Electric Utilities
Powering Communities with Reliable Electricity
Customer Survey
Electric utilities are more than service providers; they strive to be integral community partners, valued by customers, employees, and owners alike. Achieving this status requires a nuanced understanding of diverse stakeholder expectations in an environment marked by varying opinions.
Our extensive experience reinforces a crucial insight: customers seek assurance that their utilities are in tune with their expectations. However, pinpointing these priorities is a complex task in an era of polarized opinions.
To navigate this complexity, a robust customer engagement strategy is essential. By leveraging direct feedback and insights, utilities can tailor their decisions to better match customer needs. The UtilityPULSE Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey serves as a cornerstone component of a customer engagement plan. Tailored for Residential and Small Commercial Customers, it features core and supplemental questions designed to elicit comprehensive feedback.
Electricity Safety Awareness Survey
When people are not aware of the dangers of electricity, several significant risks and consequences can arise, impacting both individual safety and community well-being. Even though electric utilities promote awareness and provide education, the reality is the utility can only do so much.
The UtilityPULSE Essential Electricity Safety Survey & Quiz offers a solution to assess customer awareness and identify gaps. This online survey, featuring a robust set of demographic questions and six key electricity safety questions AND custom questions can be added to meet your specific needs.
This survey is conducted using a Quiz format where respondents receive a score upon completion of the survey.
Large Commercial Customer Survey
For most utilities’ an enhanced customer engagement focus is on Residential and Small Commercial Customers. However, it is the Large Commercial Customer segment that has a significant impact on the grid, needs consistent power quality, and quick response to outages, and more. Building understanding & trust is done more effectively when using a “relationship model” versus a “transactional model” with this segment.
Of the many things Clients have told us about why they need to focus on customer satisfaction for this segment, here are 3 of the 18:
- Without satisfaction it is difficult to inspire Large Commercial Customers to pursue new ideas and possibilities.
- Feedback, when acted upon, is beneficial to all parties.
- Economically, high levels of satisfaction lead to less customer complaints, and less concern about costs.
Here is some sample presentation pages from a Large Commercial Customer Survey:
Rate Application Survey
The purpose of a utility conducting a rate-application survey to satisfy the needs of regulators, government, or other governance parties is multifaceted:
It is about actively seeking stakeholder input before changing rates or services.
It helps meet regulatory compliance requirements that often mandate customer engagement.
It promotes transparency in how rates are determined.
It can help anticipate and manage risks associated with rate changes, including negative public or political reactions.
It provides empirical data to guide utilities and regulators in making decisions that balance financial viability with customer affordability and satisfaction.
The goal of a rate application for any utility is to use survey findings as evidence in regulatory or governance proceedings to support the rate or service-level change, showing that they are fair and in line with (most) customer expectations.
Regulatory, government, and governance requirements vary considerably by utility. Satisfying these requirements requires a scalable stakeholder engagement system with multiple assessment, diagnostic, and survey methodologies. We recommend contacting us to discuss our Taking A.I.M. (Applied Insights Methodology) program.
Stakeholder/Board of Directors Survey
Every Utility and every enterprise has four primary responsibilities assigned to the leadership team. They must use its resources, people talents, intellectual prowess, and financial resources to create an Ideal Place to Work, an Ideal Place to do Business with, an Ideal place with excellent operational efficiency, and an Ideal entity seen as a societal asset.
Board of Directors often want to know that the board’s vision aligns with operational practices and stakeholder expectations AND is meeting its regulatory requirements.
Sometimes, conducting these types of surveys is about understanding the priorities and concerns of stakeholders, e.g., communities, owners, employees, suppliers, etc.
Other reasons may be assessing the effectiveness of the Board or the Utility’s Leadership team.
A survey of this type can help identify risks or issues from the perspective of the board and stakeholders.
A focused Board of Directors or Stakeholder survey is about transparency and building trust.
These surveys can be critical tools in maintaining the Utility’s accountability, ensuring strategic alignment, and enhancing the overall governance framework.
We recommend that you talk to us about your specific needs.
Custom Research
Utilities undertake custom research for a variety of strategic and operational reasons, for example:
Custom research provides data and feedback specific to the Utility’s unique questions and challenges.
It helps support informed decision-making.
Getting a better understanding of Customers’ potential adoption of a service or program, e.g., energy conservation, adopting/using digital tools, etc.
Custom research can identify opportunities for innovation, new service development, or improvements to existing services, ensuring they meet current and future Customer needs.
Research findings can support regulatory compliance efforts, aid in rate case preparations, or be used to advocate for policy changes beneficial to the Utility and its Customers.
To gauge Customer and community support for renewable energy initiatives, conservation programs, or other sustainability efforts, informing strategy and communication.
Determining Customer readiness and acceptance for new technologies, such as smart meters or grid modernization projects.
Post-crisis research can assess the effectiveness of the Utility’s response, gather feedback on recovery efforts, and identify areas for improvement.
Custom research helps mitigate risks associated with new initiatives or changes in service delivery. Utilities can gain the specific insights needed to navigate the complexities of their market.
Talk to us about our experience and ability to develop a cost-effective program to help you get answers to your specific questions.
