Utilities Win Back Favor as Customers Find It Easier to Do Business With Them

Escalent recognizes 40 utilities as Easiest To Do Business With

/EIN News/ -- LIVONIA, Mich., April 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new Cogent Syndicated report from Escalent reveals that utilities are finally gaining ground in the struggle to make it easy for their customers to do business with them. For the first time since 2021, the study’s first-quarter Customer Effort Score has improved, increasing by 10 points year-over-year to 723 (on a 1,000-point scale).

Consumers rate utilities on 20 attributes, which together form the Customer Effort Score, a measure of how easy it is to do business with a utility.

Since early 2022, utilities have struggled to recover from scoring declines as customers seeking bill assistance faced challenges in understanding their bills and finding cost-saving offerings.

Forty utilities lead the 2025 scoring comeback, standing out as being “easiest to do business with” among 140 of the largest utility companies in the US. These and other findings are from the 2025 Cogent Syndicated Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential study by Escalent, a top data analytics and advisory firm with extensive energy, utility and brand experience.

Significant improvements in customers’ ease-of-use perceptions of voluntary utility offerings—particularly alternative power and fuel options such as rooftop solar, EV charger incentives and backup power generation, home service/protection programs, and rate options—have driven the comeback.

“As utilities expand their program portfolio—or simply do a better job of letting customers know about available programs—making those programs easy to use has proven to be a challenge for some,” said Suzanne Haggerty, director of syndicated research with the Energy team at Escalent. “Customers expect a streamlined user experience and the utilities recognized as Easiest to Do Business With this year are making great strides toward delivering that experience.”

Escalent is pleased to name these 40 utilities as our 2025 Easiest To Do Business With.

	2025 Easiest Utilities To Do Business With*
	AEP Ohio	Louisville Gas & Electric
	Atmos Energy – South	Mississippi Power
	Avista	New Jersey Natural Gas
	BGE	NIPSCO
	Black Hills Energy – Midwest	NorthWestern Energy
	Cascade Natural Gas	OPPD
	CenterPoint Energy – Midwest	OUC
	Chattanooga Gas Company	PECO
	Citizens Energy	Peoples
	Columbia Gas – East	PPL Electric Utilities
	Columbia Gas – South	PSE&G
	ComEd	Puget Sound Energy
	Con Edison	Salt River Project
	Dominion Energy South Carolina	South Jersey Gas Company
	Elizabethtown Gas	Spire Missouri – East
	Enbridge Gas North Carolina	Spire Missouri – West
	Entergy Arkansas	TECO Peoples Gas
	Entergy Mississippi	TECO Tampa Electric
	Florida City Gas Company	Virginia Natural Gas
	Georgia Power	Washington Gas

^{* Utilities designated as Easiest To Do Business With are selected based on having Customer Effort Scores in the top decile of the industry, the top score within their respective benchmark segment or within 20 points of the top benchmark segment score and above the industry average.}

The following tables reflect regional peer benchmark Engaged Customer Relationship scores among the 140 utilities surveyed.

East Region Utilities Customer Effort Performance
Utility brand name	Service provided	Customer Effort Score
Con Edison	Combination	741
PECO	Combination	741
PSE&G	Combination	736
BGE	Combination	724
National Grid	Combination	718
Delmarva Power	Combination	717
Eversource	Combination	696
NYSEG	Combination	652
RG&E	Combination	639
PPL Electric Utilities	Electric	736
Green Mountain Power	Electric	720
Duquesne Light Company	Electric	719
Pepco	Electric	713
Met-Ed	Electric	700
West Penn Power	Electric	700
Penn Power	Electric	699
Jersey Central Power & Light	Electric	694
Penelec	Electric	694
PSE&G Long Island	Electric	689
Mon Power	Electric	688
Potomac Edison	Electric	688
Appalachian Power	Electric	674
Atlantic City Electric	Electric	670
Central Maine Power	Electric	652
Columbia Gas – East	Natural Gas	760
Elizabethtown Gas	Natural Gas	757
New Jersey Natural Gas	Natural Gas	750
Washington Gas	Natural Gas	745
Peoples	Natural Gas	744
South Jersey Gas Company	Natural Gas	742
UGI Utilities	Natural Gas	736
National Fuel Gas	Natural Gas	731
Philadelphia Gas Works	Natural Gas	717

