Sonntag, 22. April | 21:56 Uhr

Today, Market Strategies International names 49 utilities as 2017
Customer Champions, reflective of these utilities building the
industry’s strongest customer engagement through superior service, brand
and product experiences. These Customer Champions rate higher than
industry peers on being “well managed companies” and have greater
pricing power, with their customers showing higher support for rate
increases.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171213005172/en/
2017 Utility Residential Customer Champions (Graphic: Business Wire)
Now in its fourth year, the 2017 Utility
Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential, a Cogent
Reports study by Market Strategies International, names Customer
Champions from a benchmark set of 128 electric, natural gas and
combination utilities. This coveted designation is based on Engaged
Customer Relationship (ECR) score achievement, a customer management
metric that measures the entire customer experience. ECR is based upon
12 factors that span Brand Trust, Product Experience and Service
Satisfaction performance.
Customer Management Performance Scoring
 
CustomerChampions
 
All otherutilities
 
Customer Championoutperformance
Engaged Customer Relationship
 
751
 
712
 
39

Brand Trust

714

673

41

Product Experience

740

699

41

Service Satisfaction

790

756

34

“It’s clear from our findings that Customer Champion utilities have
stronger brands to influence customer behavior, gain acceptance for rate
increases, lower operating costs and enhance revenue opportunities.
These utilities also lead on industry innovation and building the new
energy economy,” said Chris Oberle, a senior vice president at Market
Strategies International. “The bottom line is Customer Champions are
superior at profitably managing their customer operations and marketing
efforts.”

The 2017 Customer Champion utilities score highest on ECR and exhibit
best practices that make them the best managed in the industry.
EAST REGION PEER BENCHMARKING
 

