TRAVERSE CITY — Customers of Traverse City Light & Power offered strong approval ratings for the utility in its just-completed customer satisfaction survey.
The survey results were presented to the TCLP Board at its monthly meeting this week and showed that almost 95 percent of its residential customers expressed “satisfaction” with their service, with just over 98 percent of its customer clients giving similar approval. The survey was based on responses from 391 residential customers and another 107 commercial users — about 4 percent of the utility’s 12,000-plus customer base — and updates data from the last similar research conducted four years ago.
“Really the goal of the survey was to get a sense of where does customer satisfaction lie today in comparison with 2021 data,” said Project Manager Catherine Vollmer of Great Blue Research based in Connecticut. “It’s always a lot easier when the results are positive.”
Utility customers were queried on a wide range of topics including their views of TCLP’s service level and affordability, satisfaction with utility personnel, interest in utility programs and services, familiarity with time-of-use rates, interest in the utility’s fiber internet service and other topics including electric vehicle purchases. Almost half of respondents have been TCLP customers for at least 10 years, more than 80% were one- or two-person households, while 78% were homeowners and 87% were full-time residents
Vollmer said the satisfaction levels were consistent with the 2021 survey results and “significantly higher” than national levels for public power customers of around 72%, and higher than Michigan public power agencies which average a 68% satisfaction level. More than 96% of both residential and commercial clients said they considered TCLP a “trusted community partner.”
“As you can see, you’re well above the national (satisfaction) average — you’re above the Michigan average too,” Vollmer said.
Cost affordability for utility services was also a priority with customers, consultants noted, with more than 90% of both customer bases ranking it as “important” to remain among the top 10 lowest-cost providers in the state. Vollmer noted that the importance of rate affordability rose by more than 10% with residential customers compared to the 2021 survey. Both the residential and commercial base’s satisfaction with TCLP’s rate structure came in at 91 percent, also significantly higher than national and state affordability rankings.
The utility also received high marks for reliability and power outage response ratings, and their customer service satisfaction numbers. Roughly two-fifths of respondents expressed interest in TCLP developing a smart phone application to get information from the utility.
The survey also showed that more than 70 percent of residential and commercial customers have not participated in initiatives associated with the utility’s “My Clean Choice” program that include various energy efficiency efforts, financial incentive and green rates for renewable energy use. But about 50% percent said they were aware of the various programs that TCLP offers.
Customers were also quizzed about their interest in electric vehicles, with 7.7% of residential customers reporting that they currently own an EV. Almost 19% have plans to purchase an EV within the next three years, but nearly 60% said they have no plans to purchase an EV in the future.
The survey also inquired about TCLP’s growing fiber internet system, with 61% percent of residential customers and 57% of commercial clients expressing interest in switching to TCLP’s fiber service when available.
TCLP Executive Director Brandie Ekren said the utility expanded this year’s survey to gather more input from customers on TCLP programs and services — to the point were some customers complained about the length of the survey. But it was important to gather more customer feedback because of the evolving and expanding services offered by the utility.
“There are a lot of moving parts, but the customers still have the confidence in our ability to meet their needs,” Ekren said.
Board members said they were pleased with the depth of the survey and the customer feedback it generated.
“I thought the questions were pertinent and (the survey) was really well done,” member Maura Brennan said.
The utility is also in the midst of a “gap assessment” study to evaluate TCLP’s customer service operations to identify areas for improvement, and measure how the utility’s customer service efforts stack up with other utilities around Michigan and the U.S.
The board in May approved a $124,334 contract with Brio Consulting based in Dallas, Texas for the work. Research began in the spring and is scheduled for completion by mid-October.