CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Energy utilities lost ground with their business customers this year, with the industry scoring 760 (on a 1,000-point scale), according to Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business, a Cogent Reports™ study from Market Strategies International. This is a significant 20-point decrease from 2016. The study measures Engaged Customer Relationships (ECR) on a weighted balanced scorecard approach by surveying business customers of 60 utilities on Brand Trust, Product Experience and Service Satisfaction. All factors have declined significantly, even though businesses say they have had fewer outages or safety events and improved service experiences.
This year, 18 Business Customer Champion utilities stand out among their industry peers by posting the highest ECR scores among all customer sizes, from small to key accounts. They also post the highest scores on customer satisfaction and brand attachment.
While Business Customer Champions demonstrate strong engagement across all business customer types, many utilities have focused on developing strong managed account programs. Having an account manager provides a 16-point premium on our ECR score over the industry average. Of the managed accounts, 87% use some offering, product or service beyond the core utility service, including alternative rate plans and energy consumption programs. Additionally, even when interacting with self-service channels, managed accounts have higher scores, with users of utility websites, mobile apps and/or web and social media scoring above 800 on ECR.
| Top 10 Managed Account Utility Programs* |
| Duke Energy Progress |
| Georgia Power |
| Jersey Central Power & Light |
| Los Angeles Department of Water & Power |
| Louisville Gas & Electric |
| MidAmerican Energy |
| SCE&G |
| SDG&E |
| Southern California Edison |
| West Penn Power |
* Based upon highest ECR scores for businesses citing they have an account manager as primary point of contact
“Our list of Business Customer Champions are utilities that have developed strong relationships among all businesses they serve, from SMBs to managed accounts,” said Chris Oberle, senior vice president at Market Strategies International. “It is important for utilities to form strong relationships with their business customers beyond service experiences to protect their franchises. Over half of business customers say they would consider obtaining their power from some other provider, such as a retailer, high-tech company (such as Apple, Google or Tesla) or onsite generation.”
The utilities earning the 2017 Business Customer Champion designation represent best practices in how they have grown strong customer relationships, built trusted brands and developed operational satisfaction among their business customers.
EAST REGION BUSINESS ECR BENCHMARK SCORES
| Con Edison | 803 | ||||
| PSE&G | 791 | ||||
| BGE | 790 | ||||
| PPL Electric Utilities | 778 | ||||
| West Penn Power | 776 | ||||
| PECO Energy | 762 | ||||
| Appalachian Power | 755 | ||||
| Jersey Central Power & Light | 751 | ||||
| Penelec | 748 | ||||
| National Grid | 746 | ||||
| PSEG Long Island | 742 | ||||
| NYSEG | 736 | ||||
| Eversource Energy | 715 | ||||
MIDWEST REGION BUSINESS ECR BENCHMARK SCORES
| MidAmerican Energy | 787 | ||||||
| Consumers Energy | 778 | ||||||
| ComEd | 777 | ||||||
| Ohio Edison | 770 | ||||||
| Wisconsin Public Service | 766 | ||||||
| Duke Energy Midwest | 764 | ||||||
| DTE Energy | 763 | ||||||
| Ameren Missouri | 760 | ||||||
| KCP&L | 754 | ||||||
| Alliant Energy | 753 | ||||||
| Ameren Illinois | 749 | ||||||
| Xcel Energy - Midwest | 745 | ||||||
| We Energies | 743 | ||||||
| NIPSCO | 731 | ||||||
| AEP Ohio | 689 | ||||||
SOUTH REGION BUSINESS ECR BENCHMARK SCORES
| Georgia Power | 804 | |
| Entergy | 788 | |
| Alabama Power | 784 | |
| Florida Power & Light | 783 | |
| Kentucky Utilities | 782 | |
| Dominion Energy Virginia | 779 | |
| Public Service Company of Oklahoma | 772 | |
| Louisville Gas & Electric | 767 | |
| SCE&G | 765 | |
| Southwestern Electric Power Company | 764 | |
| Duke Energy Progress | 760 | |
| Gulf Power | 756 | |
| OG&E | 749 | |
| Duke Energy Carolinas | 748 | |
| Duke Energy Florida | 746 | |
| CPS Energy | 742 | |
| TECO Tampa Electric | 725 | |
WEST REGION BUSINESS ECR BENCHMARK SCORES
| Puget Sound Energy | 801 | |
| Southern California Edison | 791 | |
| Xcel Energy - West | 787 | |
| Salt River Project | 784 | |
| Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | 782 | |
| Rocky Mountain Power | 770 | |
| Pacific Power | 755 | |
| Portland General Electric | 753 | |
| SDG&E | 752 | |
| Idaho Power | 750 | |
| NorthWestern Energy | 749 | |
| NV Energy | 749 | |
| PG&E | 743 | |
| APS | 719 | |
| PNM | 649 | |
About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: Business
Market Strategies conducted surveys among 10,031 business electric and combination utility customers of the 60 largest US utility companies (based on customer counts). Utilities are given equal weight 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 International
Market 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, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
