Survey Touts Effective COVID-19 Response
ORLANDO, Fla. – OUC—The Reliable One has been named the “Most Trusted Brand” among electric utilities in a nationwide customer survey. Facilitated by human behavior and analytics firm Escalent, the 2020 Cogent Syndicated Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™ Residential study evaluated 140 of the largest electric-only, electric-natural gas and natural gas-only utilities in the country.
“Earning the trust of our customers is what we strive for every day,” said Clint Bullock, General Manager & CEO. “This trust has been tested as our community battles the COVID-19 pandemic, but I’m proud of our employees’ work putting together innovative, customer-focused responses to help in this time of need.”
With a score of 752 on a 1,000-point scale, OUC claimed the top spot as “Most Trusted Brand” among electric service utilities in the country. OUC debuted on the “Most Trusted Brand” list in 2019 with a score of 745.
The Cogent Syndicated Brand Trust Index – the leading utility customer relationship and engagement study in the nation – is a composite score of a utility’s performance on customer focus, community support, communications effectiveness, reliable quality, environmental dedication and reputation. For 2020, Escalent conducted surveys among more than 70,400 residential electric, natural gas and combination utility customers.
The final customer surveying period of this year’s study occurred as the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact customers. The study results indicate that customers put more trust in utilities that showed an effective response to the coronavirus outbreak. At the pandemic’s onset, OUC launched a COVID-19 web section on OUC.com and communicated extensively with customers through email newsletters, social media and on-bill messaging to provide COVID-19 relief resources and other helpful information. To further assist customers facing financial hardship due to the pandemic, OUC, in mid-March, suspended nonpayment disconnections and late fees, and provided $12.1 million to help both residential and small business customers impacted by the pandemic. Now, OUC is offering a variety of payment plans, arrangements, and assistance to ensure customers can maintain access to the reliable electric and water services they’ve come to expect from their hometown utility.
About OUC—The Reliable One
Established in 1923 by a special act of the Florida Legislature, OUC—The Reliable One is the second largest municipal utility in Florida. OUC provides electric and water services to about 400,000 accounts in Orlando, St. Cloud and parts of unincorporated Orange and Osceola counties. Visit www.ouc.com to learn more about our commitment to reliability, affordability and sustainability.