June 21, 2022
Escalent Names 39 Utilities as 2022 Most Trusted Brands
New data from Cogent Syndicated show that utilities who are spending more on customer communications and marketing are reaping the benefits. The utility industry Brand Trust Index is down significantly from last year, declining eight points to 698 on a 0-to-1,000 scale. However, Brand Trust among utilities who are communicating with customers about topics such as their efforts to keep rates low, community engagement, and programs remains high. Today, we name these 39 top utilities as the 2022 Most Trusted Brands.
Those are some of the latest findings of the 2022 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential study, which tracks performance of 140 gas, electric and combination utilities to identify brand and customer experience opportunities and trends in the industry. The report is published semiannually by Escalent, a top human behavior and analytics advisory firm with extensive energy and utility experience.
Overall, utilities are communicating less with their customers, with the Communications Intensity Index, an indicator of per-customer spending, declining 9% year-over-year. That pullback on communication is being felt by customers, as communications recall about topics that customers care greatly about such as ways to lower energy consumption, safety, and programs has declined significantly. At the same time, recall of reliability-related messaging, such as storm preparation and outage/safety event, and rate change messaging has increased significantly. As a result, customers’ perception of the value they get from their utility took a big hit, leading to the industry Brand Trust decline.
“Brand Trust is paramount in maintaining healthy utility-customer relationships,” said K.C. Boyce, vice president of Escalent’s Energy division. “Proactively communicating with customers is going to become even more important as customers feel the impact of higher energy prices. With the median reported bill already increasing $5 from last year, customers are bracing for additional rate hikes.”
“Building a trusted brand by investing in communication and marketing channels gives utilities more control over their customer perceptions and helps create a new narrative about how their utility is helping in these uncertain economic times,” continued Boyce. “Today, we’re pleased to announce our 2022 Utility Most Trusted Brands, who despite the challenging times, have maintained high Brand Trust among their customers. They’ve done this, in part, by spending on average 24% more on customer communication and marketing than their industry peers.”
Escalent congratulates the 2022 Most Trusted Brands among utilities. These 39 utilities have developed industry-leading customer trust levels.
| Cogent Syndicated 2022 Most Trusted Utility Brands* | |||
| AEP Ohio | Duquesne Light Company | Philadelphia Gas Works | |
| Ameren Missouri | Florida City Gas Company | Piedmont Natural Gas | |
| Atmos Energy – South | Florida Power & Light | PPL Electric Utilities | |
| Avista | Georgia Power | PSE&G | |
| BGE | Green Mountain Power | Public Service Company of Oklahoma | |
| Black Hills Energy – Midwest | Idaho Power | Puget Sound Energy | |
| Cascade Natural Gas | Intermountain Gas Company | RG&E | |
| Chattanooga Gas Company | Kentucky Utilities | Salt River Project | |
| Columbia Gas – South | Mississippi Power | SMUD | |
| Columbia Gas of Ohio | NW Natural | TECO Peoples Gas | |
| ComEd | OPPD | Washington Gas | |
| Delmarva Power | OUC | Wisconsin Public Service | |
| Dominion Energy South Carolina | PECO | Xcel Energy Colorado | |
* Utilities named as Most Trusted Brands are selected based on having Brand Trust Index scores in the top decile of the industry; top score within their respective benchmark segment; or having 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 140 utilities surveyed. These scores reflect the amount of trust customers have with each utility.
| East Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance | |||
| Utility brand name | Service provided | Brand Trust score | |
| BGE | Combination | 730 | |
| Delmarva Power | Combination | 723 | |
| RG&E | Combination | 713 | |
| PSE&G | Combination | 713 | |
| PECO | Combination | 712 | |
| Con Edison | Combination | 701 | |
| National Grid | Combination | 695 | |
| Eversource | Combination | 648 | |
| NYSEG | Combination | 637 | |
| PPL Electric Utilities | Electric | 727 | |
| Green Mountain Power | Electric | 721 | |
| Duquesne Light Company | Electric | 710 | |
| Pepco | Electric | 701 | |
| West Penn Power | Electric | 692 | |
| Penn Power | Electric | 688 | |
| Penelec | Electric | 684 | |
| Met-Ed | Electric | 680 | |
| Atlantic City Electric | Electric | 677 | |
| Potomac Edison | Electric | 663 | |
| Mon Power | Electric | 654 | |
| Appalachian Power | Electric | 654 | |
| Jersey Central Power & Light | Electric | 645 | |
| PSEG Long Island | Electric | 630 | |
| Central Maine Power | Electric | 553 | |
| Philadelphia Gas Works | Natural Gas | 755 | |
| Washington Gas | Natural Gas | 737 | |
| New Jersey Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 734 | |
| Elizabethtown Gas | Natural Gas | 733 | |
| UGI Utilities | Natural Gas | 728 | |
| South Jersey Gas Company | Natural Gas | 719 | |
| National Fuel Gas | Natural Gas | 718 | |
