Data released Tuesday by the American Customer Satisfaction Index shows that CPS plummeted 14% in customer satisfaction between 2021 and 2022.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index Energy Utilities Study, released annually, was based this year on interviews with nearly 22,000 residential customers between Jan. 11, 2021 and Dec. 21. Municipal energy utilities were ranked on the basis of ability to provide reliable electric service, ability to restore electric service after an outage, ease of understanding bills, and courtesy and helpfulness of staff, among other metrics.
While customer satisfaction nationwide has increased by 0.3% to 72.2% on a scale of 0 to 100, CPS Energy fell from 73 to 63 in the year following winter storm Uri — a decrease of 14%.
All other municipally owned utilities ranked, including the Salt River Project and the Los Angeles Department of Water, saw customer satisfaction levels either remain the same or increase.
David VanAmburg, managing director at the ACSI, said that while customer satisfaction levels nationally have remained relatively stable, movement in the municipal category "raises some eyebrows."
"CPS Energy's 14% recession year over year is hard to ignore," he said. "Clearly, the utility's satisfaction shows long-lasting damage stemming from last year's devastating winter storm in Texas and its aftermath."
The ACSI data comes on the heels of a late December J.D. Power Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction study ranking CPS Energy's customer satisfaction levels 12th out of 12 utilities within its region and size category and 120th out of 145 utilities nationally, as well as continued customer outreach efforts by the locally owned utilities to improve customer relationships.
