Costs and trade-offs in achieving customer satisfaction [in electricity industry]

In a performance-based regulatory environment, electricity service that is not up to customers' expectations can have a negative impact on the bottom line. There are many ways to improve customer satisfaction and their costs vary widely. It is, therefore, essential to understand in sufficient detail which service quality investments make financial sense. To accomplish this, a ground-breaking market analysis is needed that integrates comprehensive data on customer satisfaction with cost-of-service variables. This research enables companies to identify the true costs and benefits of utility investments in customer service-quality enhancements, and to evaluate the impact of those investments on customer satisfaction.