Customer Contact Satisfaction among Gas Utility Business Customers Lowest in Eight Years, J.D. Power Finds

Washington Gas, DTE Energy, Texas Gas Service and NW Natural Rank Highest in Respective Regions

Customer contact with gas utility provider satisfaction is the lowest since 2016, according to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Gas Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study,^SM released today. With that, first-contact problem resolution has drastically decreased to 70% along with a steep decline in satisfaction. Additionally, nearly one-fourth (24%) of study respondents said they spent an hour or more talking with their gas utility representative while using digital tools. Satisfaction is 817 (on a 1,000-point scale) among those who spent more than an hour, while those who had their problem resolved in 10 minutes or less have a satisfaction score of 863.

“With so many customers taking an hour or longer to resolve their problems, providers need to look toward increasing investments in digital assets that are going to automate and reduce the time needed to resolve problems,” said Ramah Vaughn, director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power. “We are seeing that the score for timeliness to resolve problems is down across the industry. There needs to be an exploration into emerging technological solutions such as AI to reduce this time. Utilities should be aiming for problem resolution to happen in under 30 minutes, as satisfaction is still very high and their problems are resolved.

“Additionally, the study shows that utilities’ websites are used most out of all digital tools and ease of navigating the site experienced one of the largest declines in satisfaction. As these websites have not undergone major reconstruction, it highlights that customer expectations are evolving. If utilities do not evolve with such expectations and make strides toward a website that is easy to navigate, satisfaction will surely continue to decline.”

Study Rankings

The following utilities rank highest in customer satisfaction in their respective region:

• East: Washington Gas
• Midwest: DTE Energy
• South: Texas Gas Service
• West: NW Natural

See the rank charts for each region at http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2024123.

Now in its 20th year, the U.S. Gas Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study measures business customer satisfaction with gas utility companies in four regions: East, Midwest, South and West. Each of the 60 brands included in the study serve more than 25,000 business customers, representing more than 4.4 million business customers in total. Overall satisfaction is measured by examining six factors (listed in order of importance): safety and reliability; billing and payment; corporate citizenship; price; communications; and customer contact.

The study is based on responses from more than 10,240 online interviews of business customers in decision-making roles related to their utility company. The study was fielded from January through September 2024.

For more information about the U.S. Gas Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/utilities/gas-utility-business-customer-satisfaction-study

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world's leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

J.D. Power has offices in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company's business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto-shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info

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