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Leading Utilities Engage Their Customers About the Energy Transition

April 18, 2023

Escalent recognizes 30 utilities as Environmental Champions in honor of Earth Day

Although the urgency for environmental action has become clearer, the utility industry’s Environmental Dedication Index has dropped 17 points to 669 (on a 1,000-point maximum scale) over the past year. Escalent’s Environmental Dedication Index comprises customer ratings of utility actions to build strong environmental stewardship, and new findings show customers have declining perceptions that their utility is committed to using environmentally friendly energy and encouraging green initiatives for buildings and vehicles. Contrary to this trend, 30 utilities score high enough on this index to be recognized, in honor of Earth Day, as Environmental Champions for their dedication to the environment. These and other findings are from the Cogent Syndicated 2023 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential study by Escalent, a top data analytics and advisory firm.

According to the study, customers continue to strongly support electric utilities using solar and wind energy to generate electricity, with 71% and 59% of customers respectively preferring these sources. Although support for local government bans on natural gas use has dropped over the last year, customers are showing a significantly lower preference for natural gas as a fuel for home appliances such as stoves, clothes dryers and space heaters.

Over the past year, more than half (59%) of utility customers have made energy-related upgrades to their home. Despite this, customers report lower awareness of utility programs that promote energy-efficient homes, such as energy audits and rebates on energy-efficient equipment and lighting. As a result, customers increasingly prefer buying energy-related technology from a contractor or home-improvement store, progressively leaving utilities out of the picture.

The 30 utilities recognized as Environmental Champions are talking more with their customers about environmental topics, such as renewable energy, carbon neutrality commitments and energy-efficiency/alternative power programs, than the rest of the industry. As a result, these Environmental Champions have significantly higher customer awareness of their programs, higher customer support for investments that reduce the utility’s climate impact, and customers who are significantly more likely to consider their utility using renewable energy sources as a benefit.

“From the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report highlighting the urgency of climate action, through the war in Ukraine, to recent extreme weather events, the need for utilities to be leaders on the energy transition has never been clearer,” said K.C. Boyce, vice president at Escalent. “Environmental Champion utilities have discovered that talking with customers about utility actions and programs that accelerate the transition is key to improving brand perceptions and encouraging customer behavior that makes the transition easier for the utilities themselves.”

Escalent’s Environmental Dedication Index provides critical insights into the utility industry’s progress on environmental initiatives and helps utilities better understand customer preferences and behavior. As the industry faces increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint, this report is a vital resource for utilities looking to meet customers’ expectations through the energy transition.

Escalent congratulates the Cogent Syndicated 2023 Environmental Champion utilities. The 30 utilities below stand out among the 141 utilities surveyed for winning high marks on their environmental commitment, support of environmental causes and aiding customers to become more environmentally friendly.

2023 Environmental Champions

Utility

Environmental Dedication Index

Utility

Environmental Dedication Index

AEP Ohio

674

Indiana Michigan Power

683

Ameren Missouri

689

New Jersey Natural Gas

711

BGE

722

OPPD

674

CenterPoint Energy – Midwest

691

OUC

730

Citizens Energy

703

PECO

723

Columbia Gas of Ohio

699

Peoples Gas

691

ComEd

687

Pepco

702

Consumers Energy

726

Philadelphia Gas Works

711

Dominion Energy South Carolina

674

Puget Sound Energy

730

DTE Energy

728

Salt River Project

723

Elizabethtown Gas

695

Seattle City Light

724

Florida City Gas

743

SMUD

733

Georgia Power

717

SoCalGas

725

Green Mountain Power

695

TECO Peoples Gas

744

Idaho Power

717

Washington Gas

705

Index scores based upon 1,000-point maximum scale

About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential

Escalent conducted surveys among 76,100 residential electric, natural gas and combination utility customers of the 141 largest US utility companies (based on residential customer counts). The sample design uses a combination of quotas and weighting based on US census data to ensure a demographically balanced sample of each evaluated utility’s customers based on age, gender, income, race and ethnicity. Utilities within the same region and of the same type (e.g., electric-only providers) are given equal weight to balance the influence of each utility’s customers on survey results. The Environmental Dedication Index is a composite based upon consumer ratings across four attributes. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request. All scores are based upon a 1,000-point maximum scale.

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