J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Overall Satisfaction With Electric Utility Providers Increases Substantially Among Business Customers
Austin Energy; CPS Energy; Duquesne Light; KCP&L; Kentucky Utilities; PPL Electric Utilities; Progress Energy Carolinas; Sacramento Municipal Utility District; and Salt River Project Each Rank Highest in their Respective Segments
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Business customers of electric utility providers are considerably more satisfied in 2010, compared with 2009, due to marked improvements in corporate citizenship and power quality and reliability, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.
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The study is based on interviews with representatives of more than 16,000 U.S. businesses that spend between $500 and $50,000 monthly on electricity. More than 90 utility brands serving a total of more than 11.7 million business customers are included in the study. Overall customer satisfaction is measured by examining six factors: power quality and reliability; billing and payment; corporate citizenship; price; communications; and customer service.
Overall satisfaction averages 646 on a 1,000-point scale in 2010—an increase of 29 points from 2009. Each of the factors included in the study has increased from 2009, with the largest gains occurring in the corporate citizenship factor (which increases by 31 points) and the power quality and reliability factor (which improves by 29 points).
"Electric utilities are doing a particularly good job of raising awareness of their new conservation and efficiency programs, which resonates with cost-conscious business customers," said Alan Destribats, vice president of the energy utility practice at J.D. Power and Associates.
The study finds that business customers increasingly rely on their utility Web sites for information, with 46 percent of customers who say they use their utility Web site in 2010, compared with 38 percent in 2009. In addition, those business customers who visited the utility's Web site one or more times are considerably more satisfied overall (673, on average) than customers who never visited the utility's Web site (625, on average).
The study also finds that utilities may be able to mitigate low satisfaction levels due to outages by providing comprehensive outage information. Among business customers who called their utility to report an outage, those who received four or more pieces of outage information are nearly as satisfied overall as those who never experienced an outage.
"By proactively communicating about corporate citizenship initiatives and power outage information, electric utilities are providing additional value to their business customers, to which those customers are responding positively," said Destribats. "As utility Web site usage continues to grow among business customers, Web sites will become an increasingly important tool in these communication efforts."
Within each geographic region included in the study, utility providers are classified into one of two segments: large (serving 85,000 or more business customers) and midsize (serving between 29,000 and 84,999 business customers). Rankings within each region and segment are as follows:
East Region
PPL Electric Utilities ranks highest among large electric utility providers in the East Region. Among midsize electric utilities in the East Region, Duquesne Light ranks highest.
Midwest Region
In the Midwest Region, KCP&L ranks highest among large electric utilities, while Kentucky Utilities ranks highest among midsize brands.
South Region
Progress Energy Carolinas ranks highest among large utilities in the South Region and receives an award for a second consecutive year. Among midsize electric utilities in the South Region, Austin Energy and CPS Energy rank highest, in a tie.
West Region
Salt River Project ranks highest among large electric utilities in the West Region, while Sacramento Municipal Utility District ranks highest among midsize electric utility providers.
The 2010 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 16,630 online interviews among business customers of the 97 largest utility brands across the United States. The study was fielded from April to June 2009 and September to December 2009. For more information on electric utility ratings, please visit JDPower.com.
Customer Satisfaction Index Scores
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
East Region: Large Segment
PPL Electric Utilities 667
Public Service Electric and Gas 645
NSTAR Electric 638
Appalachian Power 636
Jersey Central Power & Light 622
East Region Large Segment Average 621
PECO Energy 614
Allegheny Power 611
Con Edison Company of New York 611
Connecticut Light and Power 609
National Grid 605
Baltimore Gas and Electric 603
New York State Electric & Gas 603
Long Island Power Authority 601
East Region: Midsize Segment
Duquesne Light 652
Penelec 650
Rochester Gas & Electric 645
Central Maine Power 642
Public Service of New Hampshire 628
East Region Midsize Segment Average 628
Delmarva Power 623
Pepco 618
Atlantic City Electric 615
Met-Ed 609
Included in the study, but not ranked due to small sample size are:
Central Hudson Gas & Electric; Orange & Rockland; and United Illuminating.
Midwest Region: Large Segment
KCP&L 673
Xcel Energy-Midwest 666
Alliant Energy 663
We Energies 662
AEP Ohio 648
AmerenUE 635
Duke Energy - Midwest 633
Detroit Edison 632
Midwest Region Large Segment Average 632
Ohio Edison 616
Consumers Energy 610
ComEd 607
Ameren Illinois Utilities 595
Midwest Region: Midsize Segment
Kentucky Utilities 710
MidAmerican Energy 702
Wisconsin Public Service 698
Omaha Public Power District 683
Indianapolis Power & Light 671
Indiana Michigan Power 655
Midwest Region Midsize Segment Average 653
Louisville Gas and Electric 651
Westar Energy 650
The Illuminating Company 608
Dayton Power & Light 605
NIPSCO 566
Included in the study, but not ranked due to small sample size are:
Kentucky Power and Toledo Edison.
South Region: Large Segment
Progress Energy Carolinas 704
Alabama Power 688
South Carolina Electric & Gas 688
Duke Energy - Carolinas 684
Georgia Power 669
South Region Large Segment Average 662
Entergy Louisiana 647
Florida Power & Light 647
Dominion Virginia Power 636
Progress Energy Florida 622
Entergy Arkansas 619
South Region: Midsize Segment
Austin Energy 682
CPS Energy 682
Orlando Utilities Commission 677
JEA 668
Tampa Electric 668
Entergy Texas 662
South Region Midsize Segment Average 662
Gulf Power 656
Oklahoma Gas and Electric 656
Memphis Light, Gas & Water 573
Included in the study, but not ranked due to small sample size are:
Entergy Mississippi; Mississippi Power; Nashville Electric; Public
Service Co. of Oklahoma; Santee Cooper; Southwestern Electric Power;
and Xcel Energy-South.
West Region: Large Segment
Salt River Project 686
Pacific Power 684
Portland General Electric 678
Southern California Edison 673
APS 669
San Diego Gas & Electric 663
L.A. Dept. of Water and Power 659
West Region Large Segment Average 658
Puget Sound Energy 647
Xcel Energy-West 646
Pacific Gas and Electric 644
NV Energy 636
Rocky Mountain Power 630
West Region: Midsize Segment
Sacramento Municipal Utility District 706
Tucson Electric Power 688
West Region Midsize Segment Average 664
Seattle City Light 658
Avista 650
PNM 633
NorthWestern Energy 632
Included in the study, but not ranked due to small sample size are:
El Paso Electric; Idaho Power; and Snohomish County PUD.
About J.D. Power and Associates
Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, Web intelligence and customer satisfaction. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
About The McGraw-Hill Companies
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, Capital IQ, J.D. Power and Associates, McGraw-Hill Construction and Aviation Week. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2008 were $6.4 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.
Media Relations Contacts:
Jeff Perlman; Brandware Public Relations: Westlake Village, Calif.; (818) 317-3070; [email protected]
John Tews; J.D. Power and Associates; Troy, Mich.; (248) 312-4119; [email protected]
No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. www.jdpower.com
Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link.
Al Destribats
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=58117
SOURCE J.D. Power and Associates
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