Santee Cooper Earns High Marks in Residential Customer Satisfaction Survey

February 9, 2009

MONCKS CORNER, SC —February 9, 2009 – At a time when many electric utilities have seen their satisfaction scores slump, a recent survey conducted by MarketSearch shows Santee Cooper continues to earn high acclaim from its residential customers.

According to the survey, 99.4 percent of Santee Cooper’s residential customers were satisfied with the state-owned utility in 2008. By comparison, the average for South Carolina utilities was 86.3 percent, and the national average was 83.2 — both state and national marks are down about five points from 2007.

The survey also shows 82.6 percent of Santee Cooper’s residential customers were “very satisfied,” whereas the state and national figures were 45.9 percent and 44.7 percent, respectively.

“For 75 years our overriding mandate has been to improve the quality of life for the people of South Carolina, and every decision at Santee Cooper is made with the best interests of our customers in mind,” says Zack Dusenbury, Santee Cooper vide president of retail operations. “Our focus is on customer service and cost reduction, and these survey results are a testament to the caliber of employees we have working here.”

The data also reveals Santee Cooper residential customers strongly agreed that the utility is doing a good job of protecting the environment, is a leader in conservation and prices its electricity fairly. 

Simultaneously, Santee Cooper continues to exceed the national satisfaction average when planning for future energy needs, helping customers conserve and showing concern for the environment. In fact, Santee Cooper saw a 12 percent increase in those residential customers who were “very satisfied” with the utility’s concern for the environment in 2008 versus 2007, representing the largest single-year increase since MarketSearch began conducting these surveys in 1992.

“Santee Cooper has been a pioneer in the development of renewable energy and the promotion of conservation in South Carolina for more than 40 years, and is continuing to advance environmental programs,” said Lonnie Carter, Santee Cooper president and chief executive officer.  “Our customers recognize our genuine concern for the environment while working to fulfill our mission of providing low-cost and reliable power.”

Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility and the state’s largest power producer, supplying electricity to more than 163,000 retail customers in Berkeley, Georgetown and Horry counties, as well as to 29 large industrial facilities, the cities of Bamberg and Georgetown, and the Charleston Air Force Base. Santee Cooper also generates the power distributed by the state’s 20 electric cooperatives to more than 700,000 customers in all 46 counties. Approximately 2 million South Carolinians receive their power directly or indirectly from Santee Cooper. The utility also provides water to 137,000 consumers in Berkeley and Dorchester counties, and the town of Santee. For more information, visit http://www.SanteeCooper.com. For information on how Santee Cooper lives green and how you can go green, visit http://www.SanteeCooperGreen.com