Poor Service is Not Water Under the Bridge for Many Customers

The 2022 U.S. Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study revealed marked declines in satisfaction as customers reported watered-down service. During the height of the pandemic, utility providers found innovative ways to keep up with the increasing water demands of home bound customers, while also offering bill forgiveness and extensions to customers who may have struggled financially. However, as normal routines resume, utility assistance programs have begun scaling back, turning the tide in satisfaction.

Behind the Insights

The Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, now in its eighth year, measures satisfaction among residential customers of 92 water utilities that provide water to a population of 400,000 or more customers. Overall satisfaction is analyzed by looking at a variety of factors including quality, billing, communication, and customer service. All factors saw a notable decline from 2021, dropping 6 points from last year’s study. This decrease is significant as providers were witnessing six successive years of flat or rising satisfaction levels.

What Went Wrong This Year?

Price and conservation saw the biggest hits dropping 36 and 35 points respectively from June to March. The decline coincides with a $5.73 increase in the average monthly bill amount in 2022 vs. 2020. Many customers are beginning to return to work and are subsequently using less water at home, but their bill continues to rise. The result is frustrated consumers who are unhappy seeing price spikes as their overall usage drops.

How are Some Utility Providers Coming Out on Top?

Despite the challenging environment, some utilities are successfully meeting the evolving needs and demands of their customers. “The highest-ranked water utility in the nation in 2022 was Orange County Utilities,” said Andrew Heath, managing director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power. “Orange County outperforms most other utilities with satisfaction from their website and their efforts to improve the environment. These efforts have established them as the water utility with the most positive media recall in the nation.”

Looking Ahead

Aging water infrastructure across the nation continues to need upgrades, and utilities remain at the forefront of investment. J.D. Power data shows that customer awareness of their utility’s infrastructure initiatives is strongly correlated with higher customer satisfaction. With communication taking a hit among customers in this year’s study, residential utilities need to put additional focus on this struggling factor to increase satisfaction. This is an opportunity for utilities to strengthen customer relationships, improve CSAT, and create more compelling rate cases.

Want to learn more about what you can do to connect with your residential water customers? Contact our team to learn more about the insights from this year’s study, and the actionable steps you can take to improve CSAT.