Escalent Inc
12/11/2018 | Press release | Archived content
Cogent Reports: 33 Utilities Named 2018 Customer Champions
Industry Customer Engagement and Product Experiences Weaken
Thirty-three utilities have been designated 2018 Customer Champions among residential customers, an annual honor given to gas, electric and combination utilities that exhibit exceptional performance in Brand Trust, Service Satisfaction and Product Experience. These three categories compose the Engaged Customer Relationship (ECR) index, which provides a holistic measurement of the entire utility customer experience. This year's Customer Champions rate an average of 41 points higher than industry peers.
Overall, this year's results are marked by a decline in ECR scoring by 15 points to 713 (on a 1,000-point scale), primarily due to a 27-point decline on the Product Experience index. Customer Champions were able to mitigate this decline with high levels of Brand Trust. These and other findings can be found in 2018 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: Residential™, a Cogent Reports™ study by Market Strategies International-Morpace.
Customer expectations for value-added programs are increasing rapidly, and compared with 2017, utility customers are less likely to view their utility's product and service offerings as beneficial. Additionally, despite efforts by utilities to expand consumption management programs, customer perception has declined for some of the most important benefits, such as "lowering utility costs" and "helping customers become more energy-conscious."
The industry-wide decline in Product Experience highlights the need for consumer education on value-added offerings as utilities seek to replace declining revenues from traditional operations," said Chris Oberle, senior vice president at Market Strategies International-Morpace. "Customer Champion utilities are the most trusted providers that can appeal to customers with offerings they understand and value.
Congratulations to the 33 Customer Champions that have established strong connections with their customers and are poised to deliver more of what customers and regulators expect from a 21st century utility.
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2018 Residential Customer Champion Utility Companies |
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| AEP Ohio | Florida City Gas Company | Philadelphia Gas Works |
| Atlantic City Electric | Florida Power & Light | PPL Electric Utilities |
| BGE | Georgia Power | PSE&G |
| CenterPoint Energy - Midwest | Gulf Power | PSNC Energy |
| CenterPoint Energy - South | JEA | Puget Sound Energy |
| Columbia Gas of Ohio | MidAmerican Energy | Salt River Project |
| Con Edison | National Fuel Gas | SEMCO Energy Gas Company |
| CPS Energy | New Jersey Natural Gas | SMUD |
| Dayton Power & Light | NW Natural | Southwest Gas |
| Dominion Energy West | Ohio Edison | TECO Peoples Gas |
| DTE Energy | OUC | Washington Gas |
Below you will find all utility benchmark scores by region:
| East Region Utility Brands |
Engaged Customer Relationship index |
Service type |
| Con Edison |
747 |
Combination |
| PSE&G |
729 |
Combination |
| BGE |
727 |
Combination |
| PECO Energy |
715 |
Combination |
| Delmarva Power |
714 |
Combination |
| National Grid |
714 |
Combination |
| NYSEG |
685 |
Combination |
| RG&E |
678 |
Combination |
| Eversource Energy |
676 |
Combination |
| PPL Electric Utilities |
728 |
Electric |
| Atlantic City Electric |
714 |
Electric |
| Duquesne Light Company |
699 |
Electric |
| Pepco |
699 |
Electric |
| Penelec |
697 |
Electric |
| PSEG Long Island |
687 |
Electric |
| West Penn Power |
673 |
Electric |
| Potomac Edison |
671 |
Electric |
| Penn Power |
669 |
Electric |
| Monongahela Power |
666 |
Electric |
| Appalachian Power |
647 |
Electric |
| Met-Ed |
641 |
Electric |
| Central Maine Power |
631 |
Electric |
| Jersey Central Power & Light |
628 |
Electric |
| New Jersey Natural Gas |
754 |
Natural Gas |
| National Fuel Gas |
753 |
Natural Gas |
| Washington Gas |
739 |
Natural Gas |
| Philadelphia Gas Works |
736 |
Natural Gas |
| Columbia Gas - East |
734 |
Natural Gas |
| UGI Utilities |
727 |
Natural Gas |
| Peoples Natural Gas |
724 |
Natural Gas |
| South Jersey Gas Company |
714 |
Natural Gas |
| Elizabethtown Gas |
709 |
Natural Gas |
| Midwest Region Utility Brands |
Engaged Customer Relationship index |
Service type |
| DTE Energy |
762 |
Combination |
| MidAmerican Energy |
748 |
Combination |
| Black Hills Energy - Midwest |
735 |
Combination |
