Electric, Natural Gas And Combination Utilities See Customer Experience Gains Stall As Billing Friction Reemerges

(MENAFN- GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) Despite renewed strain, Escalent recognizes 31 utilities that stand out as Easiest to Do Business With

LIVONIA, Mich., April 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After showing early signs of recovery last year, electric, natural gas and combination utilities' progress in making it easy for their customers to do business with them is beginning to stall. New data from Escalent's Cogent Syndicated 2026 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement: ResidentialTM study show that Customer Effort-a key measure of how easy utilities are to do business with-declined by one point year over year to 722 (on a 1,000-point scale), signaling a meaningful setback in a benchmark that had only recently begun to improve.

The dip reflects renewed strain in the billing and payment experience for customers. In what may signal a broader industry trend, bill-related attributes were the primary drivers of the decline in Customer Effort. Perceptions of how easy the bill is to understand and how reasonable the payment process is both fell significantly year over year. These measures typically move in tandem with bill manageability: as customers feel their bills are less manageable, customers are more likely to view the bills as less transparent and more burdensome to pay-driven in large part by declining affordability.

“To counteract this trend, utilities need to address both the perception and the reality of bill burden-because Customer Effort is being driven as much by affordability pressure as by experience design,” said Suzanne Haggerty, director of Cogent Syndicated research with Escalent's Energy team, which has extensive energy, utility and brand experience.“Reducing bill confusion through better communication and design as well as reducing stress by giving customers more support and control over their energy use is essential to improving Customer Effort perceptions in an environment where bills are increasingly difficult to manage.”

Despite this dip, a total of 31 utilities stood out as being the“easiest to do business with” among the largest energy utility companies in the US surveyed in the study. While utilities overall saw notable declines in bill understandability and bill-pay effort, both measures improved modestly among the Easiest to Do Business With.

Customers who are struggling to manage their utility bills often look to those bills as a starting point for savings. In doing so, many find not only that savings opportunities are difficult to identify, but also that the bill itself is hard to understand. This challenge is especially pronounced for utilities offering multiple services, varied bill formats and alternative energy options. For these providers, creating clear, easy-to-navigate bills remains a complex but critical task. Among utilities recognized as the Easiest to Do Business With, several leading practices stand out.

National Grid, for example, offers online bill explainers tailored to different customer situations, including standard and budget billing, active payment agreements and customers using third-party energy suppliers. The utility also provides video explanations in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese. Within the same section of its website, customers can access information on energy-saving programs, practical tips, deferred payment options and budget billing plans.

“The moment customers realize their utility bill is about to be a significant financial burden is an opportunity for utilities to step in,” Haggerty added.“Packaging savings opportunities, budget bill programs and payment plans with the bill itself and as part of the bill explanation area can help customers perceive their utility bills as more manageable and can relieve growing dissatisfaction with other parts of the billing process.”

Escalent is pleased to name these 31 energy utilities as our 2026 Easiest to Do Business With.

2026 Easiest Utilities to Do Business With*
Atmos Energy – South	National Grid
Avista	OPPD
Cascade Natural Gas	OUC
CenterPoint Energy – Midwest	PECO
Columbia Gas – East	Peoples
Con Edison	Pepco
Dominion Energy South Carolina	Philadelphia Gas Works
Entergy Louisiana	PSE&G
Florida City Gas Company	Salt River Project
Florida Public Utilities	Seattle City Light
Idaho Power	Southwest Gas
Intermountain Gas Company	Spire Missouri – East
MidAmerican Energy	TECO Peoples Gas
Minnesota Energy Resources	UGI Utilities
Mountaineer Gas	Washington Gas
National Fuel Gas

* Utilities designated as Easiest to Do Business With are selected based on having Customer Effort scores in the top decile of the industry, having the top score within their respective benchmark segment, or being within 20 points of the top benchmark segment score and above the industry average.

The following tables reflect regional peer benchmark Customer Effort scores among the 147 utilities surveyed.

East Region Utilities Customer Effort Performance
Utility brand name	Service provided	Customer Effort score
National Grid	Combination	739
PECO	Combination	738
PSE&G	Combination	734
Con Edison	Combination	724
BGE	Combination	690
Delmarva Power	Combination	682
Eversource	Combination	652
RG&E	Combination	620
NYSEG	Combination	614
Pepco	Electric	748
Penelec	Electric	721
PPL Electric Utilities	Electric	717
Duquesne Light Company	Electric	715
Penn Power	Electric	708
PSE&G Long Island	Electric	708
West Penn Power	Electric	697
Met-Ed	Electric	695
Green Mountain Power	Electric	692
Potomac Edison	Electric	680
Jersey Central Power & Light	Electric	668
Appalachian Power	Electric	659
Mon Power	Electric	641
Atlantic City Electric	Electric	638
Central Maine Power	Electric	636
Washington Gas	Natural Gas	760
National Fuel Gas	Natural Gas	757
Peoples	Natural Gas	756
Philadelphia Gas Works	Natural Gas	755
Columbia Gas – East	Natural Gas	749
UGI Utilities	Natural Gas	746
Mountaineer Gas	Natural Gas	742
Elizabethtown Gas	Natural Gas	739
South Jersey Gas Company	Natural Gas	731
Chesapeake Maryland	Natural Gas	728
Chesapeake Delaware	Natural Gas	726
New Jersey Natural Gas	Natural Gas	723

