A new survey shows gas utility customers aren’t happy with the service they’re getting, not just in Oklahoma but across the U.S.
The J.D. Power 2024 Gas Utility Residential customer Satisfaction Study showed the customer satisfaction with billing and payment and customer care “significantly” dropped in the past year.
Gas customers in Oklahoma who fought controversial rate hikes were part of the survey which showed Oklahoma Natural Gas, considered in the Large South division didn’t come out on top of doing a good job. Instead, top honors went to Piedmont Natural Gas out of the list that included ONG and six others,, including Texas Natural Gas. Both ONG and Texas Natural Gas are subsidiaries of ONE Gas, a Tulsa-based firm that also owns Kansas Gas Service.
Declines on these factors contributed to a significant decline in the industry’s overall satisfaction score, down 11 points to 729 (on a 1,000-point scale), the lowest score since 2015. Specifically, satisfaction with billing and payments drops to 773, down 22 points from 2023 and satisfaction with customer care drops to 774, a reduction of 26 points from 2023.
“Satisfaction with billing and payment and customer care have been on steady declines for a few years, even as more customers use digital channels,” said Chris Oberle, managing director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power.
“As we continue to dive further into a digital world, gas utility companies need to be innovative with their digital channels to ensure they meet or exceed the expectations of customers, especially their websites and mobile apps as these yield the highest satisfaction when used.”
Study Rankings
The following utilities rank highest in residential customer satisfaction in their respective segment:
- East Large Segment: PSE&G
- East Midsize Segment: Elizabethtown Gas (for a 10th consecutive year)
- Midwest Large Segment: MidAmerican Energy (for a second consecutive year)
- Midwest Midsize Segment: Atmos Energy (for a third consecutive year)
- South Large Segment: Piedmont Natural Gas (for a third consecutive year)
- South Midsize Segment: Columbia Gas of Virginia
- West Large Segment: Southwest Gas (for a fifth consecutive year)
- West Midsize Segment: Intermountain Gas Company (for a second consecutive year)
See the rank charts for each segment at http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2024160.
The 2024 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 63,363 online interviews conducted from January through October 2024 among residential customers of the 86 largest gas utility brands across the United States, which represent more than 125,000 residential customers.
Source: Business Wire
