Improved business outlooks, stabilizing rates, and enhanced communication have led to a notable increase in business customer satisfaction with electric utilities this year, according to the J.D. Power 2024 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study. Overall satisfaction rose by 30 points on a 1,000-point scale, reversing previous declines linked to high rates.
“These results are remarkable, especially in terms of price satisfaction, considering rates remain high,” said Ramah Vaughn, J.D. Power’s director of utilities intelligence. “Utilities have become proactive in helping business customers manage costs, significantly boosting satisfaction.”
Key findings include:
- Rising Satisfaction: Business customer satisfaction reached 784, with price satisfaction jumping 47 points from last year. Gains were also observed in corporate citizenship (+41 points) and communication (+37).
- Proactive Support: Nearly half of business customers (49%) reported that their utility helped them lower rates, primarily through proactive and digital outreach. About 27% of businesses received proactive contact, and 56% received digital communication from their utility.
- Optimism on the Rise: Financial optimism among business customers has grown, with a 5% increase in those feeling financially better than a year ago, while those feeling worse off dropped by 2% this year and 7% over four years.
Regional Leaders in Satisfaction:
Top utilities in customer satisfaction for their regions include:
- East Large: Con Edison
- East Midsize: Pepco
- Midwest Large: MidAmerican Energy
- Midwest Midsize: Kentucky Utilities and NIPSCO (tie)
- South Large: Georgia Power
- South Midsize: Entergy Texas
- West Large: Idaho Power
- West Midsize: Seattle City Light
Now in its 26th year, the study surveyed 20,863 business customers across 80 utilities serving over 50,000 customers each, examining satisfaction across factors such as power quality, price, billing, corporate citizenship, customer contact, and communication.
