Business Customer Brand Trust Softens, but Leading Energy Utilities Continue to Raise the Bar

LIVONIA, Mich., July 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Business gas, electric and combination utility customer engagement declined through mid-2026 after reaching a high point in mid-2025, led by a significant year-over-year decline in Brand Trust. Billing & Payment—currently the weakest-performing component of Service Satisfaction—also declined significantly as business customers expressed growing concerns about bill communication, manageability and the availability of rate options.

Those are some of the latest findings of the 2026 Cogent Syndicated Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study, which tracks the performance of 88 gas, electric and combination utilities to identify brand and customer experience opportunities and trends in the industry. The report is published semiannually by Escalent, an AI-enabled market research and advisory partner with extensive energy, utility and brand experience.

The decline in Brand Trust was driven primarily by weaker perceptions of Customer Focus and Company Reputation—the study’s two most influential trust factors. The erosion in brand trust reflects declining perceptions of fairness, value and customer advocacy as business customers gave lower ratings on measures such as utilities offering reasonable rates, acting in customers’ best interests, considering customer concerns and keeping commitments.

“Business customers continue to expect reliable service, but reliability alone is no longer enough to sustain trust,” said Suzanne Haggerty, director of Cogent Syndicated research with Escalent’s Energy team. “As energy costs remain top of mind, energy utilities that clearly explain costs, demonstrate value and help businesses manage energy expenses are better positioned to strengthen trust and differentiate themselves in an increasingly challenging environment.”

Despite an industry-wide decline in Brand Trust, Escalent’s 2026 Trusted Business Partners collectively achieved a substantial year-over-year improvement and continued to perform significantly above the industry average. Their performance demonstrates that strong business customer relationships can be sustained—and even strengthened—even as trust declines across the broader industry.

The Trusted Business Partners’ greatest advantages lie in the very areas where the industry is weakening: customer focus, advocacy, value and pricing fairness.

Key observations:

• 2026 Trusted Business Partners outperform the industry by 72 points on Brand Trust and by 78 points on both Customer Focus and Company Reputation, demonstrating that their advantage is rooted in stronger business customer relationships.
• The largest attribute gaps center on customer advocacy, including positive word of mouth, considering customer concerns, creating meaningful interactions and earning customer recommendations.
• Trusted Business Partners also lead the industry on perceptions of reasonable rates and pricing fairness, reinforcing one of the study’s central findings: business customers closely associate affordability and energy utility value with brand trust.
• Trusted Business Partners continue to widen the communication gap. While industry communication intensity has remained essentially flat for three years, Trusted Business Partners have significantly increased customer outreach, suggesting that sustained engagement is a deliberate strategy for strengthening trust and customer relationships.

“What stands out about Trusted Business Partners is the strength of the customer relationship,” said Haggerty. “These energy utilities consistently demonstrate that trust is earned by pairing reliable service with customer advocacy, fair value and ongoing engagement. Their performance shows that business customers reward utilities that communicate transparently, consider customer concerns and reinforce the value they deliver.”

Escalent is pleased to name these 12 energy utilities as our 2026 Trusted Business Partners.

* Utilities named as Trusted Business Partners were selected based on having Brand Trust Index scores in the top decile of the industry, the top score within their respective benchmark segment, or a Brand Trust Index score within 20 points of the top benchmark segment score and above the industry average.

The following tables reflect regional peer benchmark Brand Trust scores among the 88 energy utilities surveyed. These scores reflect the amount of trust business customers have with each energy utility.

About the Cogent Syndicated Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study

Escalent conducted surveys among 13,443 business electric, natural gas and combination utility customers of the 88 largest US utility companies (based on customer counts). The Brand Trust Index score is a composite based on consumer ratings across six factors. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.

For more information on the full report, click here.

About Escalent

Escalent is an AI-enabled market research and advisory partner with unmatched industry expertise. For 50 years, we have been catalysts of progress—turning a deep understanding of our clients’ worlds into smarter strategies and transforming human and market insight into decisive action that helps brands outthink disruption and accelerate growth. Following the acquisition of C Space and Hall & Partners in 2023, our 1,600-strong global team now offers a true one-stop shop for industry intelligence, customer insight and brand strategy. Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, Escalent operates across the US and in Australia, Canada, China, India, Ireland, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, the UAE and the UK. Visit escalent.co to see how we are helping shape the brands that are reshaping the world.

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