• Coelce, Endesa’s distributor in Brazil, earned a Perceived Quality Satisfaction Index (ISQP) rating of 88.4%, the highest in the country
  • This rating is underpinned by the investments made by the company to expand and enhance quality of service. In 2010 alone, the company invested approximately Reais 446 million.

Madrid, 11 August 2011.-  Endesa’s subsidiary in Brazil, Coelce, was voted the Best Power Distribution Utility in Brazil according to the Brazilian association of power distributors, Abradee. The concession holder from the State of Ceará was also named Best Distributor in the Northeast and won the Corporate Social Responsibility award.

The 13th annual Abradee Residential User Satisfaction Survey award ceremony was held in Brasilia at the headquarters of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI for its initials in Portuguese). This survey polls consumers on their satisfaction with services received from the country’s utilities. Coelce earned a Perceived Quality Satisfaction Index (ISQP for its initials in Portuguese) rating of 88.4%, the highest in the country and 11.7 points above the average. This marked the best performance ever by the Endesa Group subsidiary.

Investment

 The results of the survey were underpinned by the investments made by Coelce to expand and enhance quality of service. In 2010 alone, it invested approximately Reais 446 million. A large part of company investment was earmarked for the Universalização dos Serviços de Energia Elétrica (universal electricity service) and the Luz para Todos (electricity for all) programmes. Thanks to these investments, some 2,340,224 homes in Ceará now have electricity, 98.94% of the total, according to the 2010 census by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The number of homes with electricity across the State of Ceará increased by nearly 10 percentage points in 2000-2010, outstripping the Northeast region and the Brazilian national averages. To achieve these results, Coelce improved and enlarged its distribution grid, enhanced its emergency service, engineering and operations, and bolstered power system maintenance in its concession area. Regarding its supply quality indicators, the company’s duration of service interruption (DEC) and frequency of service interruption (FEC) levels ended 2010 at 7.54 hours and 5.61 times, respectively. These were among the best of any Brazilian utility. Coelce was also placed first in the IRC-Abradee ranking in 2010, which measures the quality of the billing process. 

Social responsibility

 Coelce also has a strong social and environmental commitment. One example is the Ecoelce programme, which entails exchanging recyclable waste for discounts on electricity bills. This programme was honoured by the United Nations as one of the largest contributors to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. By the end of 2010, this programme had signed up some 311,000 customers. Similar initiatives related to the environment and economic development of the State of Ceará include: Luz Solidária (charity electricity), Troca de Geladeiras (refrigerator exchange), Energia Social (social energy) and Baú de Leitura (book box).

Last year, 50,000 households swapped their old fridges for new ones; 55 revenue-generating projects were backed by the Luz Solidária programme; 55,000 customers benefited from Coelce nos Bairros (Coelce in the neighbourhoods) programme; 11,800 youths improved their reading skills thanks to Baú de leitura; 1,200 families learned a new trade through the Energia Social programme; and 1,000 children and teenagers learned about cinema and animation techniques, and made films with Cine Coelce which focused, among other things, on sustainability and safety.

 People’s choice

 Coelce’s inclusion in the 150 Best Companies to Work For list by the Exame-Você S/A guide for the sixth year running and the Great Place to Work Institute’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the fourth straight year shows it is appreciated by its workers as an organisation concerned about its employees through integration, training, development, safety and quality of life initiatives.  Coelce was also the only finalist from the Northeast region in the running for one of Brazil’s biggest awards in improved management quality and increased competitiveness of organisations, the National Quality Award (PNQ). Managing quality in different areas of the organisation also helped the company obtain ISO 9001, ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety) certification.

 Other results of the 13th annual Abradee Survey

Coelce is the distributor with the largest portion of households headed by a woman.

  • In Coelce’s concession area, 88.4% of customers have five minimum wage earners in the household.
  • 80.3% of customers polled have average consumption of up to 200 kWh/month.
  • Of all distributors rated in the survey, Coelce shows the highest percentage of households eligible for the discount rate for low-income users, with 61.8%.
  • 92.3% of those polled said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the honesty of the company electricians they had dealt with.
  • 96.6% of customers polled said they identified with and approved of the appearance of these electricians.
  • 65.7% said the company was able to resolve their problem upon first contact.
  • Coelce, with a score of 90.0 points, ranked above the Abradee average (78.2 points) in the Social Responsibility indicator.

    About Coelce

     Coelce, the Endesa Group’s distribution company in Brazil, stands out for the quality of its energy supply across the State of Ceará. It is the third largest distributor in the Northeast by volume sold, supplying nearly 3.1 million customers, of which 2.4 million are residential customers. Coelce’s concession area covers 184 municipalities in 149,000km², with a population of over 8.4 million. Its headquarters are in the region capital, Fortaleza, where main units including service and maintenance centres are located. The company has 201 personal-service points, of which 199 are service offices and 2 are mobile units, all in the State of Ceará.

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