Midwest Region Utilities Customer Effort Performance
Utility brand name	Service provided	Customer Effort Score
NIPSCO	Combination	770
Black Hills Energy – Midwest	Combination	758
Xcel Energy – Midwest	Combination	749
Wisconsin Public Service	Combination	745
MidAmerican Energy	Combination	743
Montana-Dakota Utilities	Combination	734
Consumers Energy	Combination	731
Duke Energy Midwest	Combination	717
DTE Energy	Combination	717
Ameren Illinois	Combination	716
We Energies	Combination	714
Alliant Energy	Combination	713
CenterPoint Energy – Indiana	Combination	551
ComEd	Electric	747
OPPD	Electric	740
AEP Ohio	Electric	732
Ameren Missouri	Electric	718
Indiana Michigan Power	Electric	718
AES Indiana	Electric	713
Ohio Edison	Electric	709
Evergy	Electric	706
The Illuminating Company	Electric	698
Toledo Edison	Electric	688
AES Ohio	Electric	683
CenterPoint Energy – Midwest	Natural Gas	756
Spire Missouri – West	Natural Gas	751
Spire Missouri – East	Natural Gas	746
Citizens Energy	Natural Gas	741
Peoples Gas	Natural Gas	727
Atmos Energy – Midwest	Natural Gas	727
Nicor Gas	Natural Gas	726
Columbia Gas of Ohio	Natural Gas	726
Kansas Gas Service	Natural Gas	717
Enbridge Gas Ohio	Natural Gas	710

South Region Utilities Customer Effort Performance
Utility brand name	Service provided	Customer Effort Score
Dominion Energy South Carolina	Combination	740
Louisville Gas & Electric	Combination	733
CPS Energy	Combination	713
MLGW	Combination	668
Georgia Power	Electric	774
Mississippi Power	Electric	773
OUC	Electric	771
TECO Tampa Electric	Electric	767
Entergy Mississippi	Electric	760
Entergy Arkansas	Electric	758
Duke Energy Progress	Electric	749
Alabama Power	Electric	745
Southwestern Electric Power Company	Electric	741
Florida Power & Light	Electric	741
Duke Energy Florida	Electric	731
Public Service Company of Oklahoma	Electric	731
Xcel Energy – South	Electric	729
Nashville Electric Service	Electric	722
Entergy Texas	Electric	720
Entergy Louisiana	Electric	716
Dominion Energy Virginia	Electric	712
OG&E	Electric	711
Austin Energy	Electric	710
Duke Energy Carolinas	Electric	709
JEA	Electric	709
Entergy New Orleans	Electric	703
Kentucky Utilities	Electric	701
El Paso Electric	Electric	701
FPL Northwest FL	Electric	664
Kentucky Power	Electric	637
Atmos Energy – South	Natural Gas	796
Chattanooga Gas Company	Natural Gas	786
Columbia Gas – South	Natural Gas	780
Virginia Natural Gas	Natural Gas	776
Florida City Gas Company	Natural Gas	767
TECO Peoples Gas	Natural Gas	765
Enbridge Gas North Carolina	Natural Gas	761
Piedmont Natural Gas	Natural Gas	759
CenterPoint Energy – South	Natural Gas	754
Texas Gas Service	Natural Gas	747
Oklahoma Natural Gas	Natural Gas	735
Spire Alabama	Natural Gas	728

West Region Utilities Customer Effort Performance
Utility brand name	Service provided	Customer Effort Score
Puget Sound Energy	Combination	746
Avista	Combination	736
NorthWestern Energy	Combination	727
Colorado Springs Utilities	Combination	707
Black Hills Energy – West	Combination	706
Xcel Energy Colorado	Combination	698
PG&E	Combination	680
SDG&E	Combination	592
Salt River Project	Electric	788
LADWP	Electric	745
SMUD	Electric	744
APS	Electric	740
PNM	Electric	740
Seattle City Light	Electric	739
Snohomish County PUD	Electric	736
Tucson Electric Power	Electric	726
Rocky Mountain Power	Electric	723
Idaho Power	Electric	723
Pacific Power	Electric	704
Southern California Edison	Electric	700
Portland General Electric	Electric	698
NV Energy	Electric	660
Cascade Natural Gas	Natural Gas	798
SoCalGas	Natural Gas	759
Intermountain Gas Company	Natural Gas	749
Southwest Gas	Natural Gas	748
New Mexico Gas Company	Natural Gas	738
NW Natural	Natural Gas	723
Enbridge Gas West	Natural Gas	707

About the Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential Study

Escalent conducted surveys among 59,793 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. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.

About Escalent

Escalent is an award-winning data analytics and advisory firm specializing in industries facing disruption and business transformation. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, we accelerate growth by creating a seamless flow between primary, secondary, syndicated, and internal business data, providing consulting and advisory services from insights through implementation. We are 1,600 team members strong, following the acquisition of C Space and Hall & Partners in April 2023. Escalent is headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, with locations across the US and in Australia, Canada, China, India, Ireland, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, UAE, and the UK. Visit escalent.co to see how we are helping shape the brands that are reshaping the world.

Contact
Stephanie Salvadero, 734.838.5192
stephanie.salvadero@escalent.co

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