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MRT, Columbia Rank High in Customer Survey
Mississippi River Transmission (MRT) and Columbia Gas SystemInc. got very high marks for being responsive to their customers,according to the results of the latest pipeline customersatisfaction study released by Mastio & Co.
MRT of St. Louis, MO, was ranked No. 1 among the 50 interstatepipelines that were surveyed, and it also was at the top of thelist for long-haul pipelines. The latter group included 35pipelines that have at least 1,000 miles of transportation pipe andserve three or more states.
Columbia Gas System was rated the most customer responsive ofthe 12 major pipeline groups in North America, according to theMastio study. It beat out both Williams and Enron. One of itspipeline subsidiaries, Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. ofCharleston, WV, also took the No. 1 spot in the category of 18 megapipelines, each of which has at least 1,000 miles of pipe andminimum deliveries of 1 Billion Mcf/year.
The rankings were based on more than 1,250 interviews withindustrials, LDCs, producers, power plants and marketers. Eachrated their pipelines on 40 customer-satisfaction attributes,including quality of relationships with the pipelines,representatives who listen well, price competitiveness, responsivesales and service personnel, quality of EBBs, plus overallpreference, service and performance.
In the survey of the 50 interstates, other pipelines sharing topspots with MRT included Sabine Pipe Line, South Georgia NaturalGas, Columbia Gas Transmission and Northern Border Pipeline.Bringing up the rear were National Fuel Gas Supply, Equitrans Inc.,KN Interstate Gas Transmission, Iroquois Gas Transmission Systemand Midwestern Gas Transmission. El Paso Natural Gas, which is onits way to becoming the biggest pipeline ever, was ranked 36.
Interstate pipelines showing “dramatic improvement” since thelast survey two years ago — with gains ranging from a couple ofpercentage points to as much as 64% — were Tennessee Gas Pipeline(ranked 23), Northern Border (5), Reliant Energy Gas Transmission(32), ANR Pipeline (28), Koch Gateway Pipeline (44), NorthernNatural Gas (20), Southern Natural Gas (16), East TennesseePipeline (9), Williston Basin Pipeline (12), Wiilliams GasPipeline-Central (22), Williams Gas Pipeline-Northwest (28),Questar Pipeline (30), CNG Transmission (24) and Natural GasPipeline Co. of America (15), said Richard Mastio, president of theSt. Joseph, MO-based company.
The interstates experiencing a “significant decline,” he noted,were Algonquin Gas Transmission (ranked 40), Iroquois GasTransmission System (47), Great Lakes Gas Transmission (29),Williams Gas Pipeline-Kern River (8), Trunkline Gas Transmission(25), Williams Gas Pipeline-Texas Gas (14) and National Fuel GasSupply (50).
Overall, about half of the U.S. interstate pipelines hadimproved scores in the Mastio Customer Satisfaction Index since thelast survey conducted in 1998, while the scores for the other halffell during the two-year period.
“It is obvious when we do the study that there are somepipelines who take very, very seriously their customerrelationships,” Mastio said. These pipelines and their executivesare “every day and in every transaction standing on their heads totake care of their customers.”
Among the most customer-responsive executives in the gaspipeline industry, according to Mastio, are Stephen C. Beasley,president of Tennessee Gas; Catherine G. Abbott, CEO of ColumbiaGulf Transmission; Oliver “Rick” Richard III, chairman of ColumbiaGas System Inc.; Michael McGowan, vice president of marketing forEnron Transportation and Storage; Deborah Plattsmier of Sabine PipeLine; David Schafer, vice president of strategic initiatives forEnron Transportation and Storage; Robert E. Hayes, vice presidentof marketing at Florida Gas Transmission; Dale Earwood of ReliantEnergy; and Robert A. Trost, senior vice president at MRT. Thesepeople “live, breathe and eat to take care of their customers. Theyhave a real attitude in caring for their customers,” he told NGI.
As for intrastate pipelines, Mastio said PG&ETransmission-Teco of Houston, TX, was ranked the most customerfriendly and responsive, with Union Gas Ltd. of Ontario taking thetop prize among the Canadian pipelines.
In addition to PG&E Teco, he reported three other U.S.intrastates — Sonat Intrastate, Transok Gas Transmission andEnogex Inc. — had become more responsive to their customers sincethe 1998 survey, while Oasis Pipeline Co. Texas L.P. and Dynegyfell behind.
For more information on the survey, NGI readers can call Mastio& Co. at (816) 364-6200 or go to its web site atwww.mastio.com.
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