Trust in Utilities Reaches All-Time High During COVID-19

44 Utilities named Most Trusted Brands

LIVONIA, Mich.--()--Customer trust in utilities has hit a historic high due to the industry’s effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the Cogent Syndicated Brand Trust Index posts a record high score of 696 (on a 1,000-point scale), with 44 utilities being named the 2020 Most Trusted Brands, having scored highest on the Brand Trust Index among the 140 utilities surveyed. These and other findings are from the 2020 Cogent Syndicated Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential study from Escalent, a top human behavior and analytics firm.

The Brand Trust Index is a composite score of utility performance on customer focus, community support, communications effectiveness, reliable quality, environmental dedication and reputation. Although customer trust in utilities had been increasing before the pandemic, the industry’s effective response to COVID-19 accelerated this trend. Customers rate the industry a very high 7.20 (on a 10-point scale) when asked how responsibly their utility responded to the COVID-19 crisis. The more responsive a utility was to COVID-19, the more trust customers place in them. And half of utility customers “strongly agree” their utility responded well to the pandemic.

“It is clear from our research the utility industry has done a fantastic job supporting customers through the pandemic. This has won utilities the trust and goodwill of their customers,” said Chris Oberle, senior vice president at Escalent. “The utility industry is used to handling crises and quickly provided customer support. Awareness of utility COVID-19 efforts was supported by higher communications recall, the high quality of customer service interactions, and providing more value-added recommendations during service.”

Escalent would like to congratulate the 2020 Most Trusted Utility Brands that have supported their customers through an unprecedented crisis and have built goodwill and leadership in their communities.

Cogent Syndicated 2020 Most Trusted Utility Brands

AEP Ohio

NIPSCO

Ameren Illinois

NW Natural

BGE

OPPD

Black Hills Energy – Midwest

OUC

Cascade Natural Gas

Peoples Gas

CenterPoint Energy – South

Pepco

Columbia Gas – South

Philadelphia Gas Works

Columbia Gas of Ohio

Piedmont Natural Gas

CPS Energy

PPL Electric Utilities

Dayton Power & Light

PSE&G

Delmarva Power

Puget Sound Energy

DTE Energy

RG&E

Duke Energy Midwest

Salt River Project

Duquesne Light Company

Seattle City Light

Elizabethtown Gas

TECO Peoples Gas

Florida City Gas Company

Texas Gas Service

Florida Power & Light

UGI Utilities

Idaho Power

Washington Gas

Kentucky Utilities

Wisconsin Public Service

MidAmerican Energy

Xcel Energy – Midwest

National Fuel Gas

Xcel Energy – South

New Jersey Natural Gas

Xcel Energy – West

Following charts reflect regional peer benchmark Brand Trust scores among the 140 utilities surveyed. These scores reflect the amount of trust customers have with each utility.

East Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance

Combination Service
(Electric and Natural Gas)

Electric Service

Natural Gas Service

PSE&G

717

PPL Electric Utilities

719

Washington Gas

738

RG&E

712

Duquesne Light Company

705

Philadelphia Gas Works

728

Delmarva Power

711

Pepco

700

Elizabethtown Gas

727

BGE

698

Penelec

698

New Jersey Natural Gas

726

Con Edison

693

Green Mountain Power

693

UGI Utilities

725

PECO

691

Atlantic City Electric

684

National Fuel Gas

724

National Grid

683

Penn Power

677

South Jersey Gas Company

703

Eversource

681

West Penn Power

674

Peoples

689

NYSEG

678

PSEG Long Island

671

Columbia Gas – East

659

Met-Ed

669

 

 

Appalachian Power

659

 

 

Mon Power

658

 

 

Potomac Edison

647

 

 

Jersey Central Power & Light

644

 

 

 

 

Central Maine Power

556

 

 

Scoring based upon 1,000-point maximum scale

Midwest Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance

Combination Service
(Electric and Natural Gas)

