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Businesses give co-ops high marks |
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Businesses served by electric cooperatives are significantly more satisfied than those served by investor-owned utilities or municipalities, according to a survey conducted by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. The 2006 national survey interviewed 1,000 energy managers/decision makers at medium-sized and small businesses. 
Businesses served by electric cooperatives had an overall mean satisfaction score of 8.78 on a 10-point scale, where 1 is not at all satisfied and 10 is completely satisfied. That is a significant improvement from 8.19 five years ago. Those served by investor-owned utilities had a mean score of 8.48 in 2006 (up from 7.45 in 2001) while those served by municipalities had a mean score of 8.27 (up from 7.63 in 2001).
Compared to a similar study in 2001, electric cooperatives are significantly more likely to be seen as providing consistent voltage without dips or surges. They deliver good value for the money, having customers' best interest at heart and are well managed businesses.
Asked to identify the three most important characteristics of an electric service provider, respondents from all three provider type groups mentioned reliability most frequently. Being locally based, charging reasonable rates and providing good customer service were the other commonly heard responses.
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