From Rates to Relationships: How Utilities Can Support C&I Customers Facing Rising Energy Costs

Energy costs are rising, and your C&I customers know it. Utilities across the country requested nearly $31 billion in rate increases in 2025, double the amount from 2024. For C&I accounts, energy is often in the top three operating expenses. Rate increases are impossible to ignore.  

The Pressure Your C&I Customers Are Feeling

According to the U.S Energy Information Administration, the commercial sector saw the steepest electricity rate increases among all customer types going into 2025. For a mid-size manufacturer or multi-site retailer, that means tighter margins and harder budget conversations. 

Deloitte 2026 Power and Utilities Industry Outlook identified affordability as one of the industry’s main pressure points, with demand growth moving faster than supply investments. Your C&I customers are watching their bills go up and trying to plan around a grid that’s under massive stress from climate-induced extreme weather events and aging infrastructure. 

Add to that the growing complexity of C&I energy decisions like electrification, distributed energy resources, sustainability commitments, and demand response programs. Your customers have more questions than ever, but the real question is if they’re bringing their questions to you. 

Why You Need a Relationship Shift

Research from Escalent shows that C&I customers who view their utility as a “trusted energy advisor” are significantly more satisfied, more engaged with utility programs, and more loyal, even when rates go up. But only 30% of key accounts say that their utility is positioned as a trusted energy advisor. 

This gap comes from a key account manager’s presence (or lack thereof). KAMs who reach out proactively show that they understand their customer’s business. A proactive relationship can’t happen at scale if KAMs are spending their time taking reactive calls. 

The C&I landscape is also changing quickly. Utility Dive reported many utilities are at risk of being blindsided by C&I customers’ capacity needs when they are not looped in about electrification plans early in the process. The KAM who has built a real relationship is the one who gets called first. 

Four Ways KAMs Can Add Value Now

1. Translate their bill into a business conversation. Most C&I customers don’t fully understand what drives their bill. Demand charges, time-of-use rates, and fuel adjustment clauses can feel like a lot of question marks. KAMs who explain, in basic language, how operational decisions affect annual energy spend build credibility quickly. C&I accounts can make up the majority of a utility’s revenue but most never know the full picture of their energy use. KAMs who provide that clarity are truly valuable. 
2. Connect them to programs that fit their operation. Don’t wait for C&I customers to discover demand response, energy efficiency, or load management programs on their own. Proactive program matching is one of the highest-leverage moves a KAM can make. Escalent found that over 80% of key accounts received a program recommendation at the start of service, and over 90% followed through, but only because someone made the recommendation. Showing a key account a relevant program is an easy, high-ROI action that starts with picking up the phone. 
3. Align with their sustainability goals, not just their bill. An increasing number of C&I customers have ESG commitments and net-zero targets that their investors are watching. For KAMs, that’s a conversation that goes beyond rate discussions. C&I customers want data-driven insights from their utility partners. If you know a customer is working on carbon neutrality, connect them to relevant programs before they find a third party who will. 
4. Show up before the crisis, not after. Regular touchpoints like in-person visits, quarterly business reviews, and proactive outage communications drive higher satisfaction scores. Utilities can increase satisfaction by implementing proactive, structured outreach. Customers who feel like someone at the utility is paying attention to their account are the ones who won’t go looking for alternatives. 

The Bottom Line

Rate increases will keep coming. Grid complexity will keep growing. The C&I customers who feel most supported through these changes won’t always be the ones with the lowest bills, but they’ll be the ones with a KAM who treated their business like it mattered. 

The shift from rate manager to trusted advisor isn’t a program or a technology investment. It’s a human relationship and it starts with the next call you make, before your customer can reach out. 

Learn more about how you can shift from rates to relationships: