PPLFor the third year in a row, PPL Electric Utilities has ranked highest among large electric utilities in the eastern United States for residential customer satisfaction in a study by J.D. Power.

The award is the company’s 11th from J.D. Power for residential customer satisfaction. It also has won 11 J.D. Power awards for business customer satisfaction, the latest coming in February.

The east large utility group is comprised of 17 utilities.

“Consistently receiving recognition for customer satisfaction is a source of pride for all of our employees,” said Dave Bonenberger, vice president of Distribution Operations for the utility. “We know that continuous improvement is an integral part of what we do on behalf of our customers. You can always work to get better. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve reliability and make it easier for customers to do business with us, as well as communicate and interact with us.”

The utility’s new website, originally launched in October 2012, has been upgraded based on customer feedback. New alerts were added to help keep customers up to date on their account, along with a sponsored blogger outreach program to improve energy efficiency. In addition, the utility is active on a variety of social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

The utility is working to increase service reliability on a number of fronts, including tree trimming and clearing and investing in system improvements including smart grid and replacement of older equipment.

J.D. Power said residential customer satisfaction with their electric utility increased nationwide over 2013 levels, in part due to industry improvements in outage communications and corporate citizenship. It also was noted that satisfaction in all six measured factors reached a six-year high this year.

J.D. Power noted, however, that improvements increasing customer satisfaction in the electric utility industry were not keeping pace with those in other service industries.

PPL Electric Utilities improved its overall score by five points over 2013 levels, posting its largest gain in power quality and reliability.

“Electric delivery service remains a great value for our customers,” Bonenberger said. “For the average residential customer, we deliver the electricity that powers their life for less than $2 a day.”

PPL Electric Utilities Corporation, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation that provides electricity delivery services to about 1.4 million customers in Pennsylvania, consistently ranks among the best companies for customer service in the United States. More information is available at www.pplelectric.com.