Electric Service

Natural Gas Service

Black Hills Energy – Midwest

718

AEP Ohio

724

Columbia Gas of Ohio

747

MidAmerican Energy

714

Dayton Power & Light

718

Peoples Gas

733

DTE Energy

713

OPPD

714

CenterPoint Energy – Midwest

721

Xcel Energy – Midwest

707

ComEd

701

Nicor Gas

700

Ameren Illinois

705

Ameren Missouri

698

Dominion Energy Ohio

698

Wisconsin Public Service

704

Toledo Edison

689

Spire Missouri – East

689

NIPSCO

702

Ohio Edison

672

Kansas Gas Service

684

Duke Energy Midwest

699

Indianapolis Power & Light

662

Citizens Energy

671

Consumers Energy

687

Evergy

659

Atmos Energy – Midwest

670

We Energies

678

Indiana Michigan Power

659

Spire Missouri – West

666

Alliant Energy

671

The Illuminating Company

655

 

 

Vectren

655

 

 

 

 

Scoring based upon 1,000-point maximum scale

South Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance

Combination Service
(Electric and Natural Gas)

Electric Service

Natural Gas Service

CPS Energy

715

OUC

752

TECO Peoples Gas

784

Louisville Gas & Electric

689

Kentucky Utilities

751

Columbia Gas – South

757

Dominion Energy South Carolina

659

Xcel Energy – South

734

Piedmont Natural Gas

750

MLGW

633

Florida Power & Light

732

Florida City Gas Company

739

 

 

Nashville Electric Service

717

Texas Gas Service

735

 

 

Georgia Power

716

CenterPoint Energy – South

734

 

 

TECO Tampa Electric

710

Atmos Energy – South

728

 

 

Public Service Company of Oklahoma

708

Oklahoma Natural Gas

726

 

 

OG&E

707

Virginia Natural Gas

725

 

 

Southwestern Electric Power Company

707

Chattanooga Gas Company

712

 

 

Entergy Mississippi

700

Spire South

708

 

 

Mississippi Power

699

Dominion Energy North Carolina

696

 

 

JEA

697

Spire Mississippi

674

 

 

Entergy Louisiana

696

Spire Gulf Coast

636

 

 

Dominion Energy Virginia

694

 

 

 

 

Alabama Power

694

 

 

 

 

Entergy Arkansas

687

 

 

 

 

Entergy Texas

685

 

 

 

 

Gulf Power

681

 

 

 

 

Duke Energy Carolinas

680

 

 

 

 

Duke Energy Florida

675

 

 

 

 

El Paso Electric

674

 

 

 

 

Austin Energy

671

 

 

 

 

Duke Energy Progress

662

 

 

 

 

Entergy New Orleans

648

 

 

 

 

Kentucky Power

621

 

 

Scoring based upon 1,000-point maximum scale

West Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance

Combination Service
(Electric and Natural Gas)

Electric Service

Natural Gas Service

Xcel Energy – West

719

Idaho Power

727

NW Natural

766

Puget Sound Energy

699

Seattle City Light

723

Cascade Natural Gas

748

Avista

692

Salt River Project

721

SoCalGas

732

NorthWestern Energy

689

SMUD

699

Intermountain Gas Company

730

SDG&E

685

Portland General Electric

693

Southwest Gas

725

Black Hills Energy – West

604

Tucson Electric Power

685

Dominion Energy – West

708

PG&E

579

Southern California Edison

682

New Mexico Gas Company

680

 

 

NV Energy

681

 

 

 

 

Pacific Power

680

 

 

 

 

Rocky Mountain Power

678

 

 

 

 

PNM

665

 

 

 

 

Los Angeles Department of
Water & Power

658

 

 

 

 

APS

634

 

 

Scoring based upon 1,000-point maximum scale

About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential

Escalent conducted surveys among 70,438 residential electric, natural gas and combination utility customers of the 140 largest US utility companies (based on residential customer counts). The sample design uses a combination of quotas and weighting based on US census data 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 to balance the influence of each utility’s customers on survey results. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.

About Escalent

Escalent is a top human behavior and analytics firm specializing in industries facing disruption and business transformation. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, we tell stories that transform data and insight into a profound understanding of what drives human beings. And we help businesses turn those drivers into actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences and inspire product innovation. Visit escalent.co to see how we are helping shape the brands that are reshaping the world.

Contacts

Sarah Keller, 734.779.6847
sarah.keller@escalent.co

Release Summary

Cogent Syndicated names the 2020 Most Trusted Utility Brands

Contacts

Sarah Keller, 734.779.6847
sarah.keller@escalent.co