The utilities industry is changing rapidly.
Higher bill amounts industrywide, less customer awareness of rate changes, a lack of functionality when it comes to digital tools: How can utilities exceed customer expectations in the face of these extraordinary headwinds? Earlier this year, J.D. Power released an annual report that showcased key finding from our 2024 syndicated utilities studies. These findings can help your utility benchmark against the industry, identify opportunities for operational improvements, and positively impact your business outcomes. As we reach the halfway mark of the year, let’s check in on the data.
Utilities Syndicated Studies
Price satisfaction improves as financial status improves substantially.
Price satisfaction for electric business customers improved significantly in 2024, with several trends impacting satisfaction scores, including: utility helped to lower bill; actively selected rate plan; and specialty rate plan for business type. In particular, we saw “efforts of utility to help manage monthly usage” rise significantly year-over-year.
In 2025, utilities that proactively communicate with customers will reap the rewards of high customer satisfaction (even in the face of potentially rising costs).
Communications awareness is falling.
Recent research has highlighted a troubling trend in the gas residential sector: A decline in customer recall of communications and texts from their utility, coupled with less favorable media mentions. Bad press and a general lack of communications awareness has been exacerbated by rising monthly bill amounts, which now exceed $115 on average.
Proactive communication has been proven to be an effective tool in combating customer dissatisfaction. By regularly communicating with customers, utilities can significantly enhance customer satisfaction- even in the face of rising costs.
Customer Contact satisfaction among gas business customers is the lowest in eight years.
In 2024, we saw a marked decline in satisfaction with Customer Contact experience. What is driving this decline? 24% of customers said they spent an hour or more using online chat for assistance; perhaps more troublingly, first contact resolution has decreased to 70%.
In 2025, gas utilities should find ways to reduce the time needed to solve problems and explore emerging technologies that may be able to reduce call time (or risk low customer satisfaction).
Proactive efforts to help customers lower their bills are paying off.
According to the 2025 U.S. Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, overall customer satisfaction is 161 points higher when water utility customers believe their utility helped to lower their bill than when they say their utility did not help lower their bill. Additionally, customer awareness of utility efforts to improve the effect on the environment is associated with a 110-point increase in customer satisfaction.
Strong brand appeal gives your utility the benefit of the doubt.
Strong brand appeal helps CSAT scoring during outages. In fact, there is a +31 point difference between those utilities with strong brand appeal and those utilities with weak brand appeal when a lengthy outage is experienced. Beyond perfect power, utility reputations would benefit from expanding their brand identities to feature messaging around leading innovation, environmental stewardship and being socially responsible.
Utility websites and apps fall below the status quo.
According to the 2025 U.S. Utility Digital Experience Study (UDES), overall customer satisfaction with the utility digital experience is 611 (on a 1,000-point scale). That compares across industries with an average satisfaction score of 738 for wealth management apps and websites; 698 for those in the property and casualty insurance industry; and 703 for those for retirement plans.
Utilities need to up their game when it comes to digital, as customers are looking to their utilities for guidance and proactive communication on everything from outage and safety information to electric vehicle charging programs.
Customers are skeptical that their utility will reach its clean energy goal.
On average, only 28% of customers say their local electric utility will reach its clean energy goal. Most customers believe the goal will not be achieved and many say they don’t know. There also are large differences between utilities: top performers have more than 35% of customers stating the goal will be achieved, whereas some have less than 25%. Electric utilities need buy-in from customers on sustainability targets to justify rate cases, garner support for infrastructure projects and drive the kind of consumer usage and behavioral changes needed to achieve sustainability goals. Lack of awareness of these initiatives and the large amount of pessimism surrounding climate change is creating an uphill battle. If utilities are going to build the customer support and participation required to reach their goals, they need to find ways to effectively communicate the goals and benefits of their clean energy strategy.
New to the proprietary portfolio: Canada Electric Utility Benchmark Study
The Canada Electric Utility Benchmark Study offers utilities an in-depth look at their customer satisfaction through the lens of the Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study and the Utility Brand Appeal Index Study.
