Progress outranks Duke in customer survey

Progress Energy topped its intended merger partner, Duke Energy, in J.D. Power and Associates' annual residential customer satisfaction survey released today.

Progress Carolinas ranked third-best among 13 large electric utilities in the South, the study found, while Duke Carolinas came in sixth. Both beat the average for the segment.

The results mark substantial happy-customer slippage for Duke, which led the list in 2010 and placed second in 2009. Progress finished fourth last year and so improved a bit.

Duke can't blame the results on this month's news of the 17 percent rate hike it's seeking for N.C. residential customers. The study was based on 98,000 online interviews conducted from July 2010 through this May.

Customer relations ranked low for both companies outside their Carolina bases. Progress Energy Florida finished dead last in rankings for the South, which was led by Oklahoma Gas and Electric. Duke's Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky operations ranked 10th-highest among 16 utilities in the Midwest.

J.D. Power's release didn't detail each utility's performance, but said customers generally are less satisfied with power quality, reliability and prices compared to last year. Gains in other areas, including customer communications and billing, helped offset the problem areas.

The California-based marketing information firm, also asked about attitudes on nuclear power. It found that 57 percent support building U.S. nuclear plants. Support is 70 percent among people who live within 50 miles of a nuclear plant.