Case study

GF Energy

Energy industry deregulation attitudes study

PA conducted a study of attitudes toward deregulation of the energy industry in the United States and Europe for GF Energy. The study was part of a larger project GF Energy had undertaken for an overseas client. The target audience for the research was energy providers and customers within American states and European countries that had experienced some measure of deregulation.

As part of the study, PA designed and conducted a telephone survey with three populations: electric energy company executives, decision-makers at commercial and industrial businesses that are large consumers of energy, and residential customers. The survey samples were drawn from California, Georgia, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas within the United States, and from France, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Europe. The survey instrument was separated into 4 parts. After the introduction and description of deregulation, respondents were asked for their opinions on how well the deregulation process is presently working. The questions were divided into those most pertinent to C&I customers, to residential customers, and those pertinent to both groups. Energy company managers were asked all types of questions. The topics covered were overall satisfaction with deregulation, transmission, nuclear generation, long-term prognosis, competition and future trends in the electric energy industry.

The final report summarized overall attitudes toward energy deregulation today and in the long term, energy transmission issues and nuclear generation