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Gas Utility Business Customers' Satisfaction Declines - JD Power Study

Posted on: Monday, 24 March 2008, 09:00 CDT

Marketing information services firm JD Power and Associates's 2008 gas utility business customer satisfaction study has observed that a sharp increase in customer-reported bill amounts has contributed to an overall decline in satisfaction of businesses with their gas utilities in the US.

The study finds that overall satisfaction of business customers of the US's 40 largest gas utilities has decreased by eight points to an average of 715 on a 1,000-point scale, down from 723 in 2007.

JD Power and Associates has mentioned that overall satisfaction is measured through billing and payment, communications, company image, customer service, field service and price.

The study reportedly finds that customer-reported bill amounts increased by 31% since 2007 to an average of $4,124 in 2008. In contrast, customer-reported revenues increased by only 16% in 2008.

The study also finds that when rate increases occur, utility companies can mitigate decreases in satisfaction by proactively communicating with their business customers.

Al Destribats, vice president of the energy practice at JD Power and Associates, said: "Increases in gas utility bills placed an additional cost burden on businesses, which negatively impacted satisfaction. In particular, satisfaction with the price factor declined most for smaller businesses that have annual revenues of less than $10 million."

Source: Datamonitor

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