Green Mountain Energy has taken the top spot in the JD Power 2014 Retail Electric Provider Residential Customer Satisfaction Study. The study, now in its seventh year, surveys electric customers in Texas and several other deregulated electricity states. Using the data they rank providers on a number of factors and generate an overall score for each company on a 1,000 point scale.
Ranking factors include price, communications, corporate citizenship, enrollment, customer service, and billing/payment. The results were good news not just for Green Mountain but the Texas electricity market as a whole. Green Mountain’s overall score of 762 was compared to the state average of 706. The Texas state average was the highest of any state in the study.
Overall satisfaction of the Texas electricity market continues to improve as this year’s average of 706 was 24 point higher than in 2013. This trend applies to other states in the survey. Customer satisfaction across many states improved despite high electricity bills in many parts of the country because of a cold winter. JD Power attributes the improvement in customer sentiment partly to improved communications.
Green Mountain Energy also points to its improved customer communications as a factor in the company’s top score in this year’s survey. According to a statement on the company’s website:
“Over the last year, Green Mountain introduced key enhancements to its website, bills, and enrollment process to make it easier for customers to learn about renewable energy and how they’re helping to preserve and protect the environment.”
Champion Energy, who ranked at #1 in the study the past several years, had another strong showing achieving the second highest score of 759. Green Mountain and Champion were the only two Texas electricity providers to obtain a Power Circle Rating of 5 out of 5 from JD Power.
Several providers where given a 4 out of 5 rating including Cirro Energy, StarTex Power, and Bounce Energy. The most common ranking was a 3 out of 5 which included Direct Energy, Reliant Energy, First Choice Power, and TXU Energy.
See Also: Complaints In Texas Electricity Market Drop Again
See Also: 2013 Survey Results
See Also: 2012 Survey Results