New York Agencies Release Residential Customer Survey Results

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

NYS Department of Public Service, NYSERDA and the NYS SmartGrid Consortium Release Residential Customer Survey Results

Hello,

In an effort to inform the NYS Public Service Commission’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) proceeding, the New York State Smart Grid Consortium (NYSSGC), in partnership with member organizations the New York Department of Public Service (NY DPS) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), developed and executed a comprehensive survey of New York residential utility customers’ electricity awareness and engagement.

The objectives of the survey were to collect information about:

• Customer awareness of electricity billing and pricing issues;
• The value of specific attributes of energy service;
• Customer choice and perceptions of utility performance;
• Interest in community discussions about electric power delivery; and
• Interest in the use of electricity-related new products and services; and
• Demographic and housing characteristics.

Some of the most interesting results include:

• Respondents indicated that the most valued quality of electric service is reliability (94%), followed by rapid service restoration after an outage (88%) and relatively low cost (76%).

· Some respondents would be willing to pay slightly more for electricity if:

o They could be assured that power would be maintained during most or all extreme weather events (45%).

o Electricity were generated from sources other than fossil fuels (46%).

o Only 23% of respondents believe that they are adequately involved in discussions about electric power, and 41% would like to be more involved.

• 66% of respondents say they would be interested in having daily or hourly information about electricity costs to help manage their usage.

· When asked about their interest in a variety of electricity-related products and services, respondents’ being “very interested” ranges from 19% for the ability to pre-purchase electricity to 35% for receiving credits for usage reduction at key times.

· Overall, 70% of respondents are satisfied with their electric utility, including 31% who are very satisfied.

· 69% of customers believe it is important to reduce carbon emissions.

This feedback underscores and reinforces the importance of the progressive and innovative New York and NYSSGC member efforts to more actively engage utility customers and other interested stakeholders in the modernization of the Empire State’s electrical grid.

You can read the survey report here. Please feel free to share the article with colleagues and other interested industry experts.

Best Regards,

Jim Gallagher
Executive Director
New York State Smart Grid Consortium