Survey: Consumers Energy one of most trusted utilities in Midwest, United States

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(CITIZEN PATRIOT FILE PHOTO)

JACKSON, MI – Consumers Energy is one of the most trusted utilities in the Midwest and country, according to a new national survey.

The Jackson-based utility was ranked no. 2 for the most trusted combination utility – providing natural gas and electric service – in the Midwest region, according to a report by Cogent Reports, a division of Market Strategies International that measures customer engagement with utilities. Consumers was also ranked no. 3 of the combination utilities nationwide that made the list.

Consumers Energy provides electric and natural gas service to nearly 6.5 million of Michigan's 10 million residents, and the employees work hard everyday to earn their trust, said David Mengebier, Consumers' chief compliance officer and senior vice president of governmental and public affairs. The company will also continue to transition to cleaner sources of energy, he said.

"Consumers Energy is honored to be named the third most trusted utility in the nation, and the second most-trusted in the Midwest – as  well as the highest-ranked utility in the Midwest for environmental performance -- in the new survey by Market Strategies, a highly-respected research company," Mengebier said.

Consumers Energy was listed as one of about 50 categorized as most trusted brands in 12 regional and industry segments, according to a news release. The highest possible score a utility can get is 1,000, and minimum threshold score is 650.

Consumers Energy received 689, while the highest ranked electric utility in the county, Florida Power & Light, received 724, according to the release.

Cogent Reports conducted a web-based survey among 19,000 residential electric and natural gas customers of the 125 largest utility companies in the United States. The survey focused on 28 separate measures in six areas: concern for customers, company reputation, credibility, dedication, environmental performance and community involvement.

From there, the trust factors were combined with operational satisfaction and product experience measures to generate an overall "engaged customer relationship" measure for each utility.

The report found that customers of high-scoring utilities tend to be enrolled in more programs and are more prone to make positive comments on social media and elsewhere about their utility.

"By earning the trust of their customers, these companies are creating financial value in their brands," Chris Oberle, a senior vice president for Market Strategies and the lead author of the report, said in a statement. "While about 4 in 10 utilities in our survey are designated as Most Trusted Utility Brands, an even more select group of just 15 manage to achieve brand trust scores of at least 700 out of a possible score of 1,000."

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