Electric Utilities Lack Customer Support They Need to Meet Sustainability Goals, J.D. Power Finds
While Most Utilities Have Aggressive Carbon Reduction Goals, Few Have Solid Plans to Execute Them and Fewer Have Customer Awareness Needed to Achieve Them
TROY, Mich.: 21 July 2022- Judging solely by their annual reports, press releases and public talking points, the nation’s electric utilities are all-in on carbon reduction. A significant majority (81%) of electric utility customers[1] are now served by a utility with a stated carbon-reduction target. However, many utilities do not have plans that are disclosed or validated by independent groups such as CDP or the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). According to the J.D. Power 2022 Sustainability Index, released today, even fewer utilities have the customer awareness and support they will need to make their goals a reality.
“If the aggressive carbon reduction goals most utilities have in place are ever going to be achieved, customers are going to need to play a key role, both in terms of modifying their current energy use habits and supporting the funding required to improve infrastructure and deliver the clean energy sources,” said Andrew Heath, senior director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power. “Right now, even the best-performing utilities are not where they need to be in terms of customer engagement, awareness and support for sustainability initiatives.”
Read the full press release for key findings from the study, as well as a list of utility rankings.
[1] SEPA Utility Carbon-Reduction Tracker™. Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA). Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://sepasandbox.wpengine.com/utility-transformation-challenge/utility-carbon-reduction-tracker