MLGW Posted Highest Year-Over-Year Increase in Latest J.D. Power survey.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division posted its highest score ever, 672, in the latest wave of the 2015 J.D. Power & Associates Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Survey, its midpoint results show.

Among the 83 utilities surveyed, only two other utilities improved as much as MLGW, a 53-point increase, in a year-over-year comparison. Overall, MLGW’s overall gas customer satisfaction index score is 666 among mid-sized utilities in the South. There are two more waves left in the survey.

The year-long survey, which begins conducting interviews each September, covers six primary categories: customer service, power quality and reliability, price, communications, corporate citizenship and billing and payment.

Collins said MLGW’s increase is attributable to breathtakingly low rates and improved customer service.

MLGW President and Chief Executive Officer Jerry R. Collins Jr. said the improvement is further proof of how the focus on providing great service and low rates changed perceptions of the utility. “From a performance standpoint, [the J.D. Power score] is a good indicator of how we are doing,” he said.

MLGW is the largest three-service public power utility in the nation, serving more than 420,000 customers in Memphis and Shelby County.