Peco, PSE&G at middle in customer-satisfaction ratings

Customer satisfaction in the region's two major electrical utilities slipped last year, but overall Peco Energy Co. and Public Service Electric & Gas Co. still rank in the middle of the pack, according to a study released yesterday.

The national survey of residential customers cited Peco and PSE&G for poor customer service, said John Hazen, a senior director for J.D. Power & Associates, which has conducted the survey for 11 years.

Several key factors were examined: power quality and reliability, price, billing and payment, corporate citizenship, communications, and customer service.

Peco scored 604 points on the survey's 1,000-point scale, and PSE&G scored 608. Peco slipped from fourth to seventh among 17 large Eastern utilities, and PSE&G went from third to sixth. Both ranked above the average for large Eastern utilities, but below the national average score of 618 for all utilities.

Cathy Engel, Peco's spokeswoman, said she was unable to analyze the J.D. Power survey, but said it was among "many" tools that the Philadelphia company uses to measure customer satisfaction.

"Improving service and continuing to improve customer relations are really priorities for us around here," she said.

PPL Electric Utilities, the Allentown company whose service territory includes much of eastern and central Pennsylvania, was ranked No. 2 in the East, the same position it held last year.

Central Maine Power scored 649 points, the most of the big Eastern utilities. The Salt River Project, a public utility in the Phoenix area, scored 696, the most of any large utility in the nation. The survey examined 127 companies across the United States.

Among 12 mid-sized utilities in the East, Atlantic City Electric ranked eighth with a score of 588, and Delmarva Power ranked last, with a score of 564.

Across the country, the marketing company's survey found, residential customers ranked their utilities slightly higher this year. Driving the improvement were customer reports of lower bill amounts and fewer outages.

Peco's score, which declined 16 points from last year, was brought down because of below-average marks in billing and payment and in customer service, said Hazen. Though Peco's rates are the highest in the state, its customers ranked the utility about average for price.

Peco ranked fourth for power reliability and citizenship.

PSE&G suffered from a perception of poor customer service, where it was ranked 14th out of 17 Eastern utilities, Hazen said.

Bonnie J. Sheppard, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey utility, said PSE&G's own studies contradicted the J.D. Power survey and indicated that residential satisfaction was improving.

"Our data also shows that compared to approximately 100 other U.S. utilities, PSE&G ranks in the top quartile - and in some cases the top 10 - on the vast majority of our survey measures, including the customer-service measures," Sheppard said.