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(AMERICUS, GA) Sumter EMC is proud to be recognized with a score of “85” in the 2021 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) survey, a rating which is well above the highest score for any investor-owned utility and significantly higher than the industry average for 2021.  The results are from a customer satisfaction study conducted during the summer of 2021.

As part of its effort to monitor and further improve customer service, Sumter EMC commissioned Touchstone Energy to conduct a survey of the cooperative’s member-owners as part of the 2021 National Survey on the Cooperative Difference. The member responses were sent to the ACSI developers, a national group that measures customer satisfaction across multiple industries throughout the entire country.

The ACSI is the only national cross-industry measure of customer satisfaction in the United States. Each year, the ACSI uses data from interviews with roughly 300,000 customers as inputs to an econometric model for analyzing customer satisfaction with more than 400 companies in 46 industries and ten economic sectors. ACSI data have proven to be strongly related to several essential indicators of micro and macroeconomic performance.

The ACSI publishes an annual Energy Utilities Index, an independent customer satisfaction measure of the U.S. top 30 investor-owned, municipal, and cooperative utilities. For 2021, Sumter EMC’s members rated their electric cooperative with an ACSI score of “85” out of a maximum score of “100”. Sumter EMC’s ACSI customer satisfaction rating is significantly higher than the energy utilities industry averages. Sumter EMC’s score is 9 points higher than the top-rated 2021 investor-owned utility score of 76, 13 points higher than the average cooperative utility score of 72 and 14 points higher than the municipal utility score of 71, as per the ACSI Utility Sector Report.  This year’s ACSI data demonstrates Sumter EMC’s commitment to overall customer satisfaction.

Electric cooperatives are built by and belong to the communities they serve. This local, member-driven structure is one reason why cooperatives enjoy the highest consumer satisfaction scores within the electric industry. Sumter EMC would like to thank all members who participated in the surveys. Their participation has been monumental in us learning how to serve our members better.