Utilities Step In To Help Local Business Communities, Escalent Names 24 Utilities as 2021 Trusted Business Partners

LIVONIA, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Businesses’ trust their utilities significantly more after utilities stepped in to support local economies and communities during the pandemic. About one in three (36%) businesses says its utility is a trusted adviser and partner in their success, and over half (52%) are aware of their utility’s efforts to support the local economy. This increased support pushed the utility business customer Brand Trust Index score higher by 29 points, reaching a historic high of 782 this year (on a 1,000-point scale). This information is from the Cogent Syndicated 2021 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study by Escalent, a top human behavior and analytics advisory firm.

The Brand Trust Index is a composite score of utility performance on customer focus, business community support, communications effectiveness, reliable quality, environmental dedication and company reputation. Among these six factors, Business Community Support and Company Reputation have increased the most (each up 31 points) over the last year as businesses place more value on their utility’s local dedication. As a result, utility business customer advocacy has increased to an all-time high as well, with 94% of businesses saying they made a positive comment on behalf of their utility in the past year.

“Building brand equity as trusted advisers during the last year is huge for the utility industry. Only trusted brands have the ability to influence businesses to adopt innovative programs and support investments in new energy technology,” said Chris Oberle, senior vice president at Escalent. “Building strong, trusted relationships with business customers also allows utilities to gain business community support and advocacy for their efforts. In fact, 78% of businesses say they would pay 10% more for their utility to advance its clean energy, innovative offerings and outreach objectives.”

Additional insights from the study include:

• There is a significant 142-point gap between the most and least trusted utilities
• Minority-owned businesses have a very high 816 Brand Trust Index score.
• Fewer than half of businesses (42%) would support a rate increase to improve reliability, safety or service.
• Key account managers increase customer trust, as the average Brand Trust score is 817 when businesses are assigned an account manager.
• Two in three businesses (65%) are interested in solar and battery storage and 27% of those with high Brand Trust prefer their utility as the provider of these offerings.
• Utilities should focus on small business customers, as larger businesses tend to have higher trust and use more consumption management and alternative energy offerings than smaller businesses.
• Service interactions in newer digital channels like mobile, social, chat and text for business customers have increased 11 percentage points this year to 66%, as phone service interactions have increased only four percentage points to 54%, marking the first time businesses had more digital service than phone service with utilities.
• Digital service scores 837 on the study’s Customer & Field Service Index while phone service posts scoring of 826.

Escalent congratulates the 2021 Most Trusted Business Partner utilities. These 24 utilities are industry leaders in developing trust among their business customers.

Cogent Syndicated 2021 Trusted Business Partner Utilities
AEP Ohio	Florida Power & Light
BGE	Georgia Power
CenterPoint Energy - South	Nicor Gas
Chattanooga Gas Company	NV Energy
Con Edison	Public Service Company of Oklahoma
Consumers Energy	Puget Sound Energy
Dominion Energy North Carolina	Southern California Edison
Dominion Energy Virginia	TECO Peoples Gas
DTE Energy	TECO Tampa Electric
Duke Energy Florida	Virginia Natural Gas
Duke Energy Progress	We Energies
Entergy	Xcel Energy - West

The following tables reflect regional peer benchmark Brand Trust scores among the 79 utilities surveyed. These scores reflect the amount of trust business customers have with each utility.

East Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand trust score
Con Edison	833
BGE	814
PPL Electric Utilities	789
PSE&G	788
National Grid	786
PECO	784
NYSEG	774
Jersey Central Power & Light	767
Appalachian Power	754
PSEG Long Island	746
West Penn Power	744
Penelec	731
Eversource	718

Midwest Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand trust score
We Energies	856
AEP Ohio	855
Consumers Energy	827
DTE Energy	822
Ameren Missouri	793
Indiana Michigan Power	782
Alliant Energy	781
Duke Energy Midwest	779
AES Ohio	774
MidAmerican Energy	772
Ameren Illinois	771
AES Indiana	771
Evergy	766
Wisconsin Public Service	763
NIPSCO	758
OPPD	754
Xcel Energy – Midwest	752
Ohio Edison	751
ComEd	734
The Illuminating Company	719

South Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand trust score
Dominion Energy Virginia	815
Duke Energy Progress	815
Duke Energy Florida	802
Public Service Company of Oklahoma	801
Georgia Power	800
Entergy	799
Florida Power & Light	798
TECO Tampa Electric	797
Duke Energy Carolinas	791
Kentucky Utilities	790
CPS Energy	782
El Paso Electric	779
Southwestern Electric Power Company	774
Alabama Power	773
Mississippi Power	764
OG&E	763
Louisville Gas & Electric	762
Dominion Energy South Carolina	742
JEA	741
Gulf Power	714

West Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand trust score
Xcel Energy – West	847
NV Energy	811
Puget Sound Energy	808
Southern California Edison	800
Los Angeles Department of Water & Power	794
Salt River Project	791
APS	787
SMUD	779
Idaho Power	779
PNM	776
PG&E	772
SDG&E	769
Portland General Electric	765
Pacific Power	761
Colorado Springs Utilities	757
NorthWestern Energy	744
Rocky Mountain Power	741

Natural Gas Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand trust score
TECO Peoples Gas	838
CenterPoint Energy – South	805
Dominion Energy North Carolina	803
Virginia Natural Gas	799
Nicor Gas	786
Chattanooga Gas Company	785
Dominion Energy Ohio	784
CenterPoint Energy – Midwest	778
Dominion Energy West	759

About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business

Escalent conducted surveys among 15,669 business electric and natural gas utility customers of the 79 largest US utility companies (based on customer counts). The sample design uses a combination of quotas and weighting based on size of businesses surveyed to ensure a balanced sample of each evaluated utility. Utilities within each benchmark segment are assigned equal weight to balance the influence of each utility’s customers on survey results. The Brand Trust Index score is a composite based upon consumer ratings across six factors. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.

About Escalent

Escalent is a top human behavior and analytics advisory firm specializing in industries facing disruption and business transformation. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, we 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.