BOULDER, CO — (Marketwire) — 10/15/12 — The E Source Gap and Priority Benchmark, now in its fourth year, identified reliability in 2012 as the most important aspect of what large business customers want from their utilities. The results are based on survey responses from more than 1,600 large business customers of 17 U.S. utilities.
Silicon Valley Power, City of Palo Alto Utilities, Florida Power & Light, and Snohomish County Public Utility District took top honors in large business customer satisfaction.
Silicon Valley Power 8.9 (tie)
City of Palo Alto Utilities 8.9 (tie)
Florida Power & Light 8.8
Snohomish County Public Utility District 8.6
Scores are based on a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 = not at all satisfied and 10 = very satisfied).
Silicon Valley Power–s top result was buoyed by customer recognition of the utility–s reliable electric service. In addition, its large business customers gave the utility high ratings for working to keep electricity prices down. “These results demonstrate that our customers trust us to meet or exceed their quality and cost expectations,” says Larry Owens, Silicon Valley Power–s manager of customer services. “SVP operations — from the control room and field technicians to our administration and customer service — are designed to benefit our customers. Also reflected in these results is the success of our key customer representatives and the customer advocacy role they play within the utility.”
The account management team at City of Palo Alto Utilities received notably favorable ratings and the utility–s overall first-place ranking comes from several years of steadily improving performance in emergency communications. “City of Palo Alto Utilities values its customers and strives to deliver top-notch service along with relevant and timely communications,” says Valerie Fong, utilities director. “Our key account representatives — along with the rest of our marketing, customer service, and communications teams — are committed to working with our customers to identify and provide needed and valued services. We–re very honored and encouraged to be recognized by our customers and E Source.”
Florida Power & Light–s account management team scored especially well, and team members were seen as trusted energy advisors. Snohomish County Public Utility District was identified by its large business customers as being trustworthy and treating customers fairly.
“Large business customers want their utilities to be good business partners that communicate effectively and deliver on their commitments,” explains Chad Garrett, manager of E Source Business Market Services. “Our survey pinpoints actions that utilities can take that have the greatest effect on customer satisfaction. It compares large business customer expectations to how well utilities are fulfilling those expectations, and illustrates how to close that gap.”
Working to keep energy prices down was the second most important attribute identified by large business customers. Effective emergency communication, trust, and delivering on commitments tied for third. Working to keep energy prices down is also the area that needs the most improvement: Scores for this issue revealed the largest gap between customer importance and utility performance. For more information, please visit .
For 25 years, E Source has been providing unbiased, objective research and advisory services to over 300 utilities and large energy users. Our energy experts have answered more than 8,000 questions over the past 3 years. This guidance helps our customers advance their efficiency programs, enhance customer relationships, and use energy more efficiently.
For details about scheduling interviews with the research staff or service manager involved with this benchmark study, please contact:
Wendy Bloechle
Vice President of Marketing, E Source
303-345-9158