July 7, 2022
Businesses’ trust in their utility is on the decline and more than one factor is to blame. After reaching a historic peak in the Brand Trust Index in the first half of 2021, the overall industry utility Brand Trust score among business customers has declined 17 points to a 765 on a 1,000-point index. Declines in awareness of utilities’ charitable giving and donations, employee volunteering, and environmental stewardship are causing business customers to trust their utilities less. These and other findings are from the Cogent Syndicated 2022 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study from Escalent, a top human behavior and analytics advisory firm.
Each year, Escalent measures the Brand Trust Index of 82 of the nation’s utilities among their business customers. The Brand Trust Index is a composite score of utility performance on customer focus, business community support, communications effectiveness, reliable quality, environmental dedication and company reputation. Among these six factors, Environmental Dedication sees the biggest drop, down 18 points. This signals a perception that utilities’ commitment to using environmentally friendly energy and supporting environmental causes are declining.
“Businesses are increasingly focused on the environmental impact of their electric service,” said K.C. Boyce, vice president in Escalent’s energy and automotive & mobility divisions. “While the perception that a utility is ‘committed to using environmentally friendly energy’ didn’t drop significantly among natural gas utilities, it did among electric and combination utilities. In terms of electric generation, businesses have a strong preference for solar, natural gas and wind.”
Boyce continued, “Our Communications Intensity Index has dropped 15% from last year, with a big overall drop in the number of total communications recalled. This means that even though utilities are talking to their business customers, they’re not reinforcing the messages with multiple communications. Utilities that promote their contributions to local communities and the environment will build trust among their customers and maximize their positive impact.”
While the industry sees a decline in Brand Trust overall, there are utilities performing better than the average. Today, we’re pleased to announce the following 16 utilities as our 2022 Trusted Business Partners.
| Cogent Syndicated 2022 Utility Trusted Business Partners* | ||
| Alabama Power | OG&E | |
| BGE | PSE&G | |
| CenterPoint Energy – South | Puget Sound Energy | |
| Con Edison | Salt River Project | |
| DTE Energy | Seattle City Light | |
| Florida Power & Light | TECO Peoples Gas | |
| Georgia Power | TECO Tampa Electric | |
| Mississippi Power | Xcel Energy Colorado | |
* Utilities named as Trusted Business Partners are selected based on having Brand Trust Index scores in the top decile of the industry, the top score within their respective benchmark segment, or a Brand Trust Index score within 20 points of the top benchmark segment score and above the industry average.
The following tables reflect regional peer benchmark Brand Trust scores among the 82 utilities surveyed. These scores reflect the amount of trust business customers have with each utility.
| East Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | ||
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score | |
| BGE | 809 | |
| PSE&G | 800 | |
| Con Edison | 795 | |
| PECO | 788 | |
| National Grid | 755 | |
| PSEG Long Island | 752 | |
| PPL Electric Utilities | 747 | |
| Jersey Central Power & Light | 746 | |
| Penelec | 746 | |
| West Penn Power | 739 | |
| Duquesne Light | 734 | |
| Eversource | 733 | |
| NYSEG | 717 | |
| Appalachian Power | 706 | |
| Midwest Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | ||
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score | |
| DTE Energy | 808 | |
| MidAmerican Energy | 786 | |
| Ameren Missouri | 776 | |
| Duke Energy Midwest | 776 | |
| Ameren Illinois | 774 | |
| We Energies | 770 | |
| NIPSCO | 762 | |
| Consumers Energy | 753 | |
| ComEd | 752 | |
| Evergy | 745 | |
| Xcel Energy – Midwest | 745 | |
| Indiana Michigan Power | 740 | |
| AES Ohio | 736 | |
| Wisconsin Public Service | 735 | |
| Alliant Energy | 732 | |
| Ohio Edison | 731 | |
| The Illuminating Company | 727 | |
| AEP Ohio | 726 | |
| OPPD | 720 | |
| AES Indiana | 718 | |
| South Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | ||
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score | |
| Florida Power & Light | 790 | |
| OG&E | 787 | |
| Georgia Power | 779 | |
| Alabama Power | 772 | |
| TECO Tampa Electric | 771 | |
| Mississippi Power | 770 | |
| El Paso Electric | 768 | |
| Dominion Energy Virginia | 762 | |
| Duke Energy Florida | 759 | |
| Dominion Energy South Carolina | 753 | |
| Public Service Company of Oklahoma | 753 | |
| CPS Energy | 752 | |
| Duke Energy Progress | 750 | |
| Duke Energy Carolinas | 748 | |
| Southwestern Electric Power Company | 740 | |
| Kentucky Utilities | 737 | |
| JEA | 735 | |
| Gulf Power | 732 | |
| Louisville Gas & Electric | 724 | |
| Entergy | 720 | |
| West Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | ||
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score | |
| Seattle City Light | 825 | |
| Xcel Energy – West | 816 | |
| Puget Sound Energy | 814 | |
| Salt River Project | 810 | |
| SMUD | 795 | |
| Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | 790 | |
| PNM | 782 | |
| APS | 773 | |
| Pacific Power | 772 | |
| Idaho Power | 759 | |
| NV Energy | 758 | |
| Colorado Springs Utilities | 751 | |
| NorthWestern Energy | 750 | |
| SDG&E | 748 | |
| Rocky Mountain Power | 748 | |
| Southern California Edison | 748 | |
| PG&E | 742 | |
| Portland General Electric | 719 | |
| Natural Gas Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance | ||
| Utility brand name | Brand Trust score | |
| TECO Peoples Gas | 846 | |
| CenterPoint Energy – South | 827 | |
| Virginia Natural Gas | 791 | |
| Dominion Energy West | 789 | |
| CenterPoint Energy – Midwest | 784 | |
| Nicor Gas | 775 | |
| Dominion Energy Ohio | 773 | |
| Chattanooga Gas Company | 770 | |
| Dominion Energy North Carolina | 769 | |
About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business
Escalent conducted surveys among 17,876 business electric and natural gas utility customers of the 82 largest US utility companies (based on customer counts). The sample design uses a combination of quotas and weighting based on size of businesses surveyed to ensure a balanced sample of each evaluated utility. Utilities within each benchmark segment are assigned equal weight to balance the influence of each utility’s customers on survey results. The Brand Trust Index score is a composite based upon consumer ratings across six factors. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.
For more information on the full report, click below.
