management program. We address trees and other vegetation growing into high-voltage aerial distribution lines, as these can present a fire hazard and lead to power outages. We notify customers when our work takes us near them.

Whether we are replacing a transformer or upgrading a ground grid on private property, we provide upfront notification to help customers understand why the work is necessary and what they can expect.