Businesses crave stability from their electric utilities, but that’s been in short supply in the energy headlines lately.
A survey shows that U.S. businesses - buffeted by a soft economy, the after-effects of September 11, and the Enron
fallout - no longer welcome electricity deregulation.
The annual survey by RKS Research & Consulting, a market research and polling organization in North Salem, New York, found that about a third of the largest businesses think electric utility deregulation should be postponed indefinitely. In states that provide a choice of utilities, 17 percent actually favor a return to regulated markets. However, another third want restructuring to continue.
Businesses seem especially wary of the changes that often accompany restructuring. Survey scores for renamed or reorganized energy suppliers were lower in nine areas of customer service—and significantly lower in two other dimensions of performance.
David J. Reichman, RKS president, says, “Many of the causes of this loss of momentum can be traced back to self-inflicted decisions by energy suppliers. For example, repeated reorganizations, name changes, and cost-cutting at the customer service level seem to be disrupting the continuity and relationship-building so vital to retaining larger business customers.”
I especially liked one part of the news release of this study, that reads: “Businesses served by electric cooperatives register higher scores than customers of municipal or investor-owned utilities.”
