Interaction with a customer service representative on the phone has driven satisfaction up significantly among natural gas utility business customers, according to the 2015 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, created by J.D. Power and Associates.
Now in its 10th year, the study released in February measured residential customer satisfaction with gas utility companies by looking at six factors: billing and payment; field service; communications; customer service; corporate citizenship; and price.
Each utility company included in the study serves at least 25,000 business customers, or 3.4 million in total and were ranked in four geographic regions: East, Midwest, South and West. This year’s study was based on responses from more than 9,000 online interviews with business customers who spent at least $150 monthly on natural gas.
American Gas Association (AGA) members PSE&G (East), DTE Energy (Midwest), Alagasco (South), and Questar (West) ranked highest in overall satisfaction. Additional AGA members who were ranked among the top three in their respective region included: BG&E, National Fuel Gas Company, MidAmerican Energy, Black Hills Energy, Oklahoma Natural Gas, Atmos Energy, NW Natural, and Southwest Gas.
According to the study, satisfaction improves year over year for a majority of attributes that comprise the customer service factor, including courtesy of the representative; the representative’s concern for customer needs; the timeliness of resolving the problem, question, or request; and the promptness in speaking to a person. Another key finding of the study revealed that customer satisfaction with billing and payment is higher when statements include useful information, such as graphs or pictures.
AGA members deliver clean, efficient and affordable natural gas to more than 68 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in the U.S., and are true partners in the communities they serve, some for as many as 100 years.
To learn more about the 2015 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, click here.
