Contact: NOVEC Public Relations, 1-888-335-0500, customerservice@novec.com
NORTHERN VIRGINIA ― The Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative ranks highest in customer satisfaction among midsize electric utilities in the South region and among 126 largest United States electric utilities surveyed in the J. D. Power and Associates 2012 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM.
The research company bases its findings on responses from more than 100,000 online interviews conducted from July 2011 through May 2012 among residential customers of the largest electric utility brands across the United States. The study ranks large and midsize utility companies in the South, East, Midwest, and West geographic regions. Companies in the midsize utility segment serve between 125,000 and 499,999 residential customers. Companies in the large utility segment serve 500,000 or more residential customers. In all, the utilities serve nearly 94 million households.
The study asked customers to respond to questions regarding their utility’s power quality and reliability, price, billing and payment, corporate citizenship, communications, and customer service. The utilities scored an average of 625 points, based on a 1,000-point scale. NOVEC received the highest score of 714 points among the 126 utilities in overall customer satisfaction. It scored highest in the industry in power quality and reliability, price, and communications; and second highest in corporate citizenship.
According to a July 11, 2012, J. D. Power and Associates news release, customer satisfaction in the electric utility industry declined slightly from the year before following stormy weather in the second half of 2011. Nevertheless, despite an earthquake, Hurricane Irene, and a major tropical storm, NOVEC’s overall scores improved over the 2011 study results.
“This is a special moment in time for the entire NOVEC team,” NOVEC President/CEO Stan Feuerberg told Co-op’s employees, board members, affiliates and contractors. “The consistent delivery of excellent customer service is a primary focus for our entire team. This outstanding result represents exceptional performance in all four quarters of the 2012 study and in all six components of customer satisfaction.
“Recognition by the USA’s leading market research firm as the top-ranked electric utility in the Midsize South Region segment, as well as achieving the highest score among the 126 large and midsize utilities in the study, is the culmination of a vision and the achievement of a strategic long-range goal. There’s no greater validation of our corporate performance than to be ranked best-in-class by our customer-owners. It is very gratifying and I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished working together.”
About J.D. Power and Associates
Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, Web intelligence and customer satisfaction. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
