During the beginning of its CEO search in January, the JEA board of directors identified a need to improve the utility's customer service and ranking on the annual J.D. Power and Associates survey — and has paid $50,000 toward that improvement.
Following its monthly board meeting Tuesday, the board met with a J.D. Power representative and the utility's Customer Satisfaction Initiative staff Tuesday to discuss the improvement efforts.
"When we were going through the CEO search, Cynthia (Austin) and I beat the drum for change in customer service. We have to be customer centric," said Mike Hightower, board vice chair.
Austin also addressed changing the culture at JEA under new Managing Director and CEO Paul McElroy.
"There was a time when this organization was not centrally focused on customer service and that hurt us," said Austin.
JEA has a contract with J.D. Power and Associates for $50,000 per year and it is a year-to-year contract.
"I'm confident that the return we will see in improved customer satisfaction, which will reduce customer costs, will be worth the investment," said Hudson.
The board said it will regularly review the customer satisfaction initiative and staff will evaluate the benefit of the company's information to determine how long JEA will subscribe to the service.
On Tuesday, John Hazen, J.D. Power senior director of energy practice, explained the study process to the board and was asked whether the amount utilities spend determine their ranking.
"No, not at all. I've had some that say, 'Hey John, can we just not be in it next year?' We do all of our syndicated studies on our own dime," replied Hazen.
Utilities with 125,000 residential customers or more are included in the survey regardless if they subscribe to J.D. Power.
The service utilizes companies that conduct online panels to survey utility customers. The survey, conducted over four "waves," includes 130 questions that address six factors: corporate citizenship, price, power quality and reliability, billing and payment, customer service and communications.
"We conduct surveys in waves because utilities are at the mercy of Mother Nature," said Hazen.
Customers might give a bad review after a storm hits an area and might provide a good review if they are not affected by weather during milder times of year, he said.
"So we try to balance it out," he said.
The study includes more than 100,000 responses nationwide with 800-1,000 submitted by JEA customers, Hazen said.
This study includes 126 utility brands, of which JEA ranked 116. In the 2012 South Midsize Segment of the study, JEA ranked last out of 31 utilities.
"When you look up there, it ain't pretty, but this is how we make change," said Hightower.
When looking at the total number of utilities included in the study, JEA sits in the fourth quartile. McElroy's goal is to move JEA into the first quartile.
Board members asked Hazen how long it would take to reach McElroy's goal and he estimated a timeframe of four years if improvement continued.
@photojoe71
(904)356-2466