| Duke Energy Midwest |
733 |
Combination |
| NIPSCO |
733 |
Combination |
| Xcel Energy - Midwest |
732 |
Combination |
| Alliant Energy |
721 |
Combination |
| We Energies |
719 |
Combination |
| Consumers Energy |
718 |
Combination |
| Wisconsin Public Service |
718 |
Combination |
| Vectren |
715 |
Combination |
| Ameren Illinois |
714 |
Combination |
| AEP Ohio |
733 |
Electric |
| Ohio Edison |
727 |
Electric |
| Dayton Power & Light |
723 |
Electric |
| KCP&L |
710 |
Electric |
| Toledo Edison |
710 |
Electric |
| Indiana Michigan Power |
709 |
Electric |
| ComEd |
706 |
Electric |
| Ameren Missouri |
705 |
Electric |
| OPPD |
704 |
Electric |
| The Illuminating Company |
673 |
Electric |
| Westar Energy |
672 |
Electric |
| Indianapolis Power & Light |
662 |
Electric |
| Columbia Gas of Ohio |
751 |
Natural Gas |
| CenterPoint Energy - Midwest |
737 |
Natural Gas |
| SEMCO Energy Gas Company |
733 |
Natural Gas |
| Nicor Gas |
728 |
Natural Gas |
| Dominion Energy Ohio |
721 |
Natural Gas |
| Peoples Gas |
720 |
Natural Gas |
| Atmos Energy - Midwest |
716 |
Natural Gas |
| Citizens Energy |
713 |
Natural Gas |
| Kansas Gas Service |
712 |
Natural Gas |
| Spire Missouri - East |
681 |
Natural Gas |
| Spire Missouri - West |
670 |
Natural Gas |
| South Region Utility Brands |
Engaged Customer Relationship index |
Service type |
| CPS Energy |
724 |
Combination |
| Louisville Gas & Electric |
703 |
Combination |
| SCE&G |
668 |
Combination |
| MLGW |
650 |
Combination |
| OUC |
750 |
Electric |
| Georgia Power |
749 |
Electric |
| JEA |
739 |
Electric |
| Florida Power & Light |
737 |
Electric |
| Gulf Power |
731 |
Electric |
| Southwestern Electric Power Company |
729 |
Electric |
| Kentucky Utilities |
728 |
Electric |
| Mississippi Power |
725 |
Electric |
| Entergy |
724 |
Electric |
| Dominion Energy Virginia |
721 |
Electric |
| Nashville Electric Service |
718 |
Electric |
| Xcel Energy - South |
717 |
Electric |
| OG&E |
713 |
Electric |
| Duke Energy Progress |
708 |
Electric |
| Public Service Company of Oklahoma |
708 |
Electric |
| Duke Energy Carolinas |
705 |
Electric |
| Alabama Power |
702 |
Electric |
| Duke Energy Florida |
694 |
Electric |
| TECO Tampa Electric |
694 |
Electric |
| Austin Energy |
688 |
Electric |
| El Paso Electric |
652 |
Electric |
| Kentucky Power |
615 |
Electric |
| TECO Peoples Gas |
803 |
Natural Gas |
| Florida City Gas Company |
754 |
Natural Gas |
| PSNC Energy |
753 |
Natural Gas |
| CenterPoint Energy - South |
752 |
Natural Gas |
| Piedmont Natural Gas |
746 |
Natural Gas |
| Atmos Energy - South |
744 |
Natural Gas |
| Oklahoma Natural Gas |
740 |
Natural Gas |
| Texas Gas Service |
737 |
Natural Gas |
| Virginia Natural Gas |
734 |
Natural Gas |
| Chattanooga Gas Company |
727 |
Natural Gas |
| Columbia Gas - South |
727 |
Natural Gas |
| Spire - South |
720 |
Natural Gas |
| West Region Utility Brands |
Engaged Customer Relationship index |
Service type |
| Puget Sound Energy |
721 |
Combination |
| Xcel Energy - West |
710 |
Combination |
| PG&E |
701 |
Combination |
| NorthWestern Energy |
693 |
Combination |
| SDG&E |
690 |
Combination |
| Avista |
674 |
Combination |
| Black Hills Energy - West |
656 |
Combination |
| Salt River Project |
761 |
Electric |
| SMUD |
750 |
Electric |
| Tucson Electric Power |
740 |
Electric |
| Portland General Electric |
727 |
Electric |
| Southern California Edison |
726 |
Electric |
| Idaho Power |
723 |
Electric |
| Rocky Mountain Power |
717 |
Electric |
| NV Energy |
711 |
Electric |
| Pacific Power |
706 |
Electric |
| APS |
683 |
Electric |
| Seattle City Light |
680 |
Electric |
| PNM |
676 |
Electric |
| LADWP |
666 |
Electric |
| NW Natural |
761 |
Natural Gas |
| Southwest Gas |
754 |
Natural Gas |
| Dominion Energy - West |
743 |
Natural Gas |
| Intermountain Gas Company |
739 |
Natural Gas |
| Cascade Natural Gas |
738 |
Natural Gas |
| SoCalGas |
711 |
Natural Gas |
| New Mexico Gas Company |
703 |
Natural Gas |
About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: Residential
Market Strategies-Morpace conducted surveys among 59,621 residential electric, natural gas and combination utility customers of the 132 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. Market Strategies-Morpace will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.
Click below for more information on the study.
Escalent Inc published this content on December 11, 2018, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on July 24, 2026 at 04:55 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]