Utilities that have focused on understanding and meeting the needs of small business customers are seeing significantly higher customer engagement. Today, we name these 13 top utilities as the 2024 Trusted Business Partners.

New data from Cogent Syndicated show that, after stabilizing from early 2022 through the first half of 2023, Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study index scores once again see significant year-over-year declines. 2024 Utility Trusted Business Partners, however, see significantly higher scores. Additionally, the Brand Trust gap between Trusted Business Partners and their peer utilities remains substantial, with Trusted Business Partners scoring 41 points higher.

Those are some of the latest findings of the 2024 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study, which tracks the performance of 78 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 data analytics and advisory firm with extensive energy, utility and brand experience.

Trusted Business Partners maintained higher levels of effective communication when the industry cut back on communications spend post-pandemic, and they have maintained this trend. Their Communications Intensity Index score, an indication of per-customer communication spending, is 18% higher than the industry average in the first half of 2024.

When it comes to communicating with business customers who report annual revenue of less than $1 million, the gap is even greater: The Trusted Business Partners Communications Intensity Index score for those smaller companies is 23% higher than the industry average.

“While large key accounts tend to receive consistent service over time from their account rep, small and midsized businesses rely much more on utility communication to understand available programs and other utility benefits,” said Suzanne Haggerty, director of syndicated research with the Energy team at Escalent. “Higher communications spending therefore translates into higher trust among these businesses.”

Businesses with annual revenue of less than $1 million are feeling the effects of inflation more than larger companies, with both local economic growth and business revenue growth expectations significantly lower than the industry average. Utility Brand Trust scores among those smaller businesses are 6% lower than the industry average, but Trusted Business Partners see scores that are 5% higher.

A greater percentage of small businesses are looking for utility programs that help them save money (52% cite savings as a priority vs. 37% industrywide), and Trusted Business Partners are doing an exceptional job of providing and promoting those opportunities. As a result, Utility Trusted Business Partners have seen significant improvements across the Product Benefits Awareness Index and Product Usage Index for businesses with annual revenue of less than $1 million, led by increased awareness of savings opportunities and improved ease-of-use and performance perceptions for consumption management services.

Trusted Business Partners are also doing a better job of providing a customer experience that better meets the needs of businesses of all sizes: their attribute scores for the perception that utility offerings improve customer service are 6% higher than the industry average for businesses of all sizes, including those lower-revenue customers.

“Designing savings-focused programs for small and midsized businesses—and making those programs easy to understand and use—can help lift scores across the study,” Haggerty said. “Additionally, by providing a customer journey for smaller business customers that goes beyond basic residential service channels, Trusted Business Partners have increased Customer Engagement and Brand Trust for a segment that often doesn’t feel its needs are being met by utilities.”

Escalent is pleased to name these 13 utilities as our 2024 Trusted Business Partners.

Cogent Syndicated 2024 Utility Trusted Business Partners*
AEP Ohio	Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
Ameren Illinois	Nicor Gas
CenterPoint Energy – South	PSE&G
Con Edison	Seattle City Light
Dominion Energy South Carolina	SMUD
Georgia Power	Xcel Energy – Midwest
Indiana Michigan Power

* Utilities named as Trusted Business Partners are selected based on having Brand Trust Index scores in the top decile of the industry, the top score within their respective benchmark segment, or 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 78 utilities surveyed. These scores reflect the level of trust business customers have with each utility.

East Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand Trust score
Con Edison	812
PSE&G	799
BGE	786
National Grid	777
PECO Energy	769
Jersey Central Power & Light	766
West Penn Power	761
PSEG Long Island	750
Duquesne Light	750
PPL Electric Utilities	748
Penelec	739
Eversource Energy	739
Appalachian Power	687
NYSEG	677

Midwest Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand Trust score
Ameren Illinois	796
AEP Ohio	784
Indiana Michigan Power	780
Xcel Energy – Midwest	778
Ameren Missouri	774
ComEd	767
Duke Energy Midwest	766
The Illuminating Company	764
OPPD	757
DTE Energy	756
MidAmerican Energy	753
AES Ohio	751
AES Indiana	745
We Energies	741
Evergy	733
Consumers Energy	726
Ohio Edison	714
Alliant Energy	707
Wisconsin Public Service	701
NIPSCO	700

South Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand Trust score
Georgia Power	826
Dominion Energy South Carolina	820
Florida Power & Light	803
Alabama Power	794
CPS Energy	792
TECO Tampa Electric	786
Mississippi Power	784
Louisville Gas & Electric	775
Duke Energy Carolinas	774
El Paso Electric	773
Southwestern Electric Power Company	771
Duke Energy Florida	768
Public Service Company of Oklahoma	763
Dominion Energy Virginia	762
Kentucky Utilities	749
JEA	749
FPL Northwest FL	749
OG&E	739
Duke Energy Progress	725
Entergy	714

West Region Electric Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand Trust score
Los Angeles Department of Water & Power	828
SMUD	821
Seattle City Light	817
Southern California Edison	797
Salt River Project	787
PG&E	780
Rocky Mountain Power	779
Puget Sound Energy	770
Pacific Power	766
Colorado Springs Utilities	753
PNM	743
APS	742
Portland General Electric	740
Idaho Power	735
NV Energy	733
NorthWestern Energy	725
Xcel Energy Colorado	722
SDG&E	531

Natural Gas Utilities Brand Trust Business Performance
Utility brand name	Brand Trust score
CenterPoint Energy – South	811
Nicor Gas	806
Virginia Natural Gas	781
CenterPoint Energy – Midwest	778
Chattanooga Gas Company	753

About the Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study

Escalent conducted surveys among 13,560 business electric and natural gas utility customers of the 78 largest US utility companies (based on customer counts). The sample design uses a combination of quotas and weighting based on size of businesses surveyed to ensure a balanced sample of each evaluated utility. Utilities within each benchmark segment are assigned 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 here.

About Escalent

Escalent is an award-winning data analytics and advisory firm that helps clients understand human and market behaviors to navigate disruption and business transformation. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, our strategies guide the world’s leading brands. 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. Based on a profound understanding of what drives human beings and markets, we identify actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences, inspire product innovation and boost business productivity. Visit escalent.co to see how we are helping shape the brands that are reshaping the world.

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

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2870df2a-3bed-4eb4-9126-80c1e73a58bf