Alagasco, New Jersey Natural Gas, CenterPoint Energy-Minnegasco, Consumers Energy and Southern California Gas Co. ranked highest in their respective regions in J.D. Power and Associates’ latest customer satisfaction ranking.

The ranking also determined that many residential customers are satisfied with the service they receive from their local natural gas utility, but 45% said they would pay more for better service.

“Our research clearly indicates that as the gas utility industry grows, providers will need to better understand the impact of customer satisfaction and the services it makes available to customers, such as online billing and bill payment,” said Alan Destribats, executive director of the utility practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “When customers say they are willing to pay more if it means they are offered better service, that’s something a utility provider should take seriously.”

The 2002 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study measures customer satisfaction performance among 50 of the largest local gas distribution companies in the country. The overall customer satisfaction measurement is based on five factors (in order of importance): company image, price and value, billing and payment, field service and customer service. Billing and payment and customer service are cited by respondents as areas that need the most improvement.

The study finds that consumers in the West and South are more satisfied with their gas providers than are customers in the East and Midwest. “Nationally, consumers in areas that rely heavily on gas for heating, such as the East and Midwest, tend to use more gas, which is reflected in higher monthly bills,” said Destribats. “This can help explain why these regions have lower overall satisfaction scores than warmer regions, where gas is used as a `lifestyle’ commodity.”

The study also found that 44% of consumers who do not currently have gas service would prefer gas as a fuel source for many of their household appliances, and 15% are seriously considering converting to gas in the near future.

In the East, New Jersey Natural Gas ranked highest in customer satisfaction, performing particularly well on the field service, billing and payment factors. Also scoring well were Elizabethtown Gas, Washington Gas Light, Baltimore Gas & Electric, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and South Jersey Gas.

In the Midwest, CenterPoint Energy-Minnegasco and Consumers Energy tied for the highest mark. CenterPoint Energy-Minnegasco received high scores in billing and payment as well as price and value, while Consumers Energy performed well on billing, payment and company image. Also performing well in the Midwest were Laclede Gas, Cincinnati Gas & Electric and Missouri Gas Energy.

In the South, Alagasco scored the highest of any company in any region with consistently high scores on all factors measured in the study. Piedmont Natural Gas came in second overall across all regions. Also performing well were Atmos Energy Louisiana, CenterPoint Energy-Entex and Oncor.

In the West, Southern California Gas ranked highest on every factor. Southwest Gas and Northwest Natural Gas perform above the regional average.

The study was based on more than 9,000 telephone interviews with U.S. residential gas customers during June and July of 2002. Westlake Village, CA-based J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm. For more details on the study send email to michael.greywitt@jdpa.com or john.tews@jdpa.com or visit www.jdpa.com.

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