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For North Dakotans, electric co-ops outrank other utilities
If given a choice, more than half of North Dakotans surveyed said they would prefer to receive their electric service from an electric cooperative.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative - May 21, 2010
Source: Story by Clarice L. Kesler, published in Co-op Communicator newsletter, NDAREC, May-June 2010.
If given a choice, more than half of North Dakotans surveyed said they would prefer to receive their electric service from an electric cooperative. That’s especially impressive, considering that co-op customers made up only one-third of the survey respondents. Among co-op customers, 82 percent favored service by a cooperative with fewer than 10 percent saying they
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“Fifty-two percent of survey |
In a recent survey commissioned by the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC), conducted earlier this year by the University of North Dakota’s Bureau of Governmental Affairs, electric cooperatives scored well above their electric counterparts in several areas. This survey is the sixth of its kind conducted by NDAREC since 2000.
The survey included 600 telephone interviews with North Dakotans 18 and older. The gender of respondents split evenly. More than 50 percent of the respondents were 55 and older; 37 percent were ages 35 to 54; and 11 percent were under the age of 35. Of those surveyed, 37 percent live in a small town; 35 percent live in a city; and 30 percent live in a rural area.
Fifty-four percent receive their power from an IOU; 34 percent receive their power from an electric cooperative; and seven percent receive power from a municipal. The remainder of the participants did not give the name of their service provider.
Overall, all residents are satisfied with their current electric supplier, but when customers compare electric cooperatives to IOUs and municipals, electric cooperatives achieve a considerably higher score in the following areas:
- Operate with the highest degree of integrity;
- Show most concern for their communities;
- Are most accountable to their customers; and
- Are most concerned about energy efficiency and conservation.
Electric cooperatives also have the edge when it comes to the greatest concern for the environment, with co-ops scoring 31 percent compared to IOUs at 22 percent.
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“Recent data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), |
However, when it comes to innovation IOUs have the edge with a score of 36 percent, while cooperatives scored 32 percent. Most co-op customers, however, view their co-ops as the most innovative type of utility. An overwhelming number of customers, 87 percent, said they had personally taken steps either to conserve energy or to become more energy efficient within the past few years.
Participants also said that reducing their energy consumption has become more important than it had been five years ago. Customers also thought it was important that their electric utility provide information about energy efficiency as well as offer incentives to become more energy efficient.
When it comes to information on the electric utility industry, most respondents said they receive their information from television and utility publications or magazines. Seventy-three percent said they have regular Internet access, while 34 percent belong to a social networking site such as Facebook and Twitter, with another 15 percent saying they plan to join within the next year.
Over the past decade, the NDAREC Public Opinion Survey shows the people in North Dakota consistently rate electric cooperatives with the highest ratings among all other electric utilities in the state.
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