Venture to Offer One-Stop Shopping for Phone, Utilities
Two utility companies said Tuesday that they are joining forces with AT&T; Corp. and ADT Inc. to provide one-stop shopping for an array of utility, telephone, Internet and other household services that would eventually be bundled on one monthly bill.
The venture, named EnergyOne, will spend $10 million this year promoting itself nationally. Jointly owned by UtiliCorp United of Kansas City, Mo., and Peco Energy Co., a Philadelphia-based utility, EnergyOne hopes to market its services to utility companies too small to roll out their own national marketing campaigns but eager to reach more customers before competition is unleashed in the $200-billion electric utility industry.
These companies will be able to become franchisees of EnergyOne, picking and pricing the services they want to market. The services include AT&T; long-distance calling plans and Internet services, ADT residential and commercial security services, and natural gas and electricity provided by franchisees. Customers will be able to shop for all these services with one phone call, but initially they will receive separate bills for utility services.
The backdrop to the new venture are the efforts underway in several states, including California, and in Congress to transform the utility industry from one made up of regulated monopolies that dominate their geographic areas to one in which companies compete against one another in the same way long-distance telephone companies do.
Utility companies are busy devising strategies that will allow them to survive the coming shakeout in the industry. “It’s a cost-effective solution to customer retention,” Peco President Corbin A. McNeill Jr. said.
AT&T; will offer its telephone and Internet services and will provide the infrastructure--including employees to answer customer calls and handle orders and billing--for the new venture. ADT will offer household and business electronic security services. UtiliCorp shares rose 50 cents to close at $27.75; Peco shares slipped 6.25 cents to close at $20.44. Both trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
