At the Heart

• American Gas Magazine

Natural gas utilities celebrating more than 100 years in business have this in common: a commitment to customer needs that has fostered strong customer engagement and lasting business success.

“As Virginia Natural Gas celebrates 175 years of service, it remains steadfast in its mission to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy,” Morgan Chase, senior public relations and media relations specialist, told American Gas. “By keeping customers at the heart of everything it does, VNG leads the way in fostering positive change and maintaining the highest standards of excellence in the energy industry.”

Founded in 1850 in Norfolk, the utility celebrates 175 years of service this year. It says that its dedication to exceptional service comes through implementing customer-centric initiatives such as two-hour appointment windows, among the narrowest in the industry; its Glance and See Messaging Service (GAS), which provides real-time updates on natural gas installations, enhancing transparency; a local customer care center, which opened in 2023 in Virginia Beach, creating jobs and improving support; and elimination of convenience fees, which addressed customer concerns by removing the $2.50 bill payment fee.

Its impact on the customer extends beyond natural gas delivery. In 2024, the company donated nearly $1.2 million to more than 80 nonprofit organizations across Hampton Roads. These contributions focused on children and education, environmental stewardship, military and veterans and community enrichment. Employees also play a vital role in community outreach, dedicating more than 950 volunteer hours to 21 company-sponsored events in 2023.

This collective effort earned VNG the CIVIC 50 Award from Volunteer Hampton Roads in 2023 and 2024, recognizing outstanding commitment to corporate volunteerism and civic engagement. VNG’s efforts have also earned it the Virginia Department of Energy’s Local Distribution Company of the Year Award six times, recognizing excellence in sustainability, infrastructure investments, and corporate philanthropy.

Washington Gas, which celebrated its 175 years in service in 2023, says that its commitment to customer service includes a 24/7 gas emergency line to ensure customer safety and rapid response; its Washington Area Fuel Fund (WAFF), which has distributed nearly $33 million to assist over 308,000 families with winter heating costs; and its investments in disaster relief and food security, totaling more than $10 million in emergency response capabilities and supporting food banks with millions of meals.

According to the utility, along with resolving customer issues, it’s constantly looking at the customer’s journey and work toward improving that journey by realigning its systems and/or processes—”to ensure we offer the best customer experience to our customers,” senior director, utilities communications, Andre Francis, told American Gas.

For example, it works to understand and adapt to changing customer expectations, enhance the customer journey with improved self-service options, and strengthens proactive communication to keep customers informed and engaged.

“Our goal is to make the customer interaction with us seamless,” Francis told American Gas. “We continuously encourage customer feedback and understand that it is crucial with helping us improve our services.”

MDU Resources, headquartered in North Dakota, was founded in 1924 on the principle that “when communities thrive, we thrive.” The company has donated $45 million to its communities since 1983 and as part of its centennial celebration, donated $100,000 to 10 charities nominated by employees.

According to MDU, safety and reliability are the cornerstone of the utility industry. “Customers want to feel safe and know their energy service is always available,” Dan Tillis, director, customer experience team, told American Gas.

He says that the utility recognizes that customer service is not one-size-fits all. “We build trusted relationships by focusing on the fact everyone is different and has different needs,” said Tillis. We train our staff to always remember this and recognize we are working with individual people with individual needs. We center our training on respectful communication to connect with customers, conflict resolution, and job knowledge.”

MDU’s customer service meets the evolving needs of customers by:

• Ensuring rapid emergency response and outage handling.
• Offering tailored service options, recognizing diverse customer needs.
• Providing digital self-service tools like eBill and AutoPay.

Educating customers is also essential. “Customers want information about safety, community support activities, energy and money-savings tips, payment options, and bill payment assistance options.”  Tillis said. “Proactive communication from our staff and via various media on these topics ensure customers feel informed, connected and valued.”