It is important that we treat our customers with respect, that we communicate clearly and that we make interaction with them as straightforward as possible. Our focus on customer service and operational excellence is also a critical component of our relationship with our regulators and governments, underpinning the building of trust with both. This involves being responsive to the needs of our regulators for high quality information, complying with rules and regulations, operating in an ethical way and, most importantly, delivering on our promises.
Transmission
Our transmission customer service activities principally relate to facilitating new connections and maintaining existing connections and relationships with the customers who are already connected. In the US, much of the interconnection work with our transmission customers is performed in conjunction with the independent system operators in the areas within which we operate.
Gas Distribution
In addition to meeting all service standards defined by our UK regulators, we aim to deliver a high quality customer experience, with satisfaction levels measurable through industry surveys in the geographic areas within which we operate.
In the UK, quality of service standards apply to three principal areas of activity: new connections; the telephone service; and attendance at gas emergencies. All standards have been met in 2008/09 and, in the individual cases where compensation is due, we have processes to ensure that customers receive the statutory compensation to which they are entitled. Customer satisfaction with the levels of service provided in respect of our main types of work (emergency response and repair, planned work and connections work) is measured and reported on a quarterly basis. Results of these surveys are directly comparable with the other independent distribution network operators and can be found at www.nationalgrid.com/uk/gas and www.ofgem.gov.uk.
For gas utility businesses in the US, J. D Power and Associates formulate an annual survey and customer satisfaction rating. In 2008/09, the gas line of business experienced a decline. The business customer satisfaction scores were in the third quartile and residential customer satisfaction scores are in line to be in the third quartile. As our relationship with J.D. Power develops, we plan to implement initiatives that should improve customer satisfaction in the next three years by focusing on: communications and price; corporate citizenship; bill payment and collections; gas and electricity quality; reliability and safety; customer field services; and customer operations.
In the US, our Gas Distribution business met all gas safety related regulatory requirements on service quality indices and performance measures. These standards are set by state regulatory agencies and cover operational activities including, but not limited to, damage prevention, leak repair, emergency response, meter changes and main and service replacements.
Electricity Distribution & Generation
Reliability and service issues are key factors contributing to customer satisfaction. Our investment in enhanced reliability will increasingly improve customer perceptions. We are taking steps to improve our customer satisfaction, manage cost and use, enhance billing quality, and increase responsiveness to customer queries, regulatory complaints and call handling. Recent performance against our peers shows we need to substantially improve customer satisfaction. A key customer satisfaction metric is the J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction study. A global marketing information company, J.D. Power conducts independent and unbiased surveys of customer satisfaction, product quality and buyer behaviour. In the most recent surveys, we rank in the lower quartile for large east coast utilities. Our objective is to achieve first quartile performance in all J.D. Power customer satisfaction surveys by 2013.