DESCRIPTION:

Regulatory efficiency should not only consider performance indicators for specialized actors in the energy sector and government institutions but regulators' ability to reach wider audiences to ensure reliable and sustainable energy supply.

The role of economic regulators is often confused with political agents, raising false expectations on the scope of action economic regulators have under free market conditions. The Ibero-American Association of Energy Regulatory Entities (ARIAE) recently launched an initiative which gathers social communication areas to share experiences and strategies to better perform their functions. This exercise helped communicators to reflect on the challenges of multicultural audiences, the importance of developing educational training programs, and the importance of addressing to the new digital user.

KEY QUESTIONS:

1) How can we better communicate our role in society to empower consumers?

2) How to communicate complex topics?

3) Do energy consumers really know the options available to reduce their energy bill, save energy, and contribute to the decarbonization of the economy? If not, what can energy regulators do to improve the social communication of energy?

4) How have we faced the relation between the regulator and consumers during the pandemic?

5) Examples of technological innovations to create user-friendlier apps to interact with new digital users?