Utility Service Type
 
Brand
Engaged CustomerRelationship Score

Combination

BGE

746

Combination

PECO Energy

735

Combination

NYSEG

731

Combination

National Grid

723

Combination

PSE&G

722

Combination

Delmarva Power

718

Combination

Con Edison

710

Combination

RG&E

709

Combination

Eversource Energy

702

Electric

PPL Electric Utilities

759

Electric

Duquesne Light

721

Electric

PSEG Long Island

708

Electric

Central Maine Power

701

Electric

Met-Ed

700

Electric

Penn Power

699

Electric

West Penn Power

697

Electric

Penelec

688

Electric

Monongahela Power

687

Electric

Potomac Edison

686

Electric

Atlantic City Electric

681

Electric

Pepco

668

Electric

Jersey Central Power & Light

652

Electric

Appalachian Power

648

Natural Gas

UGI Utilities

772

Natural Gas

New Jersey Natural Gas

755

Natural Gas

Philadelphia Gas Works

754

Natural Gas

National Fuel Gas

751

Natural Gas

Washington Gas

750

Natural Gas

Elizabethtown Gas

728

Natural Gas

Columbia Gas – East

726

Natural Gas

Peoples

726

Natural Gas

South Jersey Gas Company

715

 
Scores based on a 1,000-point maximum scale
MIDWEST REGION PEER BENCHMARKING
 

Utility Service Type
 
Brand
Engaged CustomerRelationship Score

Combination

Consumers Energy

751

Combination

NIPSCO

751

Combination

MidAmerican Energy

749

Combination

Wisconsin Public Service

741

Combination

DTE Energy

734

Combination

We Energies

730

Combination

Duke Energy Midwest

722

Combination

Ameren Illinois

718

Combination

Alliant Energy

713

Combination

Vectren

711

Combination

Xcel Energy – Midwest

708

Electric

Indianapolis Power & Light

735

Electric

Indiana Michigan Power

732

Electric

Ohio Edison

727

Electric

ComEd

724

Electric

OPPD

722

Electric

KCP&L

717

Electric

Dayton Power & Light

712

Electric

AEP Ohio

711

Electric

Ameren Missouri

710

Electric

The Illuminating Company

707

Electric

Toledo Edison

700

Electric

Westar Energy

681

Natural Gas

SEMCO Energy Gas Company

760

Natural Gas

Nicor Gas

749

Natural Gas

CenterPoint Energy – Midwest

744

Natural Gas

Citizens Energy

741

Natural Gas

Atmos Energy – Midwest

736

Natural Gas

Columbia Gas of Ohio

733

Natural Gas

Kansas Gas Service

727

Natural Gas

Dominion Energy Ohio

726

Natural Gas

Peoples Gas

724

Natural Gas

Spire – Western Missouri

720

Natural Gas

Spire – Eastern Missouri

717

 
Scoring based upon a 1,000-point maximum scale
SOUTH REGION PEER BENCHMARKING
 

Utility Service Type
 
Brand
Engaged CustomerRelationship Score

Combination

CPS Energy

733

Combination

Louisville Gas & Electric

725

Combination

SCE&G

720

Combination

MLGW

716

Electric

Georgia Power

770

Electric

Florida Power & Light

762

Electric

OG&E

758

Electric

Public Service Company of Oklahoma

756

Electric

JEA

753

Electric

Kentucky Utilities

748

Electric

OUC

746

Electric

Gulf Power

740

Electric

Nashville Electric Service

734

Electric

Alabama Power

732

Electric

Duke Energy Carolinas

730

Electric

Duke Energy Progress

729

Electric

Duke Energy Florida

720

Electric

Xcel Energy – South

718

Electric

Dominion Energy Virginia

712

Electric

Entergy

711

Electric

Mississippi Power

710

Electric

TECO Tampa Electric

708

Electric

Southwestern Electric Power Company

705

Electric

Austin Energy

691

Electric

El Paso Electric

674

Electric

Kentucky Power

652

Natural Gas

TECO Peoples Gas

789

Natural Gas

Atmos Energy – South

786

Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas

777

Natural Gas

Columbia Gas – South

768

Natural Gas

PSNC Energy

767

Natural Gas

Spire – South

762

Natural Gas

CenterPoint Energy – South

760

Natural Gas

Oklahoma Natural Gas

758

Natural Gas

Virginia Natural Gas

735

Natural Gas

Texas Gas Service

734

 
Scoring based upon a 1,000-point maximum scale
WEST REGION PEER BENCHMARKING
 

Utility Service Type
 
Brand
Engaged CustomerRelationship Score

Combination

Xcel Energy- West

745

Combination

SDG&E

727

Combination

Puget Sound Energy

721

Combination

Avista

701

Combination

NorthWestern Energy

697

Combination

PG&E

689

Electric

SMUD

778

Electric

Salt River Project

767

Electric

Idaho Power

743

Electric

Seattle City Light

740

Electric

Southern California Edison

730

Electric

Portland General Electric

729

Electric

Tucson Electric Power

729

Electric

Rocky Mountain Power

727

Electric

APS

724

Electric

Pacific Power

724

Electric

NV Energy

720

Electric

Los Angeles Department of Water & Power

682

Electric

PNM

652

Natural Gas

Dominion Energy West

773

Natural Gas

SoCalGas

762

Natural Gas

NW Natural

759

Natural Gas

Intermountain Gas Company

742

Natural Gas

Southwest Gas

740

Natural Gas

New Mexico Gas Company

740

Natural Gas

Cascade Natural Gas

729

 
Scoring based upon a 1,000-point maximum scale
About the Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: Residential
report
Cogent Reports conducted surveys among 59,947 residential electric,
natural gas and combination utility customers of the 130 largest US
utility companies (based on residential customer counts). The sample
design uses US census data and strict quotas to ensure a demographically
balanced sample of each evaluated utility’s customers based on age,
gender, income, race and ethnicity. Utilities within the same region and
of the same type (e.g., electric-only providers) are given equal weight
in order to balance the influence of each utility’s customers on survey
results. Market Strategies will supply the exact wording of any survey
question upon request.
About Market Strategies InternationalMarket
Strategies International is a leading provider of research and
consulting services to utility management, trusted by the world’s most
successful organizations to help them thrive. We blend primary research
with data from our syndicated, benchmarking and self-funded studies to
provide clients with exceptional research insight that helps solve their
challenges. Our research specialties include brand, communications, CX,
product development and segmentation. Our syndicated products, known as
Cogent Reports, help clients understand the market environment, explore
industry trends and monitor their brand within the competitive
landscape. Founded in 1989, Market Strategies is one of the largest
market research firms in the world. Read Market Strategies’ blog at FreshMR,
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and LinkedIn.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171213005172/en/