Colman Brohan Davis Survey Finds Negative View of Electric Provider Cited by Half of Respondents

A national survey by Chicago marketing firm Colman Brohan Davis found that half of customers have negative perceptions of their provider of electricity supply.

Colman Brohan Davis' 2011 US Residential Electricity Consumer Survey included residential customers in both choice and non-choice states. Some 43.6% of the respondents live in "active" deregulated energy markets, 9.4% reside in markets where deregulation has been suspended, and 37.4% live in regulated energy markets.

Colman Brohan Davis could not provide by press time a further breakdown by state, or how many of respondents were being served by a competitive supplier versus the utility.

In any event, when asked to characterize their electricity provider, 50% of respondents used very negative descriptors. Of these respondents, the largest segment expressed a perception that their provider was exploiting them financially. Terms used with frequency were "greedy," "expensive," "rich," "profitable", and "money hungry."

The second most cited negative perception of electric providers pointed to a desire for greater transparency or accessibility. Terms such as "indifferent," "aloof," "cold," "impersonal," and "invisible" were used by this subset. Terms like "arrogant," "selfish," "controlling," "domineering," and "dictator" were used frequently.

A smaller but significant number of panelists used terms that indicated a major distrust of their provider. Words like "sneaky"," shady," "corrupt" and "criminal" were used by this group.

Colman Brohan Davis also found that 63% of respondents say they would like to be rewarded for prompt payment of their utility bills, and 50% would value a rewards program for lowering consumption.