Juhani Kuokkanen                                   

At 5.00 am

Press information

- Finnish Electricity Companies 2006 according to the EPSI Rating  Customer Satisfaction Study

Ø Local electricity companies received the best scores in customer satisfaction.

Ø Fortum’s private customers’ satisfaction has dropped by 5.3 index points.

Ø Huge differences in customer loyalty intentions among electricity companies.

Ø Fortum’s private customers’ loyalty index has dropped by 7.9 points.

Ø All Finnish electricity companies treat their corporate customers better than their private customers.

Ø Helsinki Energy has the most satisfied customers on the corporate customer side.

Ø Vattenfall receives the lowest scores from corporate customers, especially on its service quality.

Ø In Sweden, Fortum’s customer satisfaction has increased

Ø Unexpected electricity cuts experienced by nearly 40 % of the Finns

Ø Unexpected electricity cuts happen more often in Finland than in Sweden

These are some of the results from the latest EPSI Rating study concerning customers’ satisfaction with their electricity companies in Finland. The interviews were done in November 2006. The data for the research was gathered by telephone interviews. Both corporate and private customers were interviewed. The same study has been done also in Sweden. Totally in Sweden and Finland, over 5.000 interviews were done. From each major company, 250 private customers and 200 - 250 corporate customers were interviewed. The respondents were selected by randomization procedures to participate in the research. Thus, the respondents represent hereby each company’s own customers.

In all EPSI Rating studies, the customer satisfaction index is the most central measurement. It can take values between 0 and 100 where 100 means that all customers are very satisfied. However, other measurements are included as well. These are known as important drivers and consist of company images, customer expectations, product and service quality, value for money. These drivers together with customer satisfaction result in customer loyalty.

Electricity companies were measured for the first time in Finland in 2005. Results concerning private customers' satisfaction with their electricity companies in 2005 and 2006 are presented below.

Electricity companies Finland Private customers	Customer Satisfaction Index 2005 (Scale 0-100)	Customer Satisfaction Index 2006 (Scale 0-100)	Difference from 2005 to 2006 (Scale 0-100)
1. Other companies	70.8	71.5	+0.7
2. Helsinki Energy	71.0	69.4	-1.6
3. Vattenfall	59.6	57.9	-1.7
4. Fortum	58.7	53.4	-5.3

This year, the group “Other companies” seems to have the most satisfied private customers among the electricity companies with an index of 71.5. The other companies are local companies who may be nation widely small, but in their own local regions they may be major players.

Among the big companies, Helsinki Energy is the first with an index of 69.4. At the bottom of the table are Vattenfall with an index of 57.9 and Fortum with clearly the lowest index of 53.4. This year, Fortum’s score includes also the former E.ON whose satisfaction index was last year 61.7.

When comparing the satisfaction indexes to the last year, it can be seen that only the group other companies has been able to increase its index. All the other have received lower scores in customer satisfaction from their private customers than last year, Fortum as much as 5.3 index points lower than last year.

Huge differences in private customer loyalty indexes among the electricity companies.

Electricity companies Finland Private customers	Customer Loyalty Index 2005 (Scale 0-100)	Customer Loyalty Index 2006 (Scale 0-100)	Difference from 2005 to 2006 (Scale 0-100)
1. Other companies	74.7	75.2	+0.5
2. Helsinki Energy	71.9	73.0	+1.1
3. Vattenfall	62.3	57.4	-4.9
4. Fortum	57.3	49.4	-7.9

In this study, Loyalty index is measured by customers’ intentions to stay with their current electricity provider and how the customers talk about their company to other people. From the above table and figure, it can be seen that electricity companies’ private customer loyalty indexes go in different directions.

Local companies have been able to increase their loyalty index, while Vattenfall and Fortum have clearly lower loyalty indexes than last year. Especially, Fortum’s index has dropped significantly, by 7.9 index points, and is now as low as 49.4.

As a result, there have become huge differences in electricity companies´ current loyalty indexes. The difference between the group “Other companies” and Fortum in their loyalty indexes is currently as large as 25.8 index points

Next figure presents also all the indexes for each company: Image, Expectations, Product quality, Service quality, Value for money, Customer Satisfaction (= EPSI) and Customer Loyalty.

