J.D. Power awarded EPB Best Customer Satisfaction for Residential Electric Service in the South among Midsize Utilities for the seventh consecutive year, according to the J.D. Power 2022 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study.
“In addition to leading as the winner in the South among Midsize Utilities for overall Customer Satisfaction for seven straight years, EPB ranked highest across four study factors including ‘Power Quality & Reliability’ and ‘Price’ factors,” said John Hazen, Senior Consultant — Product Management & Development — Energy Practice at J.D. Power. “This is quite the achievement that reflects the commitment of multiple departments and employees that work together to make this long-time distinction possible.”
Among the South Midsize segment, EPB ranked best in four of six study factors: Billing & Payment, Price, Power Quality & Reliability, and Customer Care. EPB also scored particularly well for Corporate Citizenship and Communications.
“I’m extremely thankful for our customers’ feedback about our services and proud of EPB Team Members who work hard every day to meet our community’s needs across our service area,” said EPB President & CEO David Wade. “This recognition reflects the ownership all of our employees take to provide services reliably, efficiently and courteously at the best possible value.”
During a time when global factors contributed to increasing electricity prices across the nation, EPB continues to offer programs free of charge to residential customers to help improve home efficiency and help lower monthly energy costs:
- Levelized Billing – Levelized Billing calculates monthly bills on a rolling average of customer power usage over the past 12 months. This means bills won’t fluctuate dramatically month to month and customers can more effectively budget knowing approximately how much their electricity bill will cost.
- 30 Minutes with a Pro – EPB Energy Pros will address residential customer questions or concerns via phone on topics from HVACs to solar, and anything in between.
- EPB Home Energy Checkups – EPB Energy Pros perform thorough in-home analysis and provide detailed reports on ways to save on home energy bills.
- DIY Home Energy Assessments – Residential customers can use an online evaluation at epb.com where they can input information about their homes and receive a personalized report with energy efficiency recommendations.
- Home Uplift – EPB Energy Pros and TVA EnergyRight work with neighbors in need to provide substantial home energy upgrades at no charge to reduce their energy bills and improve the air quality.
EPB’s Customer Relations and Tech Support are available 24/7/365 to connect customers to these and other resources, via phone, text/SMS and online chat.
In 2021, an independent study quantified that EPB’s Smart Grid and community-wide fiber optic network delivered $2.7 billion in value to the community during its first 10 years of operation. In fiscal year 2022 alone, EPB continued to deliver measurable value including:
- Utilizing the Smart Grid to prevent and reduce customer outages by 27.5 million minutes.
- Providing HCS EdConnect fiber optic internet at no charge to 16,000 students who with their families include 28,000 people who benefit from access to online educational opportunities as well as job opportunities and telehealth.
- Paid more than $21 million to local governments in support of education and other public services.
Eleven states comprise J.D. Power’s South category for which EPB was named best Midsize Utility: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.