Benchmarks

Deck: 
Small businesses give IOUs low marks on customer satisfaction.
Fortnightly Magazine - October 15 2002
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Underwhelmed by the Utilities That Serve Them?


 

Small businesses give IOUs low marks on customer satisfaction.

At best, small businesses generally have viewed their power utility with ambivalence, and at worst, looked at it with disdain. Events such as the California deregulation debacle and the Enron collapse did little to enhance the reputation of energy suppliers in the eyes of small business operators. Recent E Source Small Business Service findings at Platts Research & Consulting indicate that small business customers of municipal and investor-owned utilities think less of these organizations then they did a year ago, while electric cooperatives enjoy an increased level of customer satisfaction.

Each year, the E Source Small Business Service surveys approximately one thousand small businesses in the United States and Canada. Respondents represent the grocery, restaurant, education, light industrial, retail, healthcare, and office sectors. They are queried on a variety of topics, ranging from product and service interest to internet usage. This year, E Source asked a series of questions to measure small business perceptions of their power providers. Respondents rated the following statements from one to 10, with 10 equivalent to "strongly agree:"

My energy supplier:

  • Values my business as a customer
  • Understands my business needs
  • Understands my energy needs
  • Has earned my loyalty

On average, co-ops scored a full point above municipal utilities and investor-owned utilities received the lowest scores. ()

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