The Sacramento Municipal Utility District scored the highest nationwide among large electric utilities for customer awareness of its zero-carbon plans, according to the J.D. Power 2023 Sustainability Index, released today.
In April 2021, SMUD set a target of 2030 for it to be net-carbon zero, which was then — and still is now — the most aggressive plan by a major utility in the country.
“Electric utilities are in an incredibly tough spot when it comes to sustainability,” said Andrew Heath, senior director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power, in a news release. “They need customer support and participation in sustainability initiatives if they are ever going to reach their goals, but very few customers are even aware that these programs exist.”
And while SMUD won the top spot, it was just a score of 35 on a scale of 100.
Last year, SMUD and Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc. tied at the top with 34 points for their efforts to engage and make customers aware of sustainability programs. SMUD has now ranked at the top of the index for three consecutive years.
SMUD raised awareness one point for this year. NextEra (NYSE: NEE) is still at 34 for 2023, tied with Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) of Oregon.
“The J.D. Power score is very important to us,” said Lindsay VanLaningham, spokeswoman for SMUD. “We watch it, we track it and we work on it.”
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE: PCG), which serves the Sacramento region with electricity outside of areas served by municipal utilities SMUD and Roseville Electric, scored 31 points, tied with four other utilities. It was at 30 last year and 28 the year before that.
"Being recognized as the nation's leading utility in sustainability underscores SMUD's decades of environmental leadership and our bold vision for achieving a decarbonized power supply by 2030,” said Lora Anguay, SMUD’s chief zero carbon officer, via email. “Our unwavering commitment means we are bringing along every community on this journey while ensuring that SMUD's rates remain among the most affordable in California."
The J.D. Power Sustainability index applies to the nation’s 35 largest electric utilities and cities that serve 500,000 or more residential customers. The survey is based on responses from 70,486 business and residential electric utility customers, and it was conducted from June 2022 through May this year.
Some 81% of all electric utility customers nationwide are served by a utility with stated carbon-reduction targets, J.D. Power said, but only about a fifth of their customers are aware of them.
If the carbon reduction goals most utilities have in place are ever going to be achieved, customers are going to need to play a key role, Heath said.
In its decision to get to zero-carbon by 2030, SMUD is going to rely only on renewables and eliminate the use of all fossil fuels by the district, including shutting down gas-powered generators that still have years of life left.
In addition to zero-carbon goals, SMUD's efforts are also aimed at reducing air pollution in its service area.
The utility plans to invest about $4.5 billion to decarbonize its energy supply. SMUD’s goal is 15 years ahead of the statewide carbon neutrality target.
