How to Frame Your Message for Successful Water Rates Increases

摘要

Increasing water rates is almost every public utility's nightmare. Misconceptions, misinformation and lack of political will often challenge the implementation of full rate increases. One of the most critical elements to getting approval for a full rate increase request is for a utility to implement a communications strategy that uses the right messages. Rates are not easy to explain - neither to the customer base nor to the regulatory entities with purview over rate approval. Thus, framing messages so that they convey the right information, values and emotions is the key to public communication, and ultimately approval of proposed rates. This article discusses a recent study from Hahn Public Communications that measures the efficacy of the most - and least - persuasive messages that utilities use to justify rate increases.