Florida’s Kissimmee Utility Authority recently released the results of a customer satisfaction survey revealing specific areas of improvement for the public power utility and the factors that led customers to rate KUA higher in customer satisfaction in 2016.
KUA detailed the survey’s findings in a July 18 news release, and Chris Gent, KUA’s vice president of corporate communications, elaborated on the findings in an interview with the American Public Power Association.
The annual survey, conducted via telephone by Deerfield Beach, Florida-based research firm PMG Associates, measured customer satisfaction by looking at six key factors: customer service, corporate leadership, communication, billing and payment, reliability, and price. Responses were measured on a scale of 1-10, and the utility has contracted with PMG Associates to perform these research surveys for more than a decade. That long track record is helpful, according to Gent, because the utility “can look over twelve years to see improvements in all the areas.”
Honesty in conducting business affairs and timely answering of phone calls combined with convenient payment options and bills that are easy to understand were among the factors customers most appreciated about KUA.
Electricity rates
Satisfaction with electric rates is one of several sub-categories under a broader “performance of service” survey category.
This year, satisfaction with electric rates was given a rating of 7.02 by survey respondents, the second highest score recorded since 2007. The highest score in this area was notched in 2015 at 7.07.
KUA has operated 11 consecutive years without a base rate increase, the last increase passing in July 2005. KUA’s board of directors on July 13 approved a $225.9 million operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2017, which Gent pointed out marked the utility’s 12th consecutive year without a base rate increase. “Obviously, the customers are noticing that,” he said.
The other sub-categories under performance of service are: day-to-day service, convenient payment options, plan/invest in infrastructure, protecting the environment, concern for customer safety, concern for customer needs, follow through on promises, knowledgeable employees and courteous employees.
Planning and investing in infrastructure
Gent also highlighted the fact that KUA saw an increase in the planning and investing in infrastructure sub-category from 8.01 in 2015 to 8.34 in 2016.
This sub-category is meant to gauge the perception of KUA customers that the utility is properly planning and investing for future electric infrastructure needs in KUA’s service territory as the population grows and technology advances.
Part of what may have come into play for the increase in the score year-over-year was KUA’s outreach to customers related to its construction of a new substation.
“We did a lot of informational presentations in the community. We did a lot of events that people could come and see it and tour it, so it really was an education over the past year,” Gent said.
He said that while utilities in general “spend tons of money every year” on things like upgrading equipment and pole inspections, they probably don’t spend enough time touting how they’re constantly keeping things upgraded and updated.
Timely answering of calls
Under the customer service category, KUA saw an increase in its score for timely answering of calls to 8.75 in 2016, up from 8.69 in 2015.
In June, the utility answered 31,000 calls and the average wait time on the phone during the time frame of April 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016 was 43 seconds, Gent noted.
“We’re consistently at or below the national average for call center wait times,” he pointed out.
One way KUA has been able to keep customer call wait times low is by allowing customer services representatives to work remotely. Gent noted that 75 percent of KUA employees who take customer calls work from home.
“After employees work for a period of time internally and learn all those systems and the processes and procedures for customer service, then they’re allowed to have that option of working out of their home,” he said.
“As the call volume increases, we have the ability to have our virtual representatives log into the system very quickly and begin assisting customers so we’re able to respond instantly to spikes in call volume,” Gent said. “Having that virtual resource works really well.”
KUA’s score for how easily understood their utility bills are also rose, increasing from 8.84 in 2015 to 8.90 this year.
Corporate leadership scores rise with community involvement
Corporate leadership scores increased by 1.7 percent. Survey respondents expressed trust in KUA as an organization, seeing it as a well-run utility that’s accountable for its actions.
Gent expounded on some of the reasons behind KUA’s increased corporate leadership scores, noting that community involvement is one element of the overall corporate leadership category. KUA saw its community involvement rating jump from 7.90 in 2015 to 8.56 in 2016.
“Our level of involvement in the community was a pretty high gain. We’ve done a variety of things over the past year,” Gent said.
KUA holds a hurricane preparedness seminar “that’s very visible and gets high attendance,” Gent pointed out.
In addition, the utility has continued its “movie in the park” events, which draws “thousands of our utility customers every month,” the KUA official said.
KUA also has a program to loan barbecue grills bearing the KUA logo to utility customers. “Even though we physically might not be there, we’re at all these events because our grill typically sits in the middle of those events,” he said.
Gent also noted that many KUA employees are actively involved in civic organizations such as Rotary International, 4-H and Kiwanis International, local chambers of commerce and nonprofits like the Boys & Girls Club and Meals on Wheels.
KUA also saw increased year-over-year scores under corporate leadership in the areas of honesty in business (from 8.13 to 8.30), accountable for actions (from 8.12 to 8.17) and a company that can be trusted (from 8.49 to 8.61).
KUA owns, operates and manages the municipal electric system established by the city of Kissimmee in 1901. KUA serves approximately 70,000 customers in Kissimmee and surrounding areas.
Reposted with permission from Public Power Daily
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