Archive for the ‘customer engagement’ Category

The Expanded Role of AMI in Strengthening Customer Relationships and Improving Water Conservation

Posted by Utilimetrics on December 8, 2011

By Matt Thomas 

As utilities in areas across the country raise water rates to fund desperately needed infrastructure repairs and replacement, educating consumers on the true value of water can act as a “shock” absorber for rate increases, according to Avoiding Rate Shock: Making the Case for Water Rates, a study sponsored by the AWWA Water Utility Council. The study found that although consumers get upset over rate increases because of misunderstandings about the true value of a safe, adequate supply of water, a consistent, structured communications strategy helps build support for rate increases.

To help build and strengthen customer relationships despite rate increases, utilities should proactively leverage advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) data to educate customers on their water usage, especially in terms of rates and the importance of water conservation. Such a task might sound laborious and costly to utilities; however, consumer portals that integrate with AMI systems can allow customers to access their water usage online in real time. Online access to water usage is a relatively simple tool that utilities can employ to help consumers learn about their rates, improve conservation through leak detection and communicate with their utility.

While adoption of consumer portals in the water industry is still in its early stages, some utilities that have started to provide this service are already experiencing significant results. Since installing an AMI system that integrated with an online consumer portal, The Village of Frankfort, NY, reported that approximately 20 percent of its customers are using the system to view their water usage.  As a result of the project, The Village of Frankfort was recognized by the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials (NYSCOM) at the conference’s 102nd annual meeting in which it received first place in the Public Works Category of the 24th Annual Local Government Achievement Award Program.

Consumer portals graphically illustrate stored AMI data and present it to customers in charts and graphs that allow them to easily monitor their consumption rates and usage patterns. Online access to this kind of information can be used by consumers to estimate future water costs, better understand their bills and manage their utility budgets. It also enables consumers to notice or be automatically alerted of data anomalies, which may indicate household water leaks they were not previously aware of, which can result in excessively high bills. This example is just one of many that demonstrate how easy access to such information is financially beneficial to consumers.

Providing access to detailed usage information can also help utilities partner with customers to improve water conservation. This is a valuable capability, as industry reports are showing that water conservation has become a significant concern among consumers. A recent Oracle survey found that 76 percent of consumers are concerned about water conservation. According to the report, 71 percent of those surveyed also indicated that having access to more detailed information about their water consumption would help further motivate their conservation efforts.

Consumer portals enable customers to accurately track their consumption in order to curtail water use to help meet personal conservation goals. And, by automatically alerting consumers of potential household leaks, utilities proactively help rectify necessary action to stop water loss. According to the EPA, 5-10 percent of American homes leak more than 175 billion gallons of water annually through old faucets and toilets. These portals not only show consumers that their utility provides them with the data and tools to allow them to better manage their water usage, they also show that utilities take water conservation seriously (the majority of states are predicting water shortages between now and 2013).

These systems can also help improve communication between consumers and their utilities. Besides accessing usage history, customers can view responses to frequently asked questions (FAQ) regarding billing issues, rates and conservation. And, through portals, utilities can easily reach customers with important information alerts such as water bans, leak alerts and budgetary threshold alerts. 

FAQ responses and improved communication between utilities and consumers is practical, as it helps to better educate consumers on billing and water conservation while also providing them with a means of staying informed on important service issues. And, portals give customer service departments extra support, which can help them to more quickly and efficiently address customers’ needs and concerns.

 

Essentially, integrating a consumer portal with an AMI system can give utilities the efficient means they need to help build and maintain customer relationships. As water rates rise across the country, utilities should leverage this kind of tool to provide customers with easy access to detailed usage information. Such a proactive approach can help improve consumer perception of utilities by instilling a better understanding of personal water usage and billing, and by allowing them to take a more active role when it comes to water conservation.

Matt Thomas is vice president, Sales & Marketing, for Cleveland, NC-based Mueller Systems, a leader in advanced metering solutions for water and energy systems. Mueller Systems is a subsidiary of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA), a leading North American provider of water infrastructure products and services.

Posted in customer engagement, Smart Meters, Water utilities | Leave a Comment »

Empowering Customers to Take Control

Posted by Utilimetrics on December 7, 2011

AMI deployment is a hot-button issue. Negative media attention