J.D. Power and Associates honored Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, naming the electric co-op as the highest-rated electric utility in its class. The survey encompassed all electric utility companies providing power to at least 125,000 and less than 500,000 residential users in the eastern region of the United States.

 According to SMECO’s Tom Dennison, “J.D. Power polled customers in our service territory by phone and via the internet in April and May of 2008. The scoring criteria was based on a number of questions that included how our customers felt about SMECO’s commitment to the environment, our planning for the future, our community involvement and our overall reputation –  honesty, integrity etc. – among other things. We were matched against utilities all over the east coast of our size.”

 J.D. Power reported that the study measured satisfaction with electric utilities in six key areas of service: power quality and reliability, price, billing and payment, corporate citizenship, communications, and customer service. “SMECO consistently received the highest ratings of similar utilities in five of the six categories. In addition, SMECO was rated 57 points higher than the average utility in the East Midsize Segment in the study.”

 SMECO President and Chief Executive Officer, Austin J. Slater, Jr. was enthusiastic when the results of the study were announced.  He said, “This is a well-deserved testament to the tremendous job SMECO employees do each and every day.  It is with deep pride and the highest level of appreciation that our Board of Directors and I recognize the work and employee dedication that go into this achievement.”

 Overall the J.D. Power study found customer satisfaction with all utility companies in 2008 was up eight points from 2007.  According to J.D. Power, “the increase is primarily driven by improvements in two factors: customer service, and billing and payment.”

 The study determined that customers are increasingly using alternative payment methods, such as automatic deductions from bank accounts and online payments, which yield higher satisfaction scores on average when compared with traditional mailing methods.

 In accordance with that trend, SMECO has about 30 percent of its members paying their bills online at the utility’s web site, one of the highest percentages for any electric utility.

 Slater attributes the positive results of the study to the cooperative business model.  “Wherever you find a company that is owned by its customers, you’ll find a partnership that is dedicated to continually improving its level of customer service.  That results in a higher level of success for the company.”