LIVONIA, Mich., July 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Utilities that have focused on understanding and meeting the needs of small business customers are seeing significantly higher customer engagement. Today, we name these 13 top utilities as the 2024 Trusted Business Partners.
New data from Cogent Syndicated show that, after stabilizing from early 2022 through the first half of 2023, Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study index scores once again see significant year-over-year declines. 2024 Utility Trusted Business Partners, however, see significantly higher scores. Additionally, the Brand Trust gap between Trusted Business Partners and their peer utilities remains substantial, with Trusted Business Partners scoring 41 points higher.
Those are some of the latest findings of the 2024 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study, which tracks the performance of 78 gas, electric and combination utilities to identify brand and customer experience opportunities and trends in the industry. The report is published semiannually by Escalent, a top data analytics and advisory firm with extensive energy, utility and brand experience.
Trusted Business Partners maintained higher levels of effective communication when the industry cut back on communications spend post-pandemic, and they have maintained this trend. Their Communications Intensity Index score, an indication of per-customer communication spending, is 18% higher than the industry average in the first half of 2024.
When it comes to communicating with business customers who report annual revenue of less than $1 million, the gap is even greater: The Trusted Business Partners Communications Intensity Index score for those smaller companies is 23% higher than the industry average.
“While large key accounts tend to receive consistent service over time from their account rep, small and midsized businesses rely much more on utility communication to understand available programs and other utility benefits,” said Suzanne Haggerty, director of syndicated research with the Energy team at Escalent. “Higher communications spending therefore translates into higher trust among these businesses.”
Businesses with annual revenue of less than $1 million are feeling the effects of inflation more than larger companies, with both local economic growth and business revenue growth expectations significantly lower than the industry average. Utility Brand Trust scores among those smaller businesses are 6% lower than the industry average, but Trusted Business Partners see scores that are 5% higher.
A greater percentage of small businesses are looking for utility programs that help them save money (52% cite savings as a priority vs. 37% industrywide), and Trusted Business Partners are doing an exceptional job of providing and promoting those opportunities. As a result, Utility Trusted Business Partners have seen significant improvements across the Product Benefits Awareness Index and Product Usage Index for businesses with annual revenue of less than $1 million, led by increased awareness of savings opportunities and improved ease-of-use and performance perceptions for consumption management services.
Trusted Business Partners are also doing a better job of providing a customer experience that better meets the needs of businesses of all sizes: their attribute scores for the perception that utility offerings improve customer service are 6% higher than the industry average for businesses of all sizes, including those lower-revenue customers.
“Designing savings-focused programs for small and midsized businesses—and making those programs easy to understand and use—can help lift scores across the study,” Haggerty said. “Additionally, by providing a customer journey for smaller business customers that goes beyond basic residential service channels, Trusted Business Partners have increased Customer Engagement and Brand Trust for a segment that often doesn’t feel its needs are being met by utilities.”
Escalent is pleased to name these 13 utilities as our 2024 Trusted Business Partners.
| Cogent Syndicated 2024 Utility Trusted Business Partners* | |
| AEP Ohio | Los Angeles Department of Water & Power |
| Ameren Illinois | Nicor Gas |
| CenterPoint Energy – South | PSE&G |
| Con Edison | Seattle City Light |
| Dominion Energy South Carolina | SMUD |
| Georgia Power | Xcel Energy – Midwest |
| Indiana Michigan Power | |
* Utilities named as Trusted Business Partners are selected based on having Brand Trust Index scores in the top decile of the industry, the top score within their respective benchmark segment, or a Brand Trust Index score within 20 points of the top benchmark segment score and above the industry average.
The following tables reflect regional peer benchmark Brand Trust scores among the 78 utilities surveyed. These scores reflect the level of trust business customers have with each utility.
| East Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | |
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score |
| Con Edison | 812 |
| PSE&G | 799 |
| BGE | 786 |
| National Grid | 777 |
| PECO Energy | 769 |
| Jersey Central Power & Light | 766 |
| West Penn Power | 761 |
| PSEG Long Island | 750 |
| Duquesne Light | 750 |
| PPL Electric Utilities | 748 |
| Penelec | 739 |
| Eversource Energy | 739 |
| Appalachian Power | 687 |
| NYSEG | 677 |
| Midwest Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | |
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score |
| Ameren Illinois | 796 |
| AEP Ohio | 784 |
| Indiana Michigan Power | 780 |
| Xcel Energy – Midwest | 778 |
| Ameren Missouri | 774 |
| ComEd | 767 |
| Duke Energy Midwest | 766 |
| The Illuminating Company | 764 |
| OPPD | 757 |
| DTE Energy | 756 |
| MidAmerican Energy | 753 |
| AES Ohio | 751 |
| AES Indiana | 745 |
| We Energies | 741 |
| Evergy | 733 |
| Consumers Energy | 726 |
| Ohio Edison | 714 |
| Alliant Energy | 707 |
| Wisconsin Public Service | 701 |
| NIPSCO | 700 |
| South Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | |
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score |
| Georgia Power | 826 |
| Dominion Energy South Carolina | 820 |
| Florida Power & Light | 803 |
| Alabama Power | 794 |
| CPS Energy | 792 |
| TECO Tampa Electric | 786 |
| Mississippi Power | 784 |
| Louisville Gas & Electric | 775 |
| Duke Energy Carolinas | 774 |
| El Paso Electric | 773 |
| Southwestern Electric Power Company | 771 |
| Duke Energy Florida | 768 |
| Public Service Company of Oklahoma | 763 |
| Dominion Energy Virginia | 762 |
| Kentucky Utilities | 749 |
| JEA | 749 |
| FPL Northwest FL | 749 |
| OG&E | 739 |
| Duke Energy Progress | 725 |
| Entergy | 714 |
| West Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | |
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score |
| Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | 828 |
| SMUD | 821 |
| Seattle City Light | 817 |
| Southern California Edison | 797 |
| Salt River Project | 787 |
| PG&E | 780 |
| Rocky Mountain Power | 779 |
| Puget Sound Energy | 770 |
| Pacific Power | 766 |
| Colorado Springs Utilities | 753 |
| PNM | 743 |
| APS | 742 |
| Portland General Electric | 740 |
| Idaho Power | 735 |
| NV Energy | 733 |
| NorthWestern Energy | 725 |
| Xcel Energy Colorado | 722 |
| SDG&E | 531 |
| Natural Gas Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | |
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score |
| CenterPoint Energy – South | 811 |
| Nicor Gas | 806 |
| Virginia Natural Gas | 781 |
| CenterPoint Energy – Midwest | 778 |
| Chattanooga Gas Company | 753 |
About the Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study
Escalent conducted surveys among 13,560 business electric and natural gas utility customers of the 78 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.
For more information on the full report, click here.
About Escalent
Escalent is an award-winning data analytics and advisory firm that helps clients understand human and market behaviors to navigate disruption and business transformation. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, our strategies guide the world’s leading brands. We accelerate growth by creating a seamless flow between primary, secondary, syndicated, and internal business data, providing consulting and advisory services from insights through implementation. Based on a profound understanding of what drives human beings and markets, we identify actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences, inspire product innovation and boost business productivity. Visit escalent.co to see how we are helping shape the brands that are reshaping the world.
Contact
Stephanie Salvadero, 734.838.5192
stephanie.salvadero@escalent.co
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