Members report that satisfaction is stronger than ever

by Steve Stroshane, general manager

I'd like to thank all of you who completed our 2024 member survey in December.

We're grateful to have earned an American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) score of 87 on a 100-point scale, based on member feedback from our December survey.* Polk-Burnett members are at the heart of everything we do. That's why this high score means so much to us. In comparison to the syndicated 2024 ACSI Energy Utility Study, we outperformed the 2024 average score for municipal utilities of 75, and the score for investor-owned utilities of 74.

Each year, Polk-Burnett conducts a member satisfaction survey to get your feedback on our performance. As a cooperative, we are owned by our members and follow democratic principles where members have a voice. The survey was emailed to 14,620 members, and 2,243 were returned for a 15% response rate.

In addition to scoring four standard ACSI questions about your satisfaction, members also shared 1,043 comments, 80% of them were positive. We read every one of your comments, and I'd like to share a few samples with you:

♥ Great people. Responsive. Reliable. Good communications. Committed to community.
♥ They have been very easy to work with and very knowledgeable when I have questions.
♥ Outages are minimal and short lived... keep up the good work!
♥ Great app and easy payment methods.
♥ Thank you for all you do! Always reliable, always professional, always informative.
♥ We love being a co-op member.
♥ I like that we get notifications about power outages and estimated outage times.
♥ Love that I can always talk to a friendly person.
♥ Capital credit program is awesome!
♥ The co-op is AMAZING! We have never had a utility that operates like a business that actually cares about its customers.

Of course, we also received negative survey comments, mostly related to rates. We never expect people to like rates, but we believe it's important for our members to know how co-op rates are set—to cover the actual cost of services delivered to you, not to generate profit. In fact, any margins left after expenses are returned to members each year as Capital Credits.

More specifically, we know that some of you have a negative opinion of the daily availability charge, especially our seasonal members who may use little or no electricity for weeks or months at a time. As a refresher, the daily availability charge covers your share of the cost to build and maintain the electric grid that makes power available at your location. These facilities (such as poles, transformers and meters) have to be there all the time, whether members are using power or not. (Equipment costs have increased 40% since 2020. For 2025, our investment in system upgrades to improve your service and reliability is $7 million.)

The daily availability charge is shared by all 22,000+ co-op members. The charge is higher in rural areas because costs are shared by fewer members. (See rates webpage for more information and charts about daily availability charge.)

Another complaint is that the co-op pays too little for excess solar energy generated by members. We're happy to work with members who want to install residential solar, but we always recommend that you size your system properly to meet your power needs. Yes, excess solar energy can be sold to the co-op, but we will only pay the wholesale market price (the same price we pay to buy wholesale power). Paying a premium that's higher than the wholesale rate is not fair to our other members.

Surveys give members a voice and help us learn what's working and what we can do better for our local members and community. From your feedback, we're confident that our mission and your expectations are one and the same—
providing reliable power with efficiency and extraordinary service. That's our promise to you. ♥

Thank you again for your feedback and high scores. It is greatly appreciated!

All who submitted a survey were entered into a drawing for a $50 bill credit.
Congratulations to the following winners:

Brian Bocan, Webster
Stephen Christenson, Amery
Kathleen Hetzel, Amery
Charles Letendre, Dresser
Leslie Lodermeier, Amery
Susan Lowe, Luck
Alexa Pocernich, Balsam Lake
Theresa Swanberg, Frederic
Glen Talmadge, Siren
Christopher Tenute, Webster

*Compared to publicly measured energy utilities in the ACSI® survey of customers rating their own energy utility. Results based on data provided by Polk-Burnett Energy Cooperative, collected between December 2 - 10, 2024. ACSI did not regulate the survey administration or sample size. ACSI and its logo are registered trademarks of the American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC. For more about the ACSI, visit www.theacsi.org.