OPPD named a ‘Most Trusted’ utility in recent study
July 8, 2022
Omaha Public Power District is among the highest-scoring utilities nationwide in a new study related to brand trust. The findings come from the 2022 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™ Residential study.
The study, conducted by Cogent, tracks the performance of 140 gas, electric and combination utilities to identify brand and customer experience opportunities, as well as industry trends. The report is published semiannually by Escalent, a top human behavior and analytics advisory firm with extensive energy and utility experience. OPPD is among 39 utilities to be named “Most Trusted” brands.
“Brand Trust is paramount in maintaining healthy utility-customer relationships,” said K.C. Boyce, vice president of Escalent’s Energy Practice division.
Utilities were ranked based on the Brand Trust Index, a composite score of performance in the areas of customer focus, community support, communications effectiveness, reliable quality, environmental dedication and company reputation. Brand trust was high among utilities that communicate with customers about topics such as efforts to keep rates low, community engagement and program offerings.
“We’ve been working hard to expand avenues for customer communication and engage our customers so that we can provide the products and services they want,” said Tim McAreavey, OPPD vice president of Customer Service. “It’s gratifying to know that our efforts are resonating with our customers.”
Some of the ways in which the utility is working to improve our customer experience include having an enhanced digital presence, including the use of the Nextdoor app to share when work is being done in neighborhoods or on roadway corridors, as well as engaging customers via Facebook and Twitter. We also continue to expand upon products and services, creating products our customers have told us they want, as well as self-service offerings on OPPD.com.