On the corporate customer side, Helsinki Energy has the most satisfied customers

Results concerning corporate customers' satisfaction with their electricity company are below.

Electricity companies (Corporate customers)	Customer Satisfaction Index 2005 (Scale 0-100	Customer Satisfaction Index 2006 (Scale 0-100)	Difference from 2005 to 2006 (Scale 0-100)
1. Helsinki Energy	73,0	74,2	+1.2
2. Other companies	72,1	73,8	+1.7
3. Fortum	64,5	63,7	-0.8
4. Vattenfall	62,1	60,6	-1.5

Helsinki Energy has the most satisfied corporate customers with an index of 74.2. Next is the group other companies who received an index of 73.8. These indexes are so near to each other that the difference between them is not statistically significant. The error margin in this study is about +- 2 index points.

Fortum's satisfaction index on the corporate customer side is 63.7 and Vattenfall's 60.6.

In service quality, Vattenfall receives the lowest scores from its corporate customers

Next figure presents all the indexes given by the corporate customers to their own company: Image, Expectations, Product quality, Service quality, Value for money, Customer Satisfaction (EPSI) and Customer Loyalty.

From the figure above it can be seen that the indexes of the companies differ greatly. Vattenfall receives the lowest scores in every domain: image, product quality, service quality, value for money, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. Especially, the score Vattenfall receives for its service quality from its corporate customers seems to be significantly lower than others.

All companies have higher satisfaction indexes on the corporate customer side than on the private customer side

Finnish Electricity companies	Private Customers Satisfaction Index 2006	Corporate Customers Satisfaction Index 2006	Difference Corporate customers– Private customers
Other companies	71.5	73,8	+2.3
Helsinki Energy	69.4	74,2	+4.8
Vattenfall	57.9	60,6	+2.7
Fortum	53.4	63,7	+10.3

All companies seem to have higher satisfaction indexes on the corporate customer side than on their private customer side. The difference is the smallest in smaller local companies (+2.3) and by far the largest in Fortum (+10.3).

Unexpected electricity cuts more often in Finland than in Sweden

This year, 39 per cent of the private households remember that they had unexpected electricity cuts during the last 12 months. Last year, the same figure was slightly higher 42 %.

In Sweden the figure is lower. There “only” 28 per cent of the private customers remember that they had unexpected electricity cuts during the last 12 months. Last year, the same figure in Sweden was 34 %.

In Sweden, Fortum’s customer satisfaction has increased

In Sweden, the best satisfaction scores were given again to Telge Energy with an index of 69.3. Results concerning the three big players in Sweden: E.ON, Fortum, and Vattenfall are presented below.

Electricity companies Sweden Private customers	Customer Satisfaction Index CSI 2005 (Scale 0-100)	Customer Satisfaction Index CSI 2006 (Scale 0-100)	Difference from 2005 to 2006 (Scale 0-100)
E.ON	56.5	56.9	+0.4
Vattenfall	58.7	55.6	-3.1
Fortum	52.0	54.4	+2.4

From the above table and figure, it can be seen that, contrary to the situation in Finland, in Sweden Fortum has been able to increase its customer satisfaction among its private customers.

The EPSI Rating study

The data for the research was gathered by telephone interviews. Both private customers and corporate customers from each company were interviewed. Totally, in Sweden and Finland over 5.000 interviews were done. From each company which are mentioned by name, 250 private customers and 200 - 250 corporate customers were interviewed. The respondents were selected by randomization procedures to participate in the research. The respondents represent each company’s own customer base.

This research is part of European Customer Satisfaction Research, EPSI Rating. It is coordinated by the Swedish Institute of Quality and the Stockholm School of Economics. European quality organizations are also backing the research.

In Sweden, the same methodology has been in use since the year 1984, and it already covers a major portion of the Swedish economy. In Finland as well, it is the intention to gradually expand the research to cover the Finnish economy. Earlier this year, results from banking, telecom, insurance sectors have been released. The research is coordinated in Finland by Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen.

For additional information, please contact:

Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen        phone: +358 40 5093401, e-mail: juhani.kuokkanen@epsi-finland.org

Professor Jan Eklöf            phone: +46 7069 64185, e-mail: jan.eklof@epsi-rating.com

Dr. Johan Parmler               phone: +46 8736 9247, e-mail: johan.parmler@epsi-rating.com