J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Satisfaction of Business Customers With Electric Utilities Reaches All-Time High

E.ON U.S.; MidAmerican Energy; PPL Electric Utilities; Sacramento Municipal

Utility District; and South Carolina Electric & Gas Lead Regional Business

Customer Satisfaction Rankings

    WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Improving for a
 third consecutive year, business customer satisfaction with electric
 utility provider has reached historically high levels, according to the
 J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Electric Utility Business Customer
 Satisfaction Study(SM) released today. The study's nationwide customer
 satisfaction index has increased considerably -- from 667 points on a
 1,000-point scale in 2006 to 690 in 2007.
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050527/LAF028LOGO-a)
     "Utilities are doing a great job in offering price and customer service
 options, both of which improve customer satisfaction," said Alan
 Destribats, vice president of the energy utility practice at J.D. Power and
 Associates. "In addition, utilities are now focused on talking directly to
 their business customers via proactive telephone contacts and on-site
 visits. Business customers have responded positively to this attention."
     The study is based on interviews with representatives of more than
 12,900 U.S. businesses that spend between $500 and $50,000 monthly on
 electricity. Overall customer satisfaction is measured through six factors:
 power quality and reliability, customer service, company image, billing and
 payment, price, and communications.
     Businesses served by the largest 55 electric utilities in the United
 States rate their experiences better across all components in 2007, with
 price and communications attributes registering the largest increases.
     East Region
     PPL Electric Utilities is the highest-ranking electric utility in the
 East Region with an overall CSI of 728 points -- up 37 points from the 2006
 study. PPL has ranked highest in the region in six of the past eight years.
 Other strong performers are Allegheny Power, Energy East, First Energy and
 Northeast Utilities.
     Customer Satisfaction Index Scores(i)
     (Based on a 1,000-point scale)
     East Region
 
     PPL Electric Utilities                  728
     Allegheny Power                         706
     Energy East                             704
     FirstEnergy-East                        704
     Northeast Utilities                     703
     Public Service Electric and Gas         700
     Pepco Holdings                          697
     Duquesne Light                          695
     National Grid                           689
     East Region Average                     689
     Exelon-PECO                             685
     Baltimore Gas and Electric              671
     NSTAR Electric                          664
     Con Edison                              663
     Long Island Power Authority             657
 
     Midwest Region
     E.ON U.S. and MidAmerican Energy rank highest in a tie in the Midwest
 Region, each with an overall CSI of 727 points. E.ON U.S. (formerly LG&E
 Energy) ranks highest in the study for a fourth year, having previously
 ranked highest in the region in the 2000-2003 studies. MidAmerican Energy
 ranks highest for a third year, following regional awards in 2004 and 2005.
 Other utilities in the Midwest Region with strong performances include
 Kansas City Power & Light and FirstEnergy.
     E.ON U.S.                               727
     MidAmerican Energy                      727
     Kansas City Power & Light               725
     FirstEnergy-Midwest                     713
     Xcel Energy-Midwest                     696
     NiSource                                695
     Westar Energy                           695
     Aquila                                  694
     We Energies                             694
     AEP-Midwest                             691
     Alliant Energy                          685
     Duke Energy - Midwest                   685
     Midwest Region Average                  670
     Exelon-ComEd                            652
     Ameren - Missouri                       639
     Ameren - Illinois                       638
     Consumers Energy                        586
     Detroit Edison                          567
 
     South Region
     South Carolina Electric & Gas improves 43 points in the South Region to
 rank highest at 729 points. Other utilities with strong performances
 include Duke Energy, Progress Energy and Southern Company.
     South Carolina Electric & Gas           729
     Duke Energy - South                     723
     Progress Energy                         713
     Southern Company                        712
     CPS Energy                              708
     Oklahoma Gas and Electric               706
     Tampa Electric                          698
     AEP-South                               694
     South Region Average                    693
     Entergy                                 692
     Dominion Virginia Power                 681
     Florida Power & Light                   675
     Reliant Energy                          650
     TXU Energy                              647
 
     West Region
     Sacramento Municipal Utility District ranks highest in the West Region
 with an overall CSI of 762 -- the highest score in the 2007 study. Other
 utilities performing particularly well include Pacific Gas & Electric --
 which is the most-improved utility in the 2007 study -- Arizona Public
 Service and Salt River Project.
     Sacramento Municipal Utility District   762
     Pacific Gas and Electric                750
     Arizona Public Service                  715
     Salt River Project                      713
     West Region Average                     707
     Portland General Electric               702
     L.A. Dept. of Water and Power           695
     Southern California Edison              694
     San Diego Gas & Electric                693
     PacifiCorp                              688
     Sierra Pacific Resources                673
     Puget Sound Energy                      669
     Xcel Energy-West                        661
 
     About J.D. Power and Associates
     Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is
 an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating
 in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance
 improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and
 satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers
 annually. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill
 Companies.
     About The McGraw-Hill Companies
     Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies ( MHP) is a leading
 global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the
 financial services, education and business information markets through
 leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education,
 BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than
 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2006 were $6.3 billion. Additional
 information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.
     J.D. Power and Associates Media Relations Contacts:
     John Tews                                    Jeff Perlman
     Troy, Mich.                                  Westlake Village, Calif.
     (248) 312-4119                               (805) 418-8976
     john.tews@jdpa.com                           jeff.perlman@jdpa.com
     No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information
 in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and
 Associates. www.jdpower.com
     (i) Charts and graphs extracted from this press release must be
         accompanied by a statement identifying J.D. Power and Associates as
         the publisher and the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Electric Utility
         Business Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) as the source.  Rankings are
         based on numerical scores, and not necessarily on statistical
         significance.  No advertising or other promotional use can be made of
         the information in this release or J.D. Power and Associates survey
         results without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and
         Associates.
 
 Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
 appropriate link.
 Al Destribats
 http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=58117
 
 

SOURCE J.D. Power and Associates