Texas Residents More Satisfied with REPs than Regulated Utilities; Champion Energy Services Three-peats as Top REP for Customer Satisfaction

Champion Energy Services has been named, for the third consecutive year, the highest-ranked retail electric provider for Texas residential service under J.D. Power and Associates' annual customer satisfaction survey.

Champion Energy recorded a score of 756 on a 1,000 point scale. J.D. Power said that Champion Energy Services performed particularly well in billing and payment, price, and customer service.

Following in the 2012 residential rankings were Bounce Energy (745) and StarTex Power (729).

The 2012 Texas Residential Retail Electric Provider Customer Satisfaction Study was based on responses from 7,619 residential customers of electric retailers in Texas. The study was fielded between September 2011 and June 2012.

Retailer                 Index score    JDPower.com 
                                        Power Circle
                                        Ratings
                                        For Consumers
Champion Energy Services     756            5
Bounce Energy                745            5
StarTex Power                729            4
Amigo Energy                 724            4
Cirro Energy                 719            4
Ambit Energy                 714            4
Gexa Energy                  706            4
Stream Energy                701            4
Texas Power                  694            4
Green Mountain Energy        691            4
Direct Energy                684            3
Dynowatt                     683            3
Spark Energy                 678            3
Industry Average             678            3
Reliant Energy Retail        669            3
Southwest Power & Light      667            3
TXU Energy Company           663            3
Energy Plus                  652            2
First Choice Power           647            2
CPL Retail Energy            641            2
Just Energy Texas            632            2
WTU Retail Energy            630            2

Customer Satisfaction Index Based on a 1,000-point scale

J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings Legend:
5 = Among the best
4 = Better than most
3 = About average
2 = The rest

Source: J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Texas Residential Retail Electric Provider Customer Satisfaction Study

Included in the study, but not ranked due to small sample size are APG&E, Brilliant Energy, dPi Energy, Gateway Energy Services, Kinetic Energy, Mega Energy, MX Energy, Nueces Electric Cooperative, Potentia Energy, Tara Energy, Texpo Energy, True Electric, and YEP Energy

J.D. Power also reported that overall satisfaction among residential customers of electric retailers in Texas is 678, an increase of 44 points from 2010. This is the highest level since the study was first published in 2008. Moreover, this is the first time satisfaction among customers with a retail choice of electric providers exceeds both the Texas and U.S. national averages for all factors measured in the study, J.D. Power said.

Among Texas customers with regulated residential electric service, satisfaction is 646, J.D. Power said.

Among customers who are aware of their retail electric provider's corporate citizenship efforts -- such as supporting local organizations or volunteering in the community -- J.D. Power said that satisfaction averages more than 60 points higher than among those who are not aware of such efforts.

According to J.D. Power, satisfaction is 218 points higher when customers' questions or problems are resolved on the first call, compared with when their questions or problems require two or more calls for resolution (799 vs. 581, respectively). Similarly, satisfaction with customer service is 800 among customers whose questions or problems are resolved on their first visit to a REP's website, compared with 644 when problem resolution requires two or more visits.