5.10 EMRUSR 11-12-2024��i
Elk River
Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
FROM:
ERMU Commission
Tony Mauren — Governance & Communications Manager
MEETING DATE:
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
November 12, 2024
5.10
SUBJECT:
Customer Satisfaction Survey
ACTION REQUESTED:
Receive the Customer Satisfaction Survey Report — Q3 — 2024
BACKGROUND:
In December of 2019, the Commission voted to replace the customer satisfaction survey
component of the Utilities Performance Metric and Incentive Compensation (UPMIC) scorecard
due to low response rates from ERMU's internal efforts for data. As an organization, ERMU
places high value on customer feedback, so staff researched and pursued alternative
approaches to track satisfaction.
In December of 2021, ERMU entered into a contract with Q Market Research (QMR) to survey
ERMU's residential customers, seeking to measure overall satisfaction with services and
programs. The survey also focused on key topics including reliability, value, ease of doing
business, quality, customer concerns, and communications. Initially QMR was contracted to
distribute two rounds of 1,000 surveys in 2022, each consisting of 500 emails and 500 letters.
With a goal of reaching as many customers as possible prior to the implementation of
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), that distribution was increased to two rounds of
about 2,500 surveys in 2023 and two rounds in 2024, again evenly divided between emails and
letters
DISCUSSION:
For the Q3 - 2024 distribution surveys were sent on September 1 to a total of 1514 residential
customers, receiving 126 responses, a response rate of 8.3%. This distribution was the last to be
undertaken until the completion of AMI when staff will work to recraft the questions based on
the update to service. As the number of unreached residential customers has decreased, it has
become necessary to select individuals throughout the service territory rather than more
definable regions as before.
Key findings in this round include that overall satisfaction with ERMU is generally high, scoring
6.3 out of 7; ERMU's Net Promoter Score (NPS) jumped back into the "Excellent" range, 54.7;
ERMU gets medium -strong grades for community involvement and trending upwards, 7.8 out
of 10; the communications experience with ERMU is highly positive and consistent over time,
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8.4 out of 10; Satisfaction remains consistently high, 8.6 out of 10; and Value for the money has
improved significantly, 7.6 out of 10.
Q Market Research staff made particular note of the responses received about rates, stating
"Usually, I see lots of complaining about rates, fees, extra charges, etc. This is the first time and
first utility where half the comments were that the fees are fair and provide value. Amazing. I'd
be curious to know if you have been using the newsletter [ERMU's highest rated medium] to
talk about your rate increases or give a context for them." As we discussed for Stakeholder
Communications in item 5.02 of this meeting, staff is deliberate about and dedicated to
educating the public on the state of ERMU's rates in multiple platforms.
Commissioners may remember from the report in June of this year that all the utilities that
QMR provides services to have received feedback that some customers are unaware of the
rebate offerings, including a large Minnesota municipal utility who specifically created survey
questions to get to the bottom of the issue. ERMU has employed several new initiatives to
resolve the matter including billboards, newspaper ads, as well as adapting the newsletter and
website homepage to highlight rebates. Staff also simplified and redesigned rebate
flyers/webpages and incorporated QR codes that support online submissions. The
communications department will continue to find ways to reach customers, but valuable
context can be found in the chart below. It shows the residential rebate amounts since 2017,
which is when we separated them from commercial rebates in our accounting. There has been
healthy growth over time, suggesting we are in fact reaching new customers. Even with this
information, staff will continue to find new ways to communicate opportunities to customers.
ERMU Residential Rebate Amounts
$80,000.00
$70,000.00
$60,641.00 $60,902.00
$60,000.00
$49,218.02
$50,000.00
$40,000.00 $35,640.00 $37,703.07
$30,000.00
$20,000.00
$70,643.33
$10,000.00 $8,994.94
$g 125.00
,
•
$0.00
2017
2018
2019
2020
202"
202-
2023
2024 YTD
NOTE: Combining all previous distributions, this survey has been sent to 10,707 residential
customers with 1,156 completed and returned. This is a response rate of 10.8% which meets
QMR's target rate for achieving a significant sample size.
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FINANCIAL IMPACT:
$4,625 for this distribution and analysis of surveys, a budgeted item.
ATTACHMENTS:
• Customer Satisfaction Survey Report — Q3 — 2024
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