| Peoples | Natural Gas | 707 | |
| Columbia Gas – East | Natural Gas | 694 | |
| Midwest Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance | |||
| Utility brand name | Service provided | Brand Trust score | |
| Black Hills Energy – Midwest | Combination | 756 | |
| Wisconsin Public Service | Combination | 737 | |
| MidAmerican Energy | Combination | 734 | |
| Montana-Dakota Utilities | Combination | 729 | |
| Consumers Energy | Combination | 725 | |
| Ameren Illinois | Combination | 709 | |
| Xcel Energy – Midwest | Combination | 706 | |
| We Energies | Combination | 701 | |
| NIPSCO | Combination | 699 | |
| DTE Energy | Combination | 689 | |
| Alliant Energy | Combination | 686 | |
| Duke Energy Midwest | Combination | 673 | |
| CenterPoint Energy Indiana | Combination | 542 | |
| AEP Ohio | Electric | 713 | |
| Ameren Missouri | Electric | 712 | |
| OPPD | Electric | 709 | |
| ComEd | Electric | 701 | |
| Indiana Michigan Power | Electric | 692 | |
| Toledo Edison | Electric | 676 | |
| Ohio Edison | Electric | 668 | |
| The Illuminating Company | Electric | 667 | |
| Evergy | Electric | 667 | |
| AES Ohio | Electric | 649 | |
| AES Indiana | Electric | 636 | |
| Columbia Gas of Ohio | Natural Gas | 741 | |
| CenterPoint Energy – Midwest | Natural Gas | 717 | |
| Nicor Gas | Natural Gas | 714 | |
| Spire Missouri – East | Natural Gas | 706 | |
| Peoples Gas | Natural Gas | 706 | |
| Atmos Energy – Midwest | Natural Gas | 703 | |
| Dominion Energy Ohio | Natural Gas | 698 | |
| Spire Missouri – West | Natural Gas | 695 | |
| Kansas Gas Service | Natural Gas | 688 | |
| Citizens Energy | Natural Gas | 680 | |
| South Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance | ||||
| Utility brand name | Service provided | Brand Trust score | ||
| Dominion Energy South Carolina | Combination | 691 | ||
| Louisville Gas & Electric | Combination | 678 | ||
| MLGW | Combination | 662 | ||
| CPS Energy | Combination | 656 | ||
| OUC | Electric | 749 | ||
| Kentucky Utilities | Electric | 742 | ||
| Georgia Power | Electric | 733 | ||
| Florida Power & Light | Electric | 733 | ||
| Public Service Company of Oklahoma | Electric | 730 | ||
| Mississippi Power | Electric | 729 | ||
| Duke Energy Progress | Electric | 720 | ||
| TECO Tampa Electric | Electric | 718 | ||
| Entergy Mississippi | Electric | 717 | ||
| Dominion Energy Virginia | Electric | 702 | ||
| Entergy Arkansas | Electric | 701 | ||
| Alabama Power | Electric | 701 | ||
| OG&E | Electric | 697 | ||
| Nashville Electric Service | Electric | 697 | ||
| Xcel Energy – South | Electric | 693 | ||
| El Paso Electric | Electric | 683 | ||
| JEA | Electric | 678 | ||
| Duke Energy Carolinas | Electric | 677 | ||
| Entergy Texas | Electric | 676 | ||
| Duke Energy Florida | Electric | 674 | ||
| Entergy Louisiana | Electric | 673 | ||
| Southwestern Electric Power Company | Electric | 671 | ||
| Austin Energy | Electric | 650 | ||
| FPL | Electric | 643 | ||
| Kentucky Power | Electric | 610 | ||
| Entergy New Orleans | Electric | 590 | ||
| Piedmont Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 778 | ||
| Florida City Gas Company | Natural Gas | 770 | ||
| TECO Peoples Gas | Natural Gas | 768 | ||
| Columbia Gas – South | Natural Gas | 755 | ||
| Atmos Energy – South | Natural Gas | 744 | ||
| Chattanooga Gas Company | Natural Gas | 741 | ||
| CenterPoint Energy – South | Natural Gas | 737 | ||
| Texas Gas Service | Natural Gas | 733 | ||
| Oklahoma Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 727 | ||
| Spire Alabama | Natural Gas | 724 | ||
| Virginia Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 722 | ||
| Dominion Energy North Carolina | Natural Gas | 713 | ||
| Spire Mississippi | Natural Gas | 711 | ||
| Spire Gulf Coast | Natural Gas | 685 | ||
| West Region Utilities Brand Trust Performance | |||
| Utility brand name | Service provided | Brand Trust score | |
| Puget Sound Energy | Combination | 714 | |
| Avista | Combination | 712 | |
| Xcel Energy Colorado | Combination | 708 | |
| NorthWestern Energy | Combination | 690 | |
| Colorado Springs Utilities | Combination | 685 | |
| SDG&E | Combination | 658 | |
| Black Hills Energy – West | Combination | 656 | |
| PG&E | Combination | 617 | |
| Idaho Power | Electric | 732 | |
| SMUD | Electric | 724 | |
| Salt River Project | Electric | 716 | |
| Seattle City Light | Electric | 707 | |
| NV Energy | Electric | 703 | |
| Portland General Electric | Electric | 698 | |
| Tucson Electric Power | Electric | 692 | |
| Pacific Power | Electric | 691 | |
| Los Angeles Department of Water & Power | Electric | 681 | |
| Rocky Mountain Power | Electric | 671 | |
| Southern California Edison | Electric | 669 | |
| PNM | Electric | 660 | |
| APS | Electric | 654 | |
| NW Natural | Natural Gas | 758 | |
| Cascade Natural Gas | Natural Gas | 749 | |
| Intermountain Gas Company | Natural Gas | 745 | |
| Dominion Energy – West | Natural Gas | 719 | |
| SoCalGas | Natural Gas | 717 | |
| Southwest Gas | Natural Gas | 715 | |
| New Mexico Gas Company | Natural Gas | 708 | |
About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential
Escalent conducted surveys among 79,529 residential electric, natural gas and combination utility customers of the 140 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 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.
