Stronger Community and Communication Skills are Building Utility Trust
Community Support and Communications Effectiveness increase Americans’ trust in their utility. According to customers, utilities are earning trust by encouraging employee volunteering, listening to community feedback and making consumers more aware of local support and charitable giving. Customers were also happier with the information utilities communicated and the mediums used to deliver those communications. These and other findings are from the 2019 Cogent Syndicated Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential report from Escalent, a top human behavior and analytics firm.
The study’s composite Brand Trust index score increased 1 point to 688 (on a 1,000-point scale) this year. Among the six components included in the Brand Trust index, Community Support and Communications Effectiveness increased the most. Building Brand Trust provides a positive return on investment for the industry as customers increasingly rely on utilities to provide energy innovation and are more likely to support higher rates for that innovation. Moreover, the study shows that as public trust grows, utilities become much more credible than state governments and regulators to lead industry innovation and progress.
“The nation’s best utilities are trusted energy advisers whose consumers value their opinions and recommendations,” said Chris Oberle, senior vice president at Escalent. “Industry regulators who are looking to shape the future of energy need to encourage the utilities they regulate to focus on building brand trust. Otherwise, our research finds that innovations in clean energy, EV expansion, consumption management, and digital services are going to languish on low consumer demand for utility-developed offerings.”
Of the 140 utilities included in the Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: Residential study, 14 significantly improved on Brand Trust and 14 significantly declined, creating a 214-point gap between the highest and lowest utility score.
Below is Escalent’s list of 2019 Most Trusted Utility Brands. Congratulations to the 32 utilities that have shown industry leadership and scored highest on the study’s overall Brand Trust index among their peers.
2019 Most Trusted Brands |
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Combination Utilities |
Electric Utilities |
Natural Gas Utilities |
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DTE Energy |
OUC |
TECO Peoples Gas |
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Black Hills Energy - Midwest |
Georgia Power |
Piedmont Natural Gas |
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Con Edison |
SMUD |
NW Natural |
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PECO |
Southwestern Electric Power Company |
CenterPoint Energy - South |
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CPS Energy |
Florida Power & Light |
Texas Gas Service |
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Puget Sound Energy |
Salt River Project |
PSNC Energy |
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Avista |
PPL Electric Utilities |
UGI Utilities |
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AEP Ohio |
Peoples Gas |
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Dayton Power & Light |
New Jersey Natural Gas |
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OPPD |
SEMCO Energy Gas Company |
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Washington Gas |
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National Fuel Gas |
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Citizens Energy |
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Peoples |
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CenterPoint Energy - Midwest |
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 |
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Combination Service
|
Electric Service |
Natural Gas Service |
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Con Edison |
720 |
PPL Electric Utilities |
708 |
UGI Utilities |
727 |
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PECO |
705 |
West Penn Power |
683 |
New Jersey Natural Gas |
723 |
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PSE&G |
698 |
Atlantic City Electric |
680 |
Washington Gas |
717 |
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Delmarva Power |
695 |
Duquesne Light Company |
677 |
National Fuel Gas |
716 |
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BGE |
675 |
Pepco |
673 |
Peoples |
709 |
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National Grid |
675 |
Penelec |
669 |
Philadelphia Gas Works |
706 |
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RG&E |
663 |
Penn Power |
664 |
South Jersey Gas Company |
700 |
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Eversource |
652 |
Jersey Central Power & Light |
656 |
Elizabethtown Gas |
692 |
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NYSEG |
629 |
Appalachian Power |
651 |
Columbia Gas–East |
670 |
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Monongahela Power |
647 |
|
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PSEG Long Island |
647 |
|
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Met-Ed |
641 |
|
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Potomac Edison |
627 |
|
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Central Maine Power |
548 |
|
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Scoring based upon 1,000-point maximum scale |
Midwest Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance |
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Combination Service
|
Electric Service |
Natural Gas Service |
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DTE Energy |
746 |
AEP Ohio |
706 |
Peoples Gas |
725 |
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Black Hills Energy–Midwest |
739 |
Dayton Power & Light |
704 |
SEMCO Energy Gas Company |
717 |
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Xcel Energy–Midwest |
718 |
OPPD |
695 |
Citizens Energy |
711 |
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MidAmerican Energy |
