Customers weigh in on Liberty Utilities in survey

The cumulative results of Liberty Utilities’ quarterly Customer Satisfaction Surveys in 2017 show improvements in corporate citizenship and communications. The survey also showed overall customer satisfaction increased by six points compared to first quarter results.

The online survey is independently conducted by JD Power, and Liberty Utilities’ results are compared with comparable electric utilities in the west. Some highlights of the 2017 survey results show:

Corporate Citizenship. Of the four attributes in this category, the two highest rated were 1) efforts to develop energy plans for the future and 2) actions to take care of the environment.

“Our customers have long told us that environmental responsibility is important to them, and we are extremely pleased that they appear to recognize our commitment in this area,” notes Travis Johnson, Liberty Utilities’ Vice President of Electric Operations.

Since January 2016, Liberty Utilities has eliminated coal from its purchased power. In early 2017, Liberty’s very own 50 MW Luning Solar Energy Center began supplying 25% of customers’ energy needs. Additional solar energy plans were recently approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and the Turquoise solar facility is expected to add 10MW of solar power by the end of 2018/early 2019. Together, these two solar facilities will supply 30% of
customers’ energy needs.

The CPUC is currently reviewing Liberty Utilities’ application filed last fall to construct a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Alpine County, CA. The 2.6 MW project would be near the town of Markleeville to improve electric reliability and safety in an area especially vulnerable to outages. It would provide back-up power to customers for several hours in the event of an outage on the circuit that serves that community.

The utility’s Solar Incentive Program (SIP) was implemented last summer, providing incentives to residential, small commercial and schools customers that install solar panels on their buildings.

To date, five projects have been completed with incentives issued.

The CPUC is also expected to issue a decision soon on the utility’s electric vehicle (EV) program application filed last year. The program would provide incentives to residential and small commercial customers who install EV chargers in their home or business. This program would also work with entities around Lake Tahoe to install fast-charging stations to make EV use more convenient.

Liberty Utilities’ continues to work with customers within its service territory to identify additional projects, such as community solar projects, that provide renewable energy sources that benefit our environment and meet customers’ needs.
For more information about Liberty Utilities’ clean energy programs, visit
www.libertyutilities.com and click on the “Clean Energy” link at the top.

Communications. The top two attributes in the Communications category that received higher ratings than comparable utilities in the west were 1) keep (customers) informed about keeping costs low and 2) usefulness of suggestions on ways to reduce energy.

Liberty Utilities offers many electric programs that help customers save both energy and money, and actively communicates the benefits of these programs to its customers. Some of these programs include free energy audits, free LED lightbulbs, old refrigerator/freezer rebates with free recycling and commercial lighting rebates. Some of these energy efficiency programs offer subsidies or free improvements for income-qualified customers. To find out more, visit
www.libertyutilities.com and click on the “Smart Energy Use” link at the top.

“We want to thank our customers for the high ratings they gave us in these key areas,” added Johnson. “And we also want them to know that we’ll continue to work on areas that you tell us need improvement, such as power quality/reliability and billing/payment issues. We look forward to sharing information with our customers as we make progress in these areas.”