How's Your Gas/Electric Service?

HARRISBURG – The majority of electric and natural gas customers were satisfied with the way customer service representatives handled their calls in 2012, according to an annual report released today by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC).

The 2012 Customer Service Performance Report measures the customer service performance of the state’s major electric and natural gas companies.  This year’s report summarizes data from 2010, 2011 and 2012.  It allows customers to see how well companies are responding to their questions and enables utilities to see how their level of service compares to other companies.  The full report is available at the PUC website.

The data falls into two categories: company-reported performance information and customer survey results.  The company-reported data measures telephone access to the companies, such as the percentage of calls that were answered within 30 seconds, abandoned by customers or received a busy signal.  Calls in the “busy-out rate” represent those attempted calls that received a busy signal or message.  The report also measures how often companies failed to read meters, issue bills and promptly respond to customer disputes.

The customer surveys measure customer perception of access to the company; employee courtesy and knowledge; promptness and timeliness of a response or visit; and satisfaction with the handling of the interaction.  All of the utilities contracted with a common market research firm to conduct the surveys of their customers. 

Company-reported highlights include:

• Access statistics improved for five of the electric distribution companies (EDCs) and declined for one. 
• Five of the seven natural gas distribution companies (NGDCs) reported improved telephone access performance for 2012. 
• Five of the EDCs and one of the NGDCs reported an increase in the number of residential disputes that did not receive a response within 30 days.

Customer survey result highlights include:

• On average, 87 percent of EDC customers reported they were either somewhat or very satisfied with the overall quality of service they received from their EDCs in 2012, down slightly from 89 percent in 2010 and 2011.
• On average, 89 percent of NGDC customers reported they were either somewhat or very satisfied with the overall quality of service they received from their NGDCs last year, which is an increase from 86 percent in 2011.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities; ensures safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protects the public interest; educates consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; furthers economic development; and fosters new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner. 

For recent news releases and video of select Commission proceedings or more information about the PUC, visit our website at www.puc.pa.gov. Follow the PUC on Twitter – @PA_PUC for all things utility.  “Like” PAPowerSwitch on Facebook for easy access to information on electric shopping.