Birmingham Water Works ranks last — again — in customer satisfaction survey
The Birmingham Water Works received the lowest score among 19 utilities in the Southeast in the latest customer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power.
The utility scored 413 points out of 1,000 possible points.
With 587 points, Cobb County Water Systems in Georgia earned the highest score among midsize water utilities in the Southeast.
Though Birmingham Water Works scored much higher in the 2023 survey, with 655 points, it has earned the lowest score among midsize systems in the Southeast in five of the past six years.
In previous years the water works has dismissed the J.D. Power rankings as flawed. But today, the utility embraced the assessment and said it would help improve operations at the system.
Michael Johnson, the general manager of the water works, said the survey suggests areas of opportunities to improve in customer service, billing and payments, and conservation.
“While we are motivated by the increase in performance in key areas indicated in this year’s study, we will continue to work on the areas where the survey results show that we could improve,” he said in the news release today. “Our overall strategic plan addresses these key areas in which we are working as a team to enhance.”
Rick Jackson, public relations manager for the Water Works, said the utility received better scores this year in the areas of communications, quality and reliability, and infrastructure.
The J.D. Power assessment included survey responses from 279 Birmingham Water Works customers.
“This isn’t what I think, this is what hundreds of your customers told us, and we’re just the scorekeepers and we’re here to help you get better,” said John Hazen, managing director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power.
Hazen told AL.com that the survey includes questions surrounding the entire customer service experience ranging from communications and billing to water taste and price.
“It’s everything that a customer interacts with within their water utility,” he said.
Hazen said water utilities that scored poorly generally have difficulty clearly communicating their operations to customers, which adds to negative customer perceptions.
J.D. Power measures satisfaction among residential customers of 92 water utilities that serve populations of at least 400,000 in four geographic regions.