Voices of Experience

The Office of Electricity (OE) pioneered the Voices of Experience (Voices) approach more than a decade ago in response to industry feedback. The Voices efforts convene stakeholders to facilitate peer-to-peer sharing, with conversations focused on technologies and emerging issues facing industry. By actively listening to these conversations, OE gains a greater understanding of how technologies and concepts are being implemented and deployed, helping to identify gaps or barriers that can hinder progress.

A Unique Approach

The Voices of Experience approach is unique from other DOE stakeholder engagement efforts. It uses the art of the question and a structured approach that is centered on open dialogue and active listening to gather firsthand insights. Discussions include a mix of multi-stakeholder and single-stakeholder conversations, allowing for cross-pollination of ideas as well as safe spaces for more candid discussions. Convenings enable greater collaboration between stakeholders and, using Chatham House Rule governance, enables candor, allowing Voices efforts to identify gaps, share best practices, and uncover challenges that may not surface in other settings. 

Key Outcomes

The resulting knowledge is then formalized into an objective report that provides an overview of the collective voice of industry that highlights challenges, concerns, and successes. This enables wider dissemination of information that facilitates progress in grid modernization and transformation. OE has published multiple Voices reports on a range of topics that are accessible and easy to skim read.

Coming soon.