Los Alamos DPU Asks Residents to Complete Survey by Feb. 17

The Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities is asking county residents to complete its second annual Voice of the Customer survey before it closes on Tuesday, February 17, saying the quick questionnaire will help guide service and policy priorities. “Help us stay current by completing the Voice of the Customer Survey before it quietly flows into your brain’s ‘puns and opportunities missed’ folder on Tuesday, February 17,” the county news release says, adding the survey “only takes a few minutes, just a splash of time.”

The five-week survey, run beginning in early January by consultants identified as Great Blue Research (also styled GreatBlue Research), drew more than 700 respondents this year, up from 500 last year. Consultants presented results to the Board of Public Utilities, reporting strong overall satisfaction with reliability and service while flagging mixed views on communications, digital tools and willingness to pay higher monthly amounts to accelerate clean‑energy goals. “The county's annual 'voice of the customer' survey found strong satisfaction with reliability and service but weaker support for paying larger monthly amounts to accelerate clean‑energy goals; use of the Los Alamos Now app remains low among respondents,” the presentation summary states.

Operational scores show improvements over 2022 and gains versus American Public Power Association benchmarks in key customer-service areas. Customer Care Center satisfaction registered 85.9 percent for residential customers and 88 percent for commercial customers, above the APPA benchmark of 81.9 percent. First contact resolution rose markedly to 68.2 percent for residential respondents and 64 percent for commercial respondents, compared with 54 percent and 47.4 percent in the prior survey; the APPA benchmark for first contact resolution is 61 percent. The DPU also saw increased ratings for helping customers conserve utilities and for the overall quality of communications received.

Not all findings were uniformly positive. About half of respondents were aware of the Los Alamos Now app, but fewer than 15 percent of residential and commercial customers reported using it; among that smaller group, satisfaction with the app was high. More than half of residential respondents reported using the utility bill and payment portal, and most of those users said they were satisfied. Board members and consultants noted a drop in residential responses from prior years, which Great Blue attributed to “survey fatigue and timing (other county surveys and outreach).”

Consultants recommended targeted communications to boost awareness of the Los Alamos Now app and user‑experience testing to increase adoption. Great Blue also urged repeating the survey with refined, more actionable questions once cost estimates from the county’s forthcoming electrification study are available. Member Matt Heffner said that electrification study could “provide concrete cost scenarios that would make future survey questions about willingness to pay more actionable.”

The DPU framed the outreach as part of ongoing community engagement and cited recognition for past participation: “thanks to this great community’s past participation, DPU earned a 2024 Customer Satisfaction Award from the American Public Power Association, proof that local voices matter.” The release reminds residents that if they received an email invitation or call from GreatBlue Research, that is the survey team and to check junk folders if they did not see the invitation. It also urges customers who depend on electricity for medical equipment to join the DPU Medical Alert list for advance notice of planned outages.

For Los Alamos residents, the survey is a rare, direct channel to influence utility priorities from outage planning to digital tools and clean‑energy investments. Completing the survey by Feb. 17 helps shape what the Board of Public Utilities and consultants will recommend next, and sets the stage for follow‑up work tied to the electrification study and planned refinements in future surveys.