2 utilities from N.J. named ‘Customer Champions’ for increased engagement despite inflation

Despite rising energy costs, some standout utilities have scored well above their industry peers for building engaged customer relationships.

Leading utilities that have communicated with customers to help them find support in managing their energy use are building engaged customer relationships. Escalent’s 2022 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: Residential study tracks the performance of gas, electric and combination utilities to identify brand and customer experience opportunities and trends in the industry. Thirty-seven utilities were named as Escalent’s 2022 Customer Champions.

Elizabethtown Gas, a subsidiary of South Jersey Industries, and New Jersey Natural Gas, a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources, were named to the list by Escalent, a top human behavior and analytics advisory firm with extensive energy and utility experience.

Utilities named as Customer Champions are selected based on having Engaged Customer Relationship Index scores in the top decile of the industry, the top score within their respective benchmark segment or an Engaged Customer Relationship Index score within 20 points of the top benchmark segment score and above the industry average.

In April, Escalent also named Elizabethtown Gas to its list of utilities deemed “Easiest to Do Business With” for the third consecutive year.

“Our employees are hard at work to ensure that our company continues to deliver an exceptional customer experience,” Christie McMullen, president and chief operating officer, Elizabethtown Gas said. “We are proud to be named a 2022 Customer Champion and look forward to implementing new ways to improve our performance.”