Seattle City Light has been named a 2025 Trusted Business Partner by Escalent, a leading data analytics and advisory firm specializing in human behavior research.
This recognition places City Light among the top-performing utilities in the nation. The award highlights our commitment to providing exceptional customer service. We are proud of our success in building strong relationships with business customers through reliable service, clear communication, and community engagement.
What makes a Trusted Business Partner
Escalent’s 2025 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business study evaluated gas, electric, and combination utilities across the United States. Only nine utilities earned the prestigious Trusted Business Partner designation.
To qualify for this recognition, utilities must show exceptional performance in several key areas. Trusted Business Partners score significantly higher than their peers, surpassing the average Company Reputation score by 10%. These utilities also enjoy more positive word-of-mouth recommendations from their customers.
“These efforts, along with visible investments to enhance system reliability, are helping utilities build trust in meaningful ways,” said Suzanne Haggerty, director of syndicated research with Escalent’s Energy industry team.
“Trusted Business Partners continue to prove the value of having a visible, positive presence in the local business community,” continued Haggerty. “This presence gives business customers something good to say about their utility, which goes a long way toward building a stronger reputation.”
Our community-focused approach to customer service
As a municipal utility, City Light operates differently from many other utilities. We serve Seattle and our franchise cities with a focus on customer needs rather than profit margins.
Customers first is a value we share in our daily operations:
“We are proud that our Business Customer Services team delivers such comprehensive services to our business customers. By taking a proactive approach, we help customers manage their accounts, understand their energy needs, and adapt to a changing economic environment,” said Business Customer Services Manager Sandra Ball.
The recognition reflects City Light’s ongoing efforts to serve as more than just an energy provider. We strive to serve as a strategic partner, helping businesses explore options for cost savings, sustainability initiatives, and environmental goals.
Building on past success
This latest recognition builds on our previous achievements. We earned the same Trusted Business Partner designation in 2023, demonstrating consistent performance over time.
The 2023 recognition highlighted City Light’s position as the top-ranked utility in the western region among 81 utilities surveyed nationwide. Only 15 utilities received the trusted partner designation that year, making Seattle City Light’s repeat performance particularly noteworthy.
Looking forward
City Light’s recognition as a 2025 Trusted Business Partner reflects our commitment to continuous improvement. We continue to focus on enhancing operations, powering communities, and maintaining the trust customers place in our services. This recognition serves as both an achievement to celebrate and a standard to maintain going forward.
For our business community, we will continue delivering reliable service and support as your strategic partner. We look forward to working with you!
About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Business
Escalent conducted surveys among 12,585 business electric and natural gas utility customers of the 85 largest US utility companies (based on customer counts). Starting in 2025, business respondents are weighted based on the number of establishments (based on employee count) present in each utility’s territory. As a result, official 2025 scoring should not be directly compared with previous years’ scoring. The Brand Trust Index score is a composite based on consumer ratings across six factors. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request.
For more information on the full report, click here.
About Escalent
Escalent is an award-winning data analytics and advisory firm that helps clients understand human and market behaviors to navigate disruption and business transformation. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, our strategies guide the world’s leading brands. We accelerate growth by creating a seamless flow between primary, secondary, syndicated, and internal business data, providing consulting and advisory services from insights through implementation. Based on a profound understanding of what drives human beings and markets, we identify actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences, inspire product innovation and boost business productivity. Visit escalent.co to see how we are helping shape the brands that are reshaping the world.