5.09 ERMUSR 11-14-2023��i
Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Tony Mauren — Governance & Communications Manager
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
November 14, 2023
5.09
SUBJECT:
Customer Satisfaction Survey
ACTION REQUESTED:
Receive the Customer Satisfaction Survey Report — Q3 — 2023
BACKGROUND:
Q Market Research was initially contracted to distribute two rounds of 1,000 customer
satisfaction surveys in 2022, each consisting of 500 emails and 500 letters. With a goal of
reaching as many residential customers as possible prior to the implementation of Advanced
Metering Infrastructure, distribution was expanded to two rounds of 2,500 surveys in 2023,
again evenly divided between emails and letters, and two more rounds in 2024. This is the last
report of the year with Q1 having been presented in May.
DISCUSSION:
Surveys were sent on September 15 to residential customers east of Highway 169 and north of
Main Street, north of Highway 10 on the west side of Elk River, and in Big Lake Township. A
total of 296 responses were received for a response rate of 12.2%.
The representative for Q Market Research shared some additional notes on the results:
• 296 responses is phenomenal and shows a committed customer base.
• It was nice to see a little jump in the Net Promoter Score (NPS). Most other utilities in
Minnesota are seeing drops due to rate increases and inflation.
• It seems like the biggest issue that can be addressed is your rebate program. Most utility
customers at other utilities like their rebate programs, but yours find the ERMU rebates
difficult to access, persnickety, and not necessarily covering enough or the right things.
• ERMU's visibility in the community is in SLOW decline.
Staff has already begun multiple initiatives to increase customer awareness of rebates. A
Conservation Improvement Program communications campaign has been running throughout
the year, a residential rebates slider was added to our website homepage which gets around
3,000 views a month, we will be placing a standing reminder about rebates on our quarterly
newsletter (as the survey shows it's a preferred method of communication), and we will be
creating a simplified flyer that lists all available rebates. Staff has received feedback from
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Frontier Energy, an energy services consultant, that ERMU's rebate offerings are comparable to
other utilities.
The decline in visibility in the community is an interesting result. In the last two years ERMU has
participated in two Downtown Halloween Trick or Treat events, two Night to Unite events, two
Day of the Dozer events, two Sherburne County Fair Parades, three EV events, and hosted an
open house. We have also participated in local school events such as job shadow days, career
exploration activities, and mock interviews as part of our ongoing outreach efforts. There are
potential sampling reasons for this result, but we will continue to prioritize being in front of the
community.
A common response to question number 2, "How likely is it that you would recommend ERMU
as an electric and water utility provider?" raises the point that residents did not select ERMU
for services, it is the only provider available. The representative from Q Market Research
Provided the following comments to this, "We've tried it in many different variations, and we
still get people making the comment. We've even said, "We know you don't have a choice of
utility providers. Even so, how likely is it that you would recommend ...... and we still get people
focusing on the fact that they don't have a choice. The utilities we survey still want to have
some version of the NPS question because it is such an established, widely used and reliable
benchmark. It is used nationally. In fact, the national average NPS for public utilities is 8 (ERMU
is at 44.2). It's still the best relative indicator of customer loyalty around."
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
$4,625 for this distribution and analysis of surveys, a budgeted item.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Customer Satisfaction Survey Report — Q3 — 2023
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