Constellation 4th of 4 on Md. customer-satisfaction survey

A new customer-satisfaction survey of residents using retail electricity providers ranks Constellation fourth of four in Maryland, its home base.

J.D. Power and Associates says Dominion Energy Solutions received the highest marks from customers -- 648 on J.D. Power's 1,000-point scale -- with Washington Gas Energy Services (640) and Energy Plus (612) coming in second and third, respectively. Constellation trailed them with a 592 score.

Customers also provided feedback about other companies but not in large enough numbers to rank, J.D. Power said. The market-research firm said it required at least 100 responses per company.

The Richmond-based Dominion -- as you might imagine -- was very happy about the survey results.

"Dominion Energy Solutions has worked hard to make it easy for Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) residential customers to choose an electricity supplier with low rates and good service," said Dominion vice president Katheryn Curtis in a statement. "We are gratified that this study shows we are serving Maryland customers well."

Constellation's statement was more muted.

"We're still analyzing the data from J.D. Power," said spokesman Larry McDonnell. "Constellation is 100 percent committed to delivering customer value, simple, clear communications, exceptional customer care and generous community support."

(BGE, which ranked substantially below average for large utilities on an earlier J.D. Power survey, said a few months ago that the company's methodology was somewhat opaque, in part because there's no publicly disclosed margin of error.)

Maryland's deregulation of its electricity market means customers can purchase their energy from competitive suppliers, though their utility continues to deliver it. Nearly 30 percent of BGE customers get their electricity from a retail supplier, the utility said in May.

On average, Marylanders polled by J.D. Power were pretty satisfied with their providers. Among the seven states with a sufficient response rate, Maryland's average satisfaction score was second only to Pennsylvania's, J.D. Power said -- 630 vs. 631.

The company said it asked people about price, communications, corporate citizenship, enrollment/renewal and customer service.

jhopkins@baltsun.com

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