At the end of each quarter, we randomly draw 10 panel members to receive a $200 gift card.  We select eight winners from everyone who completed at least one survey in the quarter, and two more winners from the smaller group who completed the majority of the surveys they were invited to in the quarter. 

 Here are our two “high performance” winners:

 “I love being able to share my voice on the Evergy Advisory Panel!  I plan to use the gift card on household necessities. Thank you!”  Amanda M., Saint Marys KS

“Thank you so much! I plan to use this gift card toward things needed in our home, like groceries and vitamins, that are hard to afford during inflation.”  Bethany I., Lees Summit MO

 Here are our eight regular winners:

 “I've completed surveys for Evergy for quite some time. They are usually quick and easy to share feedback. I'm sure my wife and I can find a fun way to use the gift card for shopping for a kiddo or maybe a date night!”  Caleb D., Wichita KS

“I love doing this panel.  Thank you!”  Emily J., Prairie Village KS

“The opportunity to provide feedback for the community was great. I plan to use the gift card to purchase items for a family in need.”  Jaime L., Louisburg KS

“I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Panel.  It helps me keep up to date with Evergy's operations and express my opinion on a variety of current topics.  I'm not sure what I'll use the gift card for yet, but I'm considering buying an outdoor security camera for the house.” James B., Prairie Village KS

“I love giving my opinion on the excellent service provided by Evergy to inform them of my satisfaction.”  Louise D., Parkville MO

“My granddaughter’s birthday is coming, and I just had spinal repair surgery today, so I will use the gift card for that purpose.  I love being on the panel as I feel it allows me to voice my opinion and help others.”  Patricia M., Manhattan KS

“I enjoy giving feedback and having input on issues Evergy enquires about in their surveys.”  Paul S., Kansas City MO

“I plan to purchase gifts for others. Being on the panel has raised my insights to the big picture in regards to energy.”  Roshonda D., Kansas City MO

 Congratulations, Customer Advisory Panel members!  And thank you!

Survey Shareback: Perceptions of EVs

Hello, panel members!  In March, we conducted a survey assessing perceptions of all-electric vehicles.  It turns out that perceptions of EVs are mixed, with more of you negative about them (35% answered 1-3) than positive (26% answered 8-10), but most of you (39%) are in the middle.  When it comes to knowledge, half of you answered in the middle of the scale (49% answered 4-7), but more of you said you knew a lot (35% answered 8-10) than knew nothing (15% answered 1-3).

Ten percent of you currently own an EV.  Among owners, most charge mostly at home, usually overnight.

Among non-owners, half (48%) know someone with an EV and nearly as many (44%) have driven or ridden in one.

Half of you say you are unlikely to buy an EV, and most of you cited the expected reasons: not enough range for long trips, the high cost to purchase, and lack of charging – both along highways and locally.

This information will be useful for teams within Evergy, as they plan out communications and charging infrastructure.

Thanks, Customer Advisory Panel!

Survey Shareback: Ratings of Evergy

Hello, panel members!  Our first Customer Advisory Panel survey of the year, conducted in February, asked you to rate Evergy on a variety of attributes, about your practices to reduce your electricity use, and your awareness of different activities Evergy is doing.

We learned that you rated Evergy highest for “Overall power quality and reliability” with an average of 7.46, followed closely by “Your overall billing and payment experience” at 7.42.  As expected, you gave the worst ratings to two financial attributes: “Total monthly cost of your electric service” (5.74) and “Overall price” (5.65). 

We also learned that nearly two-thirds of you (63%) visited the Evergy website in the last three months and one-third (33%) used the new Evergy mobile app. 

We asked you about things you do to reduce your electricity usage.  Nearly all of you (89%) said you switch off lights when leaving a room.  At least three-quarters of you adjust your thermostat, use LEDs, or help regulate heat gain or loss with curtains or window coverings.  On the other hand, just 15% of you said you regularly line dry clothes. 

Finally, we asked about your awareness of six activities that Evergy is doing.  For five of the things we asked about, around 6 in 10 of you (54% to 66%) said yes, you were aware.  These things were:

• Efforts to improve their impact on the environment
• Provide energy efficiency programs to help you with ways to use less electricity
• Support of local communities (donations, sponsorships, volunteering, etc.)
• Provide assistance programs for income-eligible customers
• Provide rate options that best fit your lifestyle and needs

The exception was again financial, with just 30% of you saying you were aware that Evergy is managing operating costs to keep rates as low as possible.

Thanks Customer Advisory Panel!  This is valuable background information!

Why can’t we get rewarded for each survey we complete?
For two reasons. First and most important, Evergy is not allowed to provide any sort of direct financial benefit to any specific group of customers. Also, there are concerns that Evergy would be influencing positive responses to surveys if we were to essentially pay you for your answers.

Why don’t you answer individual questions we ask you in the surveys?
We would love to be able to respond to each of you, but we researchers often lack the expertise to answer ourselves, and lack the time to track down the experts at Evergy, interview them, and write a response to you.

Does our input have any effect?
Yes! People at Evergy see the results of every survey and results are taken into consideration. But customer input is only one of many data points needed to make a decision, which, depending on the scope, may include cost, impact across Evergy, regulatory considerations, other priorities, employee constraints, and timing. You may remember the Payment Preferences survey, where we asked about being able to set your own due date. We actually presented these survey results six times to different teams involved in different aspects of making this happen. Directly because of our survey results, it was to be “moved up on the roadmap”, but then more immediate priorities emerged and teams are busy with other issues, so this is pushed back.

The sweepstakes aren’t real and no one wins.
I can assure you that the sweepstakes are real, and people do win. Yes, people in Kansas win, people in rural communities win, people who rate Evergy poorly win. Winners’ comments are posted as written (only edited to correct spelling errors). If you see relatively few winners in rural areas or small towns, it is because we have relatively few panel members in rural communities and small towns. The majority of Evergy customers reside in larger cities, so the majority of panel members reside in larger cities, so the majority of our survey winners reside in larger cities.

Add responses for “don’t know” and “not applicable” and add a back button!
Will do.

Why aren’t we able to have a dialog or more interaction between Customer Advisory Panel members?
This would be fun, but our systems are not set up to allow this.

I never receive the email newsletters and did not know about the Member Hub.
The quarterly newsletters are sent to the same email address as the survey invitations, so if you get survey invitations, you should get the newsletters. You are redirected to the Member Hub at the end of each survey, and clicking on any article referenced in the newsletter will take you to the Member Hub.

How many Customer Advisory Panel members are there?
We usually have around 2,000 active Customer Advisory Panel members. Usually, 30-40% of panel members respond to any one survey. Some members have been active on the panel since it started in 2014!