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

44 Utilities named Most Trusted Brands

LIVONIA, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.