Survey: Ga. Power one of South's top utility companies

By David Markiewicz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Power ranked 4th among 14 large electric utility companies in the South in residential customer satisfaction, according to an annual survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates.

“They’re hitting on all cylinders, on every front,” said Jeff Conklin, senior director at the California marketing information services company.

The survey measures customer satisfaction with electric utility companies in six areas: power quality and reliability, price, billing and payment, corporate citizenship, communications, and customer service.

Survey results are taken from online interviews conducted with 1,000 customers over a year. They are selected randomly and they voluntarily answer a series of questions regarding their service and satisfaction.

Georgia Power earned a 654 score on a 1,000 point scale, above the 2009 national average of 618, and higher than its score in 2008, 644.

In the South region, Georgia Power tied with another Southern Co. utility, Alabama Power, for fourth place, behind CPS Energy, Duke Energy-Carolinas and Progress Energy Carolinas.

Last year, Georgia Power ranked 5th in the region. That was the first time in the 11-year-old survey in which it was measured separately from Southern, its parent company.

Conklin said Georgia Power did “everything pretty darn well. They don’t make any major mistakes.” He said utilities use the survey results for marketing purposes and to determine areas for improvement.

A Georgia Power spokesman called the findings “validation” of the company’s customer service efforts.