Midwest Region Utilities Customer Effort Performance
Utility brand name	Service provided	Customer Effort score
MidAmerican Energy	Combination	768
Black Hills Energy – Midwest	Combination	747
Montana-Dakota Utilities	Combination	746
Wisconsin Public Service	Combination	742
Ameren Illinois	Combination	733
Consumers Energy	Combination	732
Duke Energy Midwest	Combination	725
DTE Energy	Combination	718
We Energies	Combination	718
Alliant Energy	Combination	704
Xcel Energy – Midwest	Combination	704
NIPSCO	Combination	701
CenterPoint Energy – Indiana	Combination	535
OPPD	Electric	781
Indiana Michigan Power	Electric	749
ComEd	Electric	726
Evergy	Electric	719
Ameren Missouri	Electric	705
Ohio Edison	Electric	703
The Illuminating Company	Electric	695
AES Indiana	Electric	693
Toledo Edison	Electric	686
AEP Ohio	Electric	683
AES Ohio	Electric	649
Spire Missouri – East	Natural Gas	764
Minnesota Energy Resources	Natural Gas	748
CenterPoint Energy – Midwest	Natural Gas	744
Peoples Gas	Natural Gas	743
Atmos Energy – Midwest	Natural Gas	743
North Shore Gas	Natural Gas	741
Columbia Gas of Ohio	Natural Gas	733
Nicor Gas	Natural Gas	725
Michigan Gas	Natural Gas	724
Kansas Gas Service	Natural Gas	722
Citizens Energy	Natural Gas	714
Spire Missouri – West	Natural Gas	712
Enbridge Ohio	Natural Gas	704

South Region Utilities Customer Effort Performance
Utility brand name	Service provided	Customer Effort score
Florida Public Utilities	Combination	762
Dominion Energy South Carolina	Combination	744
CPS Energy	Combination	732
Louisville Gas & Electric	Combination	720
MLGW	Combination	680
OUC	Electric	785
Entergy Louisiana	Electric	772
Georgia Power	Electric	761
Entergy Mississippi	Electric	759
Mississippi Power	Electric	757
FPL**	Electric	749
Xcel Energy – South	Electric	743
JEA	Electric	743
Nashville Electric Service	Electric	739
Alabama Power	Electric	736
Duke Energy Progress	Electric	735
Entergy Arkansas	Electric	734
Kentucky Utilities	Electric	734
Southwestern Electric Power Company	Electric	733
Duke Energy Florida	Electric	724
TECO Tampa Electric	Electric	722
OG&E	Electric	722
Dominion Energy Virginia	Electric	720
El Paso Electric	Electric	714
Duke Energy Carolinas	Electric	713
Public Service Company of Oklahoma	Electric	712
Entergy Texas	Electric	703
Austin Energy	Electric	693
Entergy New Orleans	Electric	693
Kentucky Power	Electric	658
TECO Peoples Gas	Natural Gas	794
Atmos Energy – South	Natural Gas	782
Florida City Gas Company	Natural Gas	778
Chattanooga Gas Company	Natural Gas	758
Piedmont Natural Gas	Natural Gas	758
Columbia Gas – South	Natural Gas	756
Spire Alabama	Natural Gas	747
CenterPoint Energy – South	Natural Gas	744
Virginia Natural Gas	Natural Gas	744
Oklahoma Natural Gas	Natural Gas	742
Texas Gas Service	Natural Gas	738
Delta Utilities	Natural Gas	735
Enbridge North Carolina	Natural Gas	719

**Indicates combined legacy FPL and FPL NW scores

West Region Utilities Customer Effort Performance
Utility brand name	Service provided	Customer Effort score
Avista	Combination	772
Xcel Energy Colorado	Combination	737
Puget Sound Energy	Combination	736
Black Hills Energy – West	Combination	728
Colorado Springs Utilities	Combination	713
NorthWestern Energy	Combination	710
PG&E	Combination	663
SDG&E	Combination	587
Salt River Project	Electric	778
Seattle City Light	Electric	767
Idaho Power	Electric	763
SMUD	Electric	754
Los Angeles Department of Water & Power	Electric	739
APS	Electric	735
Rocky Mountain Power	Electric	735
Snohomish County PUD	Electric	725
Tucson Electric Power	Electric	709
PNM	Electric	705
Southern California Edison	Electric	705
Pacific Power	Electric	702
Portland General Electric	Electric	697
NV Energy	Electric	693
Intermountain Gas Company	Natural Gas	813
Southwest Gas	Natural Gas	776
Cascade Natural Gas	Natural Gas	774
SoCalGas	Natural Gas	752
NW Natural	Natural Gas	747
New Mexico Gas Company	Natural Gas	738
Enbridge West	Natural Gas	731

About the Utility Trusted Brand & Customer EngagementTM: Residential Study

Escalent conducted surveys among 61,881 residential electric, natural gas and combination utility customers of the 157 largest US utility companies (based on residential customer counts). The sample design uses a combination of quotas and weighting based on US census data to ensure a demographically balanced sample of each evaluated utility's customers based on age, gender, income, race and ethnicity. Utilities within the same region and of the same type (e.g., electric-only providers) are given equal weight to balance the influence of each utility's customers on survey results. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.

Contact	Stephanie Salvadero ...

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