718 |
ComEd |
687 |
CenterPoint Energy–Midwest |
705 |
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Ameren Illinois |
714 |
Toledo Edison |
679 |
Columbia Gas of Ohio |
700 |
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Duke Energy Midwest |
714 |
Ohio Edison |
676 |
Nicor Gas |
699 |
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We Energies |
697 |
Indiana Michigan Power |
671 |
Atmos Energy - Midwest |
690 |
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Consumers Energy |
690 |
The Illuminating Company |
665 |
Kansas Gas Service |
687 |
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NIPSCO |
690 |
Indianapolis Power & Light |
659 |
Dominion Energy Ohio |
685 |
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Wisconsin Public Service |
685 |
Westar Energy |
654 |
Spire Missouri–East |
671 |
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Vectren |
680 |
KCP&L |
649 |
Spire Missouri–West |
642 |
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Alliant Energy |
661 |
Ameren Missouri |
629 |
|
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Scoring based upon 1,000-point maximum scale |
South Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance |
|||||||
Combination Service
|
Electric Service |
Natural Gas Service |
|||||
CPS Energy |
703 |
OUC |
745 |
TECO Peoples Gas |
762 |
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Louisville Gas & Electric |
667 |
Georgia Power |
729 |
Piedmont Natural Gas |
745 |
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SCE&G |
624 |
Florida Power & Light |
727 |
CenterPoint Energy–South |
739 |
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MLGW |
614 |
Southwestern Electric Power Company |
727 |
Texas Gas Service |
735 |
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|
|
Alabama Power |
720 |
PSNC Energy |
728 |
||
|
|
Gulf Power |
716 |
Columbia Gas–South |
723 |
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|
|
Nashville Electric Service |
715 |
Spire Mississippi |
721 |
||
|
|
Entergy Texas |
711 |
Oklahoma Natural Gas |
715 |
||
|
|
JEA |
705 |
Atmos Energy–South |
712 |
||
|
|
Entergy Mississippi |
703 |
Virginia Natural Gas |
711 |
||
|
|
Xcel Energy–South |
703 |
Florida City Gas Company |
704 |
||
|
|
Kentucky Utilities |
702 |
Spire South |
700 |
||
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OG&E |
699 |
Chattanooga Gas Company |
688 |
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|
|
Mississippi Power |
695 |
Spire Gulf Coast |
610 |
||
|
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TECO Tampa Electric |
690 |
|
|
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|
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Entergy Louisiana |
689 |
|
|
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|
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Public Service Company of Oklahoma |
687 |
|
|
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|
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Dominion Energy Virginia |
677 |
|
|
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|
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Entergy Arkansas |
676 |
|
|
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|
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Duke Energy Progress |
674 |
|
|
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|
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Duke Energy Carolinas |
673 |
|
|
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|
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El Paso Electric |
657 |
|
|
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Austin Energy |
650 |
|
|
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|
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Duke Energy Florida |
648 |
|
|
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|
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Entergy New Orleans |
642 |
|
|
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|
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Kentucky Power |
609 |
|
|
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Scoring based upon 1,000-point maximum scale |
West Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance |
|||||||
Combination Service
|
Electric Service |
Natural Gas Service |
|||||
Puget Sound Energy |
700 |
SMUD |
728 |
NW Natural |
744 |
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Avista |
694 |
Salt River Project |
716 |
Cascade Natural Gas |
714 |
||
Xcel Energy–West |
685 |
Tucson Electric Power |
708 |
Southwest Gas |
713 |
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NorthWestern Energy |
641 |
Idaho Power |
707 |
Dominion Energy–West |
700 |
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PG&E |
641 |
Portland General Electric |
704 |
Intermountain Gas Company |
693 |
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SDG&E |
640 |
Southern California Edison |
688 |
SoCalGas |
691 |
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Black Hills Energy–West |
613 |
Rocky Mountain Power |
678 |
New Mexico Gas Company |
671 |
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|
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Pacific Power |
673 |
|
|
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|
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NV Energy |
671 |
|
|
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|
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Seattle City Light |
668 |
|
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PNM |
647 |
|
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APS |
639 |
|
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Los Angeles Department of Water & Power |
635 |
|
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Scoring based upon 1,000-point maximum scale |
About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential
Escalent conducted surveys among 62,122 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 in order 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.
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