March 1, 2004
With
laser focus on customer service and system reliability,
NSTAR has, for the second year in a row, exceeded
rigorous state standards in both its electricity and
natural gas operations.
NSTAR details its successful 2003 performance
today in the company’s annual Service Quality Report
to the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications
and Energy (DTE).
"This
outstanding performance reflects our employees’
unwavering commitment to serve our customers well,”
said Thomas J. May, NSTAR Chairman, President and CEO.
“Our employees have worked hard to ensure that
day in, day out our customers’ needs are our highest
priority, and our performance numbers bear out that
commitment.”
The Service
Quality Report, which the DTE requires all utilities to
file yearly, measures company performance in a variety
of service areas such as promptness in answering phone
calls, meter reading efficiency, and frequency and
duration of outages.
In the areas of both system reliability and
customer service, NSTAR customers saw improvements over
2002, which was itself a record-setting year for the
company. When
electrical outages did occur in 2003, NSTAR workers
restored power nearly 10 percent faster than in the
previous year. When
customers needed to contact the company, nearly 80
percent were able to do so within 20 seconds: a superior
performance level for any industry.
“Our goal
of continually improving customer service is fundamental
to the culture of NSTAR,” May added.
“Over the last year our employees focused on
customers’ needs by working hard to keep the lights
on; and making sure that if they did go out, we provided
timely and accurate information while moving to restore
power faster than ever.”
NSTAR
attributes the improvement to system upgrades and a
company-wide performance measurement program that allows
employees to track key performance goals on a daily
basis. In
addition, in 2003, the company implemented a major
enhancement to its customer service system to provide
customers with more timely information about the cause
and expected duration of outages.
The Service Quality Report measures a company’s yearly performance against established benchmarks. Here’s how NSTAR’s 2003 service measures compare to those of 2002:
| 2003 | 2002 | |
| Percentage of calls answered within 20 seconds | 77% | 76% |
| Average number of power outages per customer | 1.02 | 1.06 |
| Average duration of a power outage | 74.8 minutes | 82.6 minutes |
| Sixty minute response to gas odor calls | 99.4% | 98.9% |
NSTAR Electric and Gas transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas to1.4 million customers in Eastern and Central Massachusetts, including 1.1 million electric customers in 81 communities and nearly 300,000 gas customers in 51 communities.
