March 29, 2006—Satisfaction of business customers with their electric utility provider has improved for a second consecutive year, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study. The study’s nationwide customer satisfaction index increased significantlyfrom 660 points on a 1,000-point scale in 2005 to 667 in 2006.
“Overall, utilities are doing a better job at communicating with their business customers, which can go a long way toward improving customer satisfaction,” said Alan Destribats, executive director of the utility practice at J.D Power and Associates. “With all of the news about rising energy prices, and with another year of major storm events, electric utilities had to be clear about what they were doing to help business customers. Communications is the area utilities have improved the most since our 2004 study.”
The study is based on interviews with representatives of more than 12,000 US businesses that spend between $500 and $50,000 monthly on electricity. Overall customer satisfaction is based on six factors: power quality and reliability, customer service, company image, billing and payment, price, and communications.
For more information, visit the Web site of J.D. Power and Associates, the global marketing information firm.
