News Release Date: March 27, 2007

Statement by Richard M. Kessel
Chief Executive Officer & President,
Long Island Power Authority

 
“”While there’s always room for improvement, the J.D. Power and Associates study shows a significant improvement in LIPA’s relationship with its business customers. LIPA moved up in every factor, and our goal is to continue to focus on those areas that will move us up to the top in the years ahead.”

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J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study Highlights

 
J.D. Power and Associates just released its 2007 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Survey. We believe, the results are good news for Long Islanders. Though LIPA ranked lowest in the East region, LIPA  has developed a plan to improve their ranking in the study going forward.

As J.D. Power and Associates underscored, LIPA showed strong improvement in overall customer satisfaction, with an improvement of 44 basis points, compared to an Eastern Region average improvement of 27 basis points. Moreover, in each major subcategory of customer satisfaction measured, LIPA improved, in some cases significantly when compared to the Eastern Regional average.

The following chart summarizes LIPA’s performance improvement over 2006 as measured in basis points, compared to the Eastern Region Average improvement:

To enhance customer service, LIPA has undertaken a number of initiatives that contributed to the improved performance rating. Certain of these measures took effect in the latter part of 2006 so their full impact has not been completely measured by the J.D. Power and Associates survey results. Key initiatives undertaken include:

  • Continued excellent overall performance in service delivery and reliability, with targeted improvements in areas that were underperforming when compared to system averages;
  • Introduction of a Business Call Center to manage the specialized needs of small- and medium-sized businesses;
  • Introduction of a Customer Callback System and Reverse 911 System to better inform customers about service interruptions and restorations;
  • Enhancements to LIPA’s Web site to better inform customers about service interruptions;
  • Introduction of online information services, online energy use analysis tools, and online bill rendering and bill payment services;
  • Introduction of LIPA’s RECAP program through the Clean Energy Initiative to provide commercial customers with further opportunities to control energy costs through greater energy efficiency;
  • Enhancements to the LIPA/KeySpan revised Management Services Agreement (MSA) to include performance metrics to further focus attention on responsiveness to customer needs and expectations; and
  • Reinforcement training across the organization to stress the continued importance of the customer and the need to fulfill their expectations to the maximum extent possible.

Of most import is the fact that during this period of fuel cost volatility, LIPA stabilized and lowered rates, and has committed to keep them stable in 2007 absent a world-wide crisis, all of which certainly had a positive effect on the commercial customers.

LIPA understands the importance of addressing customer needs and expectations and takes this issue very seriously. LIPA and KeySpan have established an interdepartmental working organization co-chaired by LIPA and KeySpan executives to assess the results of the JD Power and Associates research, identify opportunities for improvement, and execute those recommendations that will further improve service.

LIPA is providing highly dependable and efficient great service to its customers. LIPA also recognizes that customer needs and expectations continuously change and that Long Islanders are demanding as they should be, because we live in a high cost environment. We recognize that we have a long way to go as we still rank last in performance in the Eastern Region. The service changes being made will not be recognized by customers overnight. However, we remain committed to a process of continuous improvement that will allow us to further improve our performance in meeting our customer’s needs.

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LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric provider, owns the retail electric Transmission and Distribution System on Long Island and provides electric service to more than 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA is the 2nd largest municipal electric utility in the nation in terms of electric revenues, 3rd largest in terms of customers served and the 7th largest in terms of electricity delivered. In 2010, LIPA outperformed all other overhead electric utilities in New York State for frequency of service interruptions, and ranked second for duration of service interruptions. LIPA does not provide natural gas service or own any on-island generating assets. More information about LIPA can be found online at: http://www.lipower.org.

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Media Contact Information
Mark Gross
Phone - (516) 719-9892
Media Pager - (516) 229-7248
media.relations@lipower.org


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