Consumers Protected
In September 2017, Sheri Givens was appointed Executive Director of Utilities United Against Scams. Givens is President of Givens Consulting LLC, providing energy consulting services to a wide range of clients on regulatory and consumer education issues. From 2009 to 2013, she served as the state utility consumer advocate for Texas.
Founded in 2016, Utilities United Against Scams is a consortium of over a hundred electric, gas and water utility companies. Membership is open and voluntary and includes investor-owned utilities, public power, cooperatives, and their respective trade associations, in both the U.S. and Canada.
The group’s mission is to combat utility scams by providing a forum for utility companies and associations to share data and best practices and to work together to implement initiatives to inform and protect utility customers. UUAS individual company representatives primarily consist of communications, security, and customer service professionals from the three major utility sectors.
In mid-2017, the majority of UUAS-participating utility companies adopted a new, formal charter setting forth the mission, objectives, and governance of the organization. Adopting the charter is the key step to becoming a member.
Under the charter, UUAS is led by a chair and two vice chairs, representing the three utility industry segments. The UUAS Executive Committee, consisting of these three members and the chairs of each of the working committees, provides policy direction, forms task forces and working groups, communicates with interested stakeholders, and appoints an Executive Director.