BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – Santee Cooper residential customer satisfaction increased in 2019 and once again topped the national average, according to results from a new independent survey.
Some 93% of residential customers are satisfied, up from 91% in 2018 according to the survey conducted in late 2019 by MarketSearch. The national average for residential customer satisfaction among power companies is 89.7%. Also, among Santee Cooper customers more than half – 57.7% – said they are very satisfied.
The independent survey has been conducted annually since 1992 and asks customers about power quality, customer service, rates and value, conservation programs, and general image. Customers rated Santee Cooper highest in keeping power outages to a minimum (99%), restoring power as quickly as possible after outages (99%), quality of electric power (98.6%), and responding quickly to customer questions and problems (96.6%).
“Our teams take pride in responding efficiently to customers’ needs and in the reliability of our system,” said Mike Poston, vice president of retail operations. “Santee Cooper ranks fourth in reliability nationally when compared to 534 other power providers, based on the latest information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.”
The survey also showed increases in customer satisfaction with Santee Cooper’s efforts to keep rates as low as possible (78.1% satisfied) and concern for the environment (90.9% satisfied). Santee Cooper serves more than 158,000 residential customers in Horry, Georgetown and Berkeley counties.
The survey results compare favorably to excellent satisfaction scores also posted by Santee Cooper’s commercial and municipal customers in 2019. Satisfaction increased among commercial customers to 97.2%, compared to 95.2% in 2018. Satisfaction remained at 100% among municipal customers: Santee Cooper provides electricity to the cities of Georgetown and Bamberg, as well as to the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency’s 10 member cities (Abbeville, Clinton, Easley, Gaffney, Greer, Laurens, Newberry, Rock Hill, Union and Westminster), which together provide electricity to more than 100,000 customers across the state.
