Legislation Details

File #: 21574-26    Version: 1
Type: Briefing/Report (Dept, BCC) - No action requested Status: Business
File created: 4/9/2026 In control: Board of Public Utilities
On agenda: 8/5/2026 Final action:
Title: Transactional Survey Report:  January - June 2026
Presenters: Abbey Hayward
Indexes (Council Goals): DPU FY26 - 3.0 Be a Customer Service Oriented Organization that is Approachable, Communicative, Efficient, and Transparent
Attachments: 1. A - Los Alamos Transactional Report CY2026 H1

Title

Transactional Survey Report:  January - June 2026

Body

DPU's Transactional Survey report covers the first half of calendar 2026. Conducted by Great Blue Research, the survey investigates: 1) reasons for contacting DPU; 2) methods of interaction with DPU; 3) the number of times customers must contact DPU to resolve their issue; 4) how DPU's staff is rated by customers; and 5) demographic profiles of those responding to the survey. It has a 95% confidence level and with 111 people responding, it has a margin of error of +/- 9.19%.

 

As is typical with this survey, the vast majority of respondents were residential customers. Only six were commercial customers, making commercial responses meaningless as a stand-alone category. Nearly half the customers who responded have been DPU customers for at least 20 years, with 57% residing on the Hill and 32% residing in White Rock.

 

This report compares the previous two 6-month periods of 2025 as well as the second 6-month period of 2024. More than 78% of the respondents rated interactions with Customer Care staff and the remaining interactions were between interactions in the field (14%) and interactions with other DPU employees (8%). During this survey period, the Customer Care interactions over the phone increased to 65%, from 55%. Visits to the Customer Care Center dropped to 16%, from 29%, and email interactions have declined as well.

 

Customers are invited to complete this survey through a number of methods, including invitation links in email signatures, and signs at the Customer Care Center (CCC). However, the greatest number of responses come from text messages sent to individuals who have reached out to the CCC by phone.

 

Payment arrangement remains the leading response as to why customers are reaching out to DPU. More customers reached out to DPU regarding a water service problem in this first half of 2026 than in the second half of 2025; however, this trend is reflected in the first half of 2025 to the second half of 2024 as well.

 

Per the report, “over eight-out-of-ten respondents (86%) had their issue or question resolved to their satisfaction during their first contact with the DPU, which was an increase compared to the second half of 2025.”

 

The results for DPU representative characteristics were lower than in the second half of 2025, but notably improved when compared to the first half of 2025. The Customer Care staff could have been fielding questions about time-of-use or any number of water or electric outages, which are highly sensitive topics to a lot of customers. Customer Service received high positive ratings for clear communication, courtesy and professionalism, and being knowledgeable.

Attachments

A - Los Alamos Transactional Report CY2026 H1