99% of survey respondents said that having a reliable electric service is important to them. 80% of survey respondents said we're doing an "excellent" or "very good" job at providing that reliable service.

98% of survey respondents said that having high-quality drinking water is important to them. 69% of survey respondents said we're doing an "excellent" or "very good" job at providing that high-quality water.

96% of survey respondents said that having high-quality customer service is important to them. 64% of survey respondents said we're doing an "excellent" or "very good" job at providing that high-quality service.

We'll continue to build on our success in these areas. We'd like to see a higher percentage of customers rating us as "excellent" or "very good" in both of these important categories.

97% of survey respondents said that having affordable utility rates is important to them. 36% of survey respondents said we're doing an "excellent" or "very good" job at providing those affordable rates.

84% of survey respondents said that having a utility that offers relevant energy/water-saving programs to participate in is important to them. 42% of survey respondents said we're doing an "excellent" or "very good" job at providing those relevant programs.

40% of survey respondents said that having a utility that helps customers reduce their utility usage is important to them. 44% of survey respondents said we're doing an "excellent" or "very good" job at helping our customers with this.

Our respondents believe these areas need the most improvement from us as a utility. The survey's Programs and Communications sections (highlighted below) revealed details about what we need to improve.

Only 56% of survey respondents said they were aware of our helpful programs. Here's a breakdown of awareness of each program:

• 30% of survey respondents were aware of our online efficiency store
• 51% were aware of our energy efficiency programs
• 39% were aware of our water efficiency programs
• 57% were aware of our refrigerator and freezer recycling program
• 61% were aware of our home efficiency assessments program
• 31% were aware of our yard and landscaping webinars

A majority of our respondents are unaware of our most important programs. We need to communicate better.

Improvements

In July 2023 we redesigned our Residential webpage to make finding our programs easier - and debuted a new Residential Programs webpage to help our residential customers easily browse and learn more about our most helpful programs.

We've significantly improved our Residential Programs communications for 2024, including outreach plans at local events, on social media, in the newsletter that arrives in our customers' mailboxes with each utility bill, and via a variety of other City communications.

Only 30% of survey respondents said they were aware of our helpful rebates. Here's a breakdown of awareness of each program:

Of those respondents who were aware of our rebates, 33% said rebates/incentives weren't high enough and 31% said discounted items were still too expensive.

A majority of respondents weren't satisfied with our rebate amounts. In addition to making finding/applying for our rebates easier, we need to strengthen our rebate amounts and incentives.

Improvements

In July 2023 we redesigned our Residential webpage to make finding our rebates easier - and debuted a new Residential Rebates webpage to help our residential customers easily browse and learn more about our most helpful rebates.

We've significantly improved our Residential Rebates communications for 2024, including outreach plans at local events, on social media, in the newsletter that arrives in our customers' mailboxes with each utility bill, and via a variety of other City communications.

48% of survey respondents said they don't engage with us (by visiting our website, following us on social media, or participating in our programs and rebates) beyond viewing and paying their utility bills.

This is fairly normal in the utility industry; for decades, utilities have focused solely on providing utility services without investing significantly in programs, rebates or community engagement. 

Providing additional services and support for our customers is a priority for us. We want to help our customers understand their utility usage and save money where they can.

Improvements

As a part of encouraging more engagement with us, we're publishing more helpful content to our website - including significant improvements to our Rates, Charges and Fees webpage that help explain every portion of our customers' utility bills, as well as how our rates impact bills.

In 2024 we'll be debuting improved communications, including video, that help customers with the most important things they need to know - starting with how to understand their bills and how to lower utility bills.

71% of survey respondents said they prefer us to communicate with them via email about general information (helpful tips, marketing, utility news, etc). Here's how this feedback broke down by communication channel:

• 26% of respondents preferred to hear about general information via text message
• 23% preferred paper mail
• 20% preferred to visit our website
• 2% preferred social media

A vast majority of our respondents prefer email communications from us, about once a month, with general information like news, events and programs. At the time of the survey, these preferences didn't align with our general communications practices. We need to launch email communication programs for our customers, and align our communications practices more closely to this mix of communication channels.

Improvements

In July 2023 we launched a collaborative effort between city departments to work towards launching a city-wide email communications program to help better align our general information communications with customer preferences.

We're planning to launch a residential email newsletter, followed by an email newsletter for small and medium businesses (SMBs).

The deployment of advanced meters city-wide will eventually give our customers access to an online portal to view their electric usage. That portal will bring additional email communication opportunities for customers; stay tuned.

63% of survey respondents said they prefer us to communicate with them via text message about emergency information (power outages, water quality issues, etc). Here's how this feedback broke down by communication channel:

• 47% of respondents preferred to hear about emergency information via email
• 28% preferred paper mail
• 22% preferred to visit our website
• 7% preferred social media

A vast majority of our respondents prefer text message communications from us with urgent emergency information. At the time of the survey, these preferences didn't align with our general communications practices. We need to launch a text message communication program for our customers to use during emergencies.

Improvements

In July 2023 we launched a collaborative effort between city departments to work towards launching a city-wide text message communications program to help better align our emergency communications with customer preferences. We also plan to debut an Emergencies and Advisories webpage that all our customers can reference at any time to view any active advisories or emergencies in our service area.

The deployment of advanced meters city-wide will eventually give our customers access to an online portal to view their electric usage. That portal will bring text communication opportunities for customers; stay tuned.

86% of survey respondents said that having a utility that's actively engaged in tackling our city's biggest challenges is important to them. Only 52% of survey respondents said we're doing an "excellent" or "very good" job at doing so.

Much of our work is dedicated to helping our utility tackle some of Loveland's biggest challenges in coming decades - but our respondents told us we need to do much more to make our customers aware of that work. The challenges our respondents were most concerned with (in order of importance): Wildfires, climate change, water scarcity, water quality and energy insecurity.

Improvements

In July 2023 we began discussions internally about how we can better communicate about our work on Loveland's biggest challenges with our customers. We'll keep this webpage updated as we make progress.