Press Release

PUC: Majority of Electric, Natural Gas Customers Satisfied with Utility Customer Service in 2006

Published on 9/24/2007

Filed under: Electric Gas

HARRISBURG – The majority of electric and natural gas customers were satisfied with the way customer service representatives handled their calls in 2006, according to an annual report released today by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC).

The 2007 Customer Service Performance Report measures the customer-service performance of the state’s major electric and natural gas companies. The report summarizes data from 2004, 2005 and 2006. It allows customers to see how well companies are responding to their questions and enables utilities to see how their level of service compares to other companies. The full report is available at the PUC Web site.

The data falls into two categories: company-reported performance information and customer survey results. The company-reported data measures telephone access to the companies, such as the percentage of calls abandoned by customers, the percentage of calls answered within 30 seconds and the percentage receiving a busy signal.  It also measures how often companies failed to read meters, issue bills and promptly respond to customer disputes.

The customer surveys measure access to the company; employee courtesy and knowledge; promptness and timeliness of a response or visit; and satisfaction with the handling of the interaction. The utilities contracted with a common market research firm to conduct the surveys of their customers.

Company-reported highlights include:

• Access statistics improved for all but one of the other electric distribution companies (EDCs).  PPL reported a slight decline in performance from the previous year in its busy-out rate (2 to 4 percent) and in its percent of calls answered within 30 seconds (80 to 79 percent).
• Of the major EDCs, UGI Utilities Inc. offered the poorest access to its call centers in 2006, although it did improve its call abandonment rate lowering it from 13 to 8 percent and reported a slight improvement in the percent of calls answered within 30 seconds. 
• All of the natural gas distribution companies (NGDCs) reported improved telephone access performance for 2006. 
• Dominion Peoples reported a slight increase (7 to 8 percent) in its call abandonment rate.  Despite showing steady improvement from 2004 to 2006 in the percent of calls answered within 30 seconds (39, 47, and 52 percent), Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) reported the poorest telephone access performance among the major NGDCs.
• Almost all of the EDCs and two of the NGDCs reported improved statistics regarding the number of residential disputes that did not receive a response within 30 days.
• Four of the NGDCs reported higher numbers of disputes not responded to within the prescribed 30 days.
• The total number of disputes in this category that Dominion Peoples reported for 2006 is 112, up from 0 reported in 2005.
• PGW reduced the number of disputes not responded to within 30 days, going from 803 in 2005 to 596 in 2006.

Customer survey result highlights include:

• On average, 90 percent of EDC consumers reported that they were either somewhat or very satisfied with the overall quality of service they received from their EDCs in 2006, unchanged from 2004 and 2005.
• PGW reported the worst access statistics and survey findings show that PGW customers were the least satisfied with the ease of reaching that company. 
• UGI Penn Natural Gas is the only company that reported answering over 80 percent of its calls within 30 seconds. The survey section on the ease of reaching the company reveals that 885 of UGI Penn customers were either somewhat or very satisfied with the ease of reaching the company in 2006. 
• The 2006 survey results show that, on average, 80 percent of NGDC consumers reported that they were either somewhat or very satisfied with the overall quality of service they received from their NGDCs last year. That represents a decline in overall satisfaction from 81 percent in 2005 and 85 percent in 2004.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities to ensure safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protect the public interest; educate consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; further economic development; and foster new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner. For recent news releases, or more information about the PUC, visit our Internet homepage www.puc.state.pa.us.

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