For the second consecutive year, utility customers surveyed for the J.D. Power 2017 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study ranked EPB as the top mid-sized utility in the southern U.S. region.
With an overall 2017 customer satisfaction index of 761, which exceeds EPB’s 2016 top-ranking by 24 points, Chattanooga’s publicly-owned electric power provider earned highest scores for power quality & reliability, price, billing & payment, corporate citizenship and communications and customer service.
“EPB’s overriding priority is meeting our customers’ expectations to their satisfaction every day,” said EPB president and CEO David Wade.
“I appreciate our customer’s feedback on our services, and I am proud of how EPB employees strive to raise the bar on delivering personalized customer service.”
The J.D. Power 2017 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study noted several key drivers of customer satisfaction:
· An increase in power outage information
· Mobile access of website data
· More paperless communications
· Electronic bill pay options
· Price satisfaction
· An increase in power quality and reliability
· Customers believe system upgrades enhance quality of service
Among the ways EPB has increased customer engagement electronically is this summer’s release of the myEPB app, which provides access to real time smart grid data to manage their accounts, track energy usage and stay aware of outages and restoration efforts.
With the launch of EPB Solar Share, Chattanooga’s first community solar program lowers the barriers for customers to participate in renewable energy with several options. During the first week after the launch, participating customers licensed nearly 1,000 solar panels.
“J.D. Power re-affirms that our customers place a lot of value on the leading-edge technology that EPB continues to put to work for them, that is backed with personalized customer service,” Mr. Wade said.
EPB serves more than 170,000 homes and businesses in a 600 square-mile area that includes greater Chattanooga, as well as parts of surrounding counties and areas of North Georgia.
In 2010, EPB became the first provider in the United States to deliver up to 1 Gig (1,000 mbps) internet speeds utilizing a community-wide fiber optic network that provides access to every home and business in its service area. In 2015, EPB became the first, and to date, only American ISP to make up to 10 Gig (10,000 mbps) internet speeds accessible to all of its residential and commercial customers as a standard offer.
EPB has also utilized its community-wide fiber optic network to deploy the most advanced and highly automated smart grid power management system in the nation. In recognition of EPB’s groundbreaking infrastructure, the Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are utilizing EPB’s smart grid as a national model for researching and developing best practices. EPB is also the first major power distribution utility to earn the USGBC’s PEER certification for having a highly automated, modernized electric power grid. For more information, go to EPB.com.