UI is 2nd best for customer satisfaction; CL&P 2nd worst

HBJ File Photo President, CEO, and Chairman Tom May will change the name of Northeast Utilities and all its subsidies, including Connecticut Light & Power, to Eversource Energy on Feb. 2.

Write a Comment

The annual national rankings for electric utility business customer satisfaction ranked United Illuminating as the second best utility of its size in the region while Connecticut Light & Power came in as the second worst, according to California survey firm J.D. Power & Associates.

Orange-based UI scored 689 out of 1,000, placing the utility behind only Delmarva Power of Washington, D.C. for mid-sized utilities in the East region of the country.

Berlin-based CL&P, meanwhile, scored 626, coming ahead only of the Long Island, N.Y., branch of the Public Services Enterprise Group for large utilities in the East region. In fact, CL&P score also was the second-worst among all large utilities in the nation.

CL&P’s score was an improvement over the 610 it earned last year and the 578 it earned in 2013.

"We're pleased the J.D. Power survey reflects a higher score for our business customers for the second consecutive year," CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross said. "We believe our on-going system upgrades and strong communications with customers and community and state leaders have helped us achieve this improvement. We are constantly striving for excellence in delivering reliable energy and superior customer service."

The J.D. Power study measures satisfaction among utilities’ business customers, looking at power quality and reliability; billing and payment; corporate citizenship; price; communications; and customer service.

CL&P’s 626 score also was lower than the other electric subsidiaries of parent company Northeast Utilities in the survey, as Boston-based NStar Electric scored 651 and Public Service of New Hampshire scored 639. Those three NU utilities were below average in their respective categories.