J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Reports:
Increases in monthly spending for both gas and electricity contribute to falling customer satisfaction with utility providers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 UK Electricity and Gas Supplier Customer Satisfaction Study SM released today. Although the amount spent per month on electricity has been showing small declines over recent years as customers switch to cheaper suppliers, the average monthly spending on electricity has increased to its highest level of £31.58 a 7 percent increase compared to 2003. The price paid for gas also has increased for the first time since 2001 to £29.78 a year-over-year increase of 9 percent. These increases have contributed to a drop in overall customer satisfaction of 33 index points for electricity and 32 points for gas suppliers. "Some electricity and gas suppliers announced further price increases in September, which could compound the declines we're already seeing in customer satisfaction," said Gunda Lapski, director of UK utilities studies at J.D. Power and Associates. "Highly satisfied customers are less likely to switch and are more likely to recommend their supplier to others. They are also more likely to purchase other services from their suppliers. With the current declines in customer satisfaction, it will be interesting to see what pricing and incentive packages will be offered in the short term to encourage switching." The study finds that customers who switched suppliers in the past 12 months pay less, on average, than those who have never switched, particularly among electricity customers. More than 80 percent of customers who have switched electricity and gas suppliers found the switch to be easy. However, among those who have never switched, only about 60 percent thought the process would be easy. The study also finds that among the more than 50 percent of electricity and gas customers who have Internet access, 15 percent of electricity subscribers and 17 percent of gas customers have accessed their supplier's website in the past 12 months. This is a significant increase over 2003 when access rates were 11 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Of those who had accessed their supplier's website, more than 15 percent had reviewed their bill during the year, and nearly 30 percent had, at some point in the past, submitted a meter reading. Electricity Supplier Performance Powergen ranks highest in customer satisfaction with electricity suppliers with an index score of 714 on a 1,000-point scale. Powergen receives the highest ratings in the two most important factors: power quality and reliability and price and value. The study also measures image, billing and payment, meter reading, and customer service. Following Powergen in the ranking are British Gas and Scottish and Southern Energy, respectively. Gas Supplier Performance Two Scottish-based companies Scottish and Southern Energy and ScottishPower tie to rank highest among gas suppliers with 743 index points each. Scottish and Southern Energy receive the highest ratings in billing and payment and customer service, while ScottishPower receives the highest ratings in the area of price and value. Powergen and British Gas follow in the rankings, respectively. The 2004 UK Electricity and Gas Customer Satisfaction Study is based on 2,646 interviews with domestic electricity customers and 2,423 interviews with domestic gas customers throughout the UK. The European headquarters of J.D. Power and Associates is located in Guildford, UK. With world headquarters in Westlake Village, California, USA, J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. 11.9.06