You
rank your co-op high
 |
| by
Barry Hart |
by Barry
Hart
How are we doing?
Employees and directors at Missouri’s electric
cooperatives always try to answer that question. It helps direct the
cooperative’s efforts to provide you with the best possible service
at the lowest possible cost.
To take the pulse
of the membership Missouri’s
electric cooperatives commission frequent surveys. What we learn from
these surveys is often startling.
For example, in 2004
Missouri’s
Touchstone Energy cooperatives took part in a survey that is done
every three years. Touchstone Energy is a national alliance of local,
consumer-owned electric cooperatives. Its goal is to raise the standard
of service for cooperative members.
Outgoing Touchstone
Energy President Roger Clark, manager of Boone Electric Cooperative
in Columbia tells me the Missouri electric cooperatives taking part
in the survey are doing a much better job meeting consumers’ needs
than the electric utility industry as a whole. The survey compared
co-op members’ answers
to satisfaction levels for businesses across the country using the American
Customer Satisfaction Index.
According to the
ACSI scores, electric cooperatives rate much higher than their for-profit
utility counterparts. More importantly, Missouri electric cooperatives
score higher than their non-co-op counterparts. Even better, Missouri’s
electric cooperatives as a group ranked higher than just about any other
business.
In fact, Lewis County
Rural Electric Cooperative, based in the northeast corner of Missouri,
had the highest ranking with an ACSI score of 91. You can look all
over the ACSI Web site at www.acsi.org and you won’t find a higher
score. The next best score belongs to Amazon.com, the on-line retailer,
at 88.
The average for all
of the cooperatives that get their electricity from AECI, our generation
cooperative, was 86. That compares favorably to the electric utility
industry average of 72.
This information
is good news to Missouri’s
electric cooperatives. It shows you believe we are doing a good job
bringing you service.
Through the Touchstone
survey we learned other important information:
• Co-op members
value the relationship with their electric co-op.• Members like
their cooperative because of reliability and the belief they are
getting good value for their money.
• Members like
their cooperative’s
commitment to community. They believe their cooperative acts as
their advocate on rural issues.
Thanks to everyone
who responds to the surveys we do. While these scientific surveys help
us fine-tune our operations, the best indicators often come at the
annual meeting or when directors stop by the coffee shop and listen
to what you have to say. Your interest and involvement in your co-op
ensures it will always succeed in the long run.
Hart is executive vice president of the Association of Missouri
Electric Cooperatives.
E-mail
Barry Hart
|
