Utility Week

8 | 18TH - 24TH JANUARY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK A UtilityWeek c ampaign Survey The (real) state we're in To launch our campaign, an exclusive poll reveals what people really think about the sector – and renationalisation. W hen it comes to public perception, utilities are constantly hearing that all is not well out there. The unofficial whipping boys for certain sections of the mainstream media over levels of executive pay and dividends, and berated at length by politicians, regulators and an array of consumer groups on bills, service and resilience, they have become increas- ingly used to an unwelcome spotlight. But just what is the real view about energy and water companies among the gen- eral public? Are utilities really seen as the villains of the piece, as some would have them por- trayed? Is there still trust and confidence that utilities are providing a good level of ser- vice for customers in difficult and challeng- ing times? Or perhaps instead the truth lies somewhere in between? Getting public opinion on board would be key to the success of any social contract between consumers and utility companies, as outlined in our New Deal for Utilities cam- paign. So understanding what the public currently thinks is vital. Knowing their thoughts on the providers of essential services; their satisfaction levels with water, electricity and gas suppliers, and electricity networks; whether they consider them value for money; if they think the criti- cisms are fair or unjustified; whether they genuinely trust utilities or not; and under- standing the key factors defining those trust levels, has never been more relevant. And significantly, while only a few years ago nationalisation was not even on the pub- lic's radar, now it is a very real commitment from the Labour party. Nationalisation is the new bogeyman for utilities, and one expected to gain ground in the coming year. But just what do the public think about the prospect of ownership and management of utilities being placed with the government? And would they be minded to vote for such a policy? What do they think the benefits could be, and the concerns? Is there enough competition among suppli- ers, and which utility service do they think should be nationalised first? To launch the debate around what a new deal for utilities might look like in order to help build public trust, and to set the scene for a series of articles that will help drive our campaign, Utility Week decided to first get the answers to these burning questions by commissioning an exclusive poll. We wanted to take the temperature of the public mood around energy and water com- panies, and the findings of the survey by Harris Interactive provide a fascinating snap- shot. Read on to find out more about the real state we're in. What the public thinks The fairly good news is that over half of respondents were satisfied with the service they received from utilities, with satisfaction highest for water suppliers at 66 per cent, of which 22 per cent were very satisfied (note: all figures in the survey are rounded up). However, utilities will recognise there is clearly no room for complacency, as this still leaves nearly half of customers who didn't express a clear, positive verdict. For all suppliers, a large proportion of people surveyed – ranging from 25 per cent to 36 per cent – were neutral. Meanwhile, those recording dissatisfied or very dissatis- fied ranged from 7 per cent to 10 per cent. The highest dissatisfied/very dissatisfied rat- ing went to electricity suppliers. At just 17 and 15 per cent respectively, gas suppliers and gas networks scored the low- est for customers being very satisfied, how- ever gas networks, along with electricity networks, recorded the lowest dissatisfied customers (at 4 per cent) and very dissatis- fied customers (at 3 per cent) among all sup- pliers (see Consumer Satisfaction graph). Value for money On value, percentage scores in favour of utilities came out lower, with neutral cus- tomers again forming a sizeable proportion (between 33 and 41 per cent) and those disa- greeing ranging from 19 per cent (for water) to 24 per cent (for electricity). Almost half of respondents – 47 per cent – said they were likely to feel their water sup- plier offered value-for-money services, fol- lowed by their electricity supplier at 43 per cent and electricity network at 42 per cent. The lowest scorers were gas networks at 38 per cent, with gas suppliers coming close at 39 per cent (see Value for Money graph). In terms of public profile, 4 in 10 of those polled were undecided as to whether utility companies came in for unfair criticism. Over one-fih felt that they did, with just under 4 in 10 finding the criticism aimed at utility companies to be fair. Trust On the key issue of trust, almost half of respondents (48 per cent) were likely to view their water supplier as trustworthy – a finding that may go at least some way to challenging political criticism of water com- panies. However, that still le 35 per cent of respondents neutral on whether they could be trusted, another 11 per cent disagreeing and 5 per cent who strongly disagreed. Trust for the other sectors were not too far behind. Interestingly, in light of the price cap, electricity suppliers came in next – 44 per cent of those surveyed agreeing or strongly agreeing that they were trustworthy. Least trusted were gas suppliers, with 40 per cent of respondents agreeing they were trustworthy. Neutrals, however, also added up to 40 per cent. Meanwhile 14 per cent of people disagreed and 7 per cent strongly dis- agreed they could be trusted. The key factor that undermined trust, according to the survey findings, was ris- ing prices (at 66 per cent). However exces- sive profit, a long-running public perception issue, ranked next at 49 per cent, followed by executive pay being too high (at 41 per cent). Poor service came in second-lowest, at 28 per cent (see Trust in Utilities graph). An ongoing theme among utilities has been competition within the energy sector – the source of many media headlines, and now government legislation in the shape of the price cap. So too has been the drive towards decarbonisation and renewables. The section of our survey that looked at energy awareness found that despite recent intervention and a huge increase in the number of suppliers in the market, just over one-quarter of respondents (27 per cent) felt there were enough mechanisms in place to ensure that electricity supply was continued on page 10

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