ALLENTOWN, Pa.---Further underscoring the commitment of PP&L Resources, Inc. (NYSE:PPL) to exceptional customer service, a company subsidiary has been named the top utility for customer service in the United Kingdom.
Western Power Distribution plc (formerly South Western Electricity plc) won the utility category of the Daily Telegraph/Energis Customer Service Awards for 1999. Western Power Distribution - based in Bristol, England - has 1.4 million customers.
Judges not only considered Western Power Distribution's customer service record, but also made anonymous calls to assess the performance of the company's customer service representatives.
"The daily dedication to meeting customer needs is part of every PP&L Resources company," said William F. Hecht, chairman, president and chief executive officer of PP&L Resources, Inc. "The recent honor bestowed upon Western Power Distribution is further evidence of that fact."
The Daily Telegraph/Energis Customer Service Awards are open to all businesses in the United Kingdom that can demonstrate excellence in customer service. The awards were presented in London on Sept. 2.
Western Power Distribution has established a reputation for outstanding service. It is the first electric company to receive the British government's coveted Charter Mark three times in succession.
That honor was based on fewest customer complaints, price reductions, improved reliability, improved customer service, a special care line for senior citizens and training for employees in communications with visually- or hearing-impaired customers.
On this side of the Atlantic, PP&L Resources' subsidiary PP&L, Inc. ranked highest in customer satisfaction with residential electric service in the Eastern United States for 1999 in a study conducted by J.D. Power and Associates and Navigant Consulting, Inc.*
PP&L Resources' subsidiary PP&L Global owns 51 percent of Western Power Distribution. The remainder is owned by Southern Energy Inc., an affiliate of Atlanta-based Southern Company.
PP&L Resources, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company based in Allentown, Pa. The PP&L Resources family of companies includes PP&L, Inc., which delivers electricity to 1.3 million customers in eastern and central Pennsylvania, generates electricity, and markets wholesale energy in the United States and in Canada; PP&L EnergyPlus Co., LLC, which sells competitively priced energy and energy services to newly deregulated markets; PP&L Global, Inc., which develops electric generation throughout the United States and around the world and has ownership interests in United Kingdom and Latin American companies that distribute electricity to 2 million customers; Penn Fuel Gas, Inc., which sells and distributes natural gas and propane in Pennsylvania and Maryland; and PP&L Spectrum, Inc., Burns Mechanical, Inc., H. T. Lyons, Inc., McCarl's Inc., McClure Company and Western Mass. Holdings, Inc., which provide energy-management and mechanical contracting and engineering services to businesses.
See our Internet home page, at www.pplresources.com, for recent news releases and other information about PP&L Resources.
*J. D. Power and Associates/Navigant Consulting, Inc. 1999 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction StudySM. Study based on a total of 26,096 consumer responses. In the Eastern U.S., the top 20 largest electric companies were ranked in the study. www.jdpower.com.