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Higher Prices and Major Storms Have Big Effect on Customer Satisfaction with Electric Utilities

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM released today, overall customer satisfaction falls off substantially among residential customers served by the nation's 76 largest electric utilities. Allegheny Power, E.ON U.S., Omaha Public Power District, PPL Utilities, Salt River Project and Southern Company lead the rankings in their perspective regions.

"Electricity prices and consumption are both up sharply, and customers are critical about how much they're now spending on electricity," said Alan Destribats, executive director of the utility practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "The leading utilities are curbing the impact of this by offering more pricing options such as time-of-use or load-control rates, and they work hard to keep their customers informed and educated about how to conserve energy and reduce their electric bills."

The study results are based on customer responses from 26,688 telephone interviews conducted from March 23, 2006, through June 6, 2006, among residential customers of the 76 largest electric utilities across the continental United States.

For more details on the results of this survey, read the J.D. Power and Associates press release.