Business digest: Nov. 22, 2020 | Local

LeTourneau serves as the group’s vice chairman.

“Richard has been fighting conservation battles since he was a teenager,” said Janice Bezanson, a longtime director of the organization. “And he’s still fighting them. To recognize his amazing body of work, Texas Conservation Alliance is proud to award Richard LeTourneau the Ned and Genie Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Named in honor of the alliance’s founders, the award is for people who have dedicated many years of service to protecting Texas’ natural resources.

LeTourneau has served for 20 years on the North East Texas Regional Water Planning Group, with two stints as chairman. He also served on the task force that created the first wetlands plan for Texas, represented East Texas on the State Water Implementation Task Force and served on other state agency committees.

LeTourneau also has been active with Friends of Caddo Lake Refuge and a number of other environmental organizations.

The alliance honored LeTourneau’s love of Texas rivers with a handcrafted wooden paddle. Engraved on the paddle are the Texas Conservation Alliance logo and the words: “Richard LeTourneau, Ned and Genie Fritz Lifetime Achievement Award, 2020.”

SWEPCO ranks high in customer satisfaction

For the first time, AEP Southwestern Electric Power Co ranks No. 1 among midsize utilities in the South in the J.D. Power 2020 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study.

“From delivering safe, reliable and affordable electricity to helping businesses save energy and money, the SWEPCO team is proud to be part of the strong and vibrant communities it serves. This award demonstrates our progress in pursuit of excellent customer service,” said Malcolm Smoak, SWEPCO president and chief operating officer. “SWEPCO employees are committed to meeting customers’ expectations, especially with the challenges everyone is facing during the pandemic.”

SWEPCO scored highest in the midsize South segment of business customers for power quality and reliability; billing and payment; and customer contact. The J.D. Power study examines overall business customer satisfaction across six factors: power quality and reliability; corporate citizenship; price; billing and payment; communications; and customer contact.

The 2020 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study, in its 22nd year, measures satisfaction among business customers of 86 targeted U.S. electric utilities, each of which serves more than 40,000 business customers. In aggregate, these utilities provide electricity to more than 12 million customers.

The study is based on responses from 18,457 online interviews of business customers in decision-making roles related to their utility company. The study was fielded from February through October 2020.

SWEPCO serves more than 543,000 customers in northwest and central Louisiana, northeast Texas and the Texas Panhandle and western Arkansas.