Customer Sad-isfaction!
Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas, and Ameren Illinois scored the worst of 18 large-size Midwest natural gas utilities in the annual J.D. Power and Associates customer-satisfaction survey. Those companies also did worse than any of the 11 mid-sized utilities in the Midwest.
Nicor, Peoples, and Ameren finished well below the average national score of 627, with 592, 587, and 577, respectively.
The survey ranked the utilities according to these factors, in order of importance: billing and payment; price; corporate citizenship; communications; customer service; and field service.
On the bright side, Illinois utilities MidAmerican Energy and Atmos Energy finished in the top three in the survey, with No. 2 MidAmerican scoring 648 and Atmos 629.
Earlier this year, ComEd finished second to last in a J.D. Power and Associates survey of electric utilities, and Ameren finished third from the last. (MidAmerican was tops among large Midwest utilities.)
The companies that fared poorly in the survey are also fighting CUB for higher rates. Peoples/North Shore Gas wants a $120 million increase, Ameren wants $90 million more, and ComEd and Ameren are both fighting for legislation that would open the door for the companies to get more than $1 billion in electric rate hikes. CUB is also fighting Nicor Gas for a $287 million refund connected to past overcharges.
See a full listing of our battles at CUB's Rate-hike Fighters Center, and help CUB protect your bottom line.
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