Since 2014, Escalent’s Environmental Dedication score comprises customer ratings of utility actions to build strong environmental stewardship. Among those actions, customers rate utilities highest on providing programs and tools that help them lower their energy consumption and on being committed to clean energy. This information is from Cogent Syndicated’s 2022 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential management advisory study from Escalent, a top human behavior and analytics advisory firm.
Results
The study finds 70% of utility customers nationwide believe climate change is happening and 64% say their utility should spend more on clean energy technology. Moreover, customers cite “clean environment” as the second-most important cause for a utility to support.
On the other hand, only one in three (31%) customers actively aware of their utility’s efforts to help the environment. This is a huge opportunity for utilities to highlight their environmental efforts to raise their brand perceptions and customer satisfaction.
In addition, premier utilities have successfully productized their environmental efforts in support of consumer demand for environmentally friendly products such as EVs (13% of customer demand), home or community solar (54%) and renewable natural gas (33%).
“Customers’ esteem for their utility increases when they are aware of their utility’s dedication to supporting the environment. Customer trust and utilities’ overall reputation significantly increase with awareness of environmental stewardship efforts, such as investing in clean energy options and highlighting ways utilities limit the environmental impact of their service,” said K.C. Boyce, vice president at Escalent. “Environmental Dedication is absolutely critical for utilities that want to build strong customer relationships.”
Champions
Among the 2022 environmental champions were AEP Ohio, Cascade Natural Gas, ComEd, Consumers Energy, Florida Power & Light, and Idaho Power. As well as Nicor Gas, OPPD, Pepco, Portland General Electric, TECO Peoples Gas and Xcel Energy Colorado, to mention a few.
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About Escalent
Escalent is an award-winning advisory firm that helps clients understand human and market behaviors. They do this in order to navigate disruption and business transformation.
Moreover, as catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, their strategies guide the world’s leading brands. They accelerate growth by creating a seamless flow between primary, secondary, syndicated, and internal business data; providing consulting and advisory services from insights through implementation. Based on a profound understanding of what drives human beings and markets. They identify actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences, inspire product innovation and boost business productivity.
