Leading Utilities Stand Out by Delivering on Promises and Building Business Customer Engagement

LIVONIA, Mich., July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Strong gains in business customer engagement point to a turning tide in utility-customer relationships, with brand trust on the rise thanks to improved communication, targeted outreach and tangible reliability investments. That’s according to a new Cogent Syndicated study from Escalent, which finds that Brand Trust is steadily improving as utilities sharpen their focus on meeting the evolving needs of their business customers.

“These efforts, along with visible investments to enhance system reliability, are helping utilities build trust in meaningful ways,” said Suzanne Haggerty, director of syndicated research with Escalent’s Energy industry team.

Those are some of the latest findings of the 2025 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study, which tracks the performance of 85 gas, electric and combination utilities to identify brand and customer experience opportunities and trends in the industry. The report is published semiannually by Escalent, a top data analytics and advisory firm with extensive energy, utility and brand experience.

These actions by utilities have helped lift the industry’s Brand Trust Index by 21 points to 716 out of a maximum score of 1,000.

Leading this improvement are nine utilities recognized as Escalent’s 2025 Trusted Business Partners—companies that performed well above the industry average. These top-performing utilities surpass the average Company Reputation score by an impressive 10%, setting the standard for strong public perception by consistently delivering on their promises, maintaining transparency and fostering stronger relationships with business customers.

The most significant difference appears in word-of-mouth perceptions: customers of Trusted Business Partners are notably more likely to report hearing positive comments about their utility.

“Trusted Business Partners continue to prove the value of having a visible, positive presence in the local business community,” continued Haggerty. “This presence gives business customers something good to say about their utility, which goes a long way toward building a stronger reputation.”

Escalent is pleased to name these nine utilities as our 2025 Trusted Business Partners.

* Utilities named as Trusted Business Partners were selected based on having Brand Trust Index scores in the top decile of the industry, the top score within their respective benchmark segment, or a Brand Trust Index score within 20 points of the top benchmark segment score and above the industry average.

The following tables reflect regional peer benchmark Brand Trust scores among the 85 utilities surveyed. These scores reflect the amount of trust business customers have with each utility.

About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business

Escalent conducted surveys among 12,585 business electric and natural gas utility customers of the 85 largest US utility companies (based on customer counts). Starting in 2025, business respondents are weighted based on the number of establishments (based on employee count) present in each utility’s territory. As a result, official 2025 scoring should not be directly compared with previous years’ scoring. The Brand Trust Index score is a composite based on consumer ratings across six factors. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.

For more information on the full report, click here.

About Escalent

Escalent is an award-winning data analytics and advisory firm that helps clients understand human and market behaviors to navigate disruption and business transformation. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, our strategies guide the world’s leading brands. We accelerate growth by creating a seamless flow between primary, secondary, syndicated, and internal business data, providing consulting and advisory services from insights through implementation. Based on a profound understanding of what drives human beings and markets, we identify actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences, inspire product innovation and boost business productivity. Visit escalent.co to see how we are helping shape the brands that are reshaping the world.

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