Innovating the Customer Experience with Modern Technologies: A Conversation with Justine Schneider of DTE Energy [Recognizing One of the 2023 Energy Central Innovation Champions]
Earlier this year, Energy Central dispatched our annual call for nominations for power professionals leading the way in Innovation, and we're proud to announce the 5 winners and 4 honorable mentions, which you can read about here. This week, we'll be spotlighting each of those winners after conducting interviews to learn more about their great work.
Please help us celebrate Justine’s and the other champions' successes by reading some of the insights garnered from these exclusive Innovation Champion Interviews.
In the rapidly evolving world of utilities, innovation has become a critical driving force for companies seeking to enhance customer experiences and meet the ever-changing demands of the industry. DTE, a prominent utility company serving customers in Michigan, has embarked on a transformative journey, embracing innovation as a core principle to revolutionize their operations and better serve their customers.
In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Justine Schneider, Senior Strategist at DTE Energy, who was nominated and ultimately chosen as a 2023 Energy Central Innovation Champion for her work on a range of initiatives tailored to improving the payment experience for DTE’s customers, particularly those that are cash-paying or underbanked, including the 2021 project migrating DTE’s payments from an existing kiosk network to a new kiosk network.
As a key champion of innovation at DTE, in this conversation we delve into her remarkable efforts and gain insights into how they have harnessed the power of innovation to reshape the utility sector:
Matt Chester: Congratulations on being selected as one of our Champions of Innovation for 2023! Can you tell us a bit about your role in the utility sector and how you got started in this space?
Justine Schneider: I joined DTE and the utility industry in 2017. Prior to that, my professional consulting experience in strategy spanned multiple industries throughout the country, encompassing both customer-facing and back-office roles. After relocating to Detroit in 2015, I found my path leading me to DTE and their impressive customer service organization. Since joining the company, I have been involved in various aspects of the customer service strategy group. It’s been so rewarding to be a part of a company where I can work on projects which directly impact my neighbors and friends as DTE customers.