As electricity rates rise and cooling costs increase, U.S. electric utility customers are prioritizing energy prices over sustainability efforts, according to the J.D. Power 2024 Sustainability Index. The report highlights a significant gap between customer awareness of carbon reduction initiatives and their importance to the average consumer.
Despite the fact that 80% of U.S. utility customers are served by a utility with a 100% carbon reduction target, only 21% are aware of these goals, a slight increase from 19% in 2023. The overall sustainability score for utilities, which measures customer awareness and engagement with climate initiatives, stands at 32 out of 100, reflecting a modest improvement from the previous year.
The report reveals that energy prices are a more pressing concern for customers than environmental issues. When asked about the most critical energy-related issue, 18% of respondents cited energy prices, while 6.4% considered environmental concerns to be their primary issue.
Andrew Heath, vice president of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power, noted, “Electric utilities need buy-in from customers on sustainability targets to justify rate cases, garner support for infrastructure projects and drive the kind of consumer usage and behavioral changes needed to achieve sustainability goals. But the lack of awareness of these initiatives and the large amount of pessimism surrounding climate change is creating an uphill battle.”
The report also highlights a growing sense of pessimism regarding climate change. Currently, 21% of customers believe that “nothing” or “very little” can be done to address the issue, and the number of customers who view climate change as “serious” or “very serious” has decreased to 51% from 53% in 2023.
Customer confidence in utilities achieving their clean energy goals remains low, with only 28% believing their local utility will meet its targets. There is significant variation among utilities; some top performers have more than 35% of customers expressing confidence, while others fall below 25%.
Among the highest-scoring utilities are the L.A. Department of Water & Power and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, both scoring 39. Other top performers include NextEra Energy and Con Edison, each with a score of 38.
The J.D. Power Sustainability Index evaluates the awareness, support, engagement, and advocacy of electric utility customers regarding their local utility’s climate sustainability programs and goals. The index covers 35 of the largest U.S. electric utility companies and cities, each serving 500,000 or more residential customers, and is based on responses from 73,255 business and residential electric utility customers collected from June 2023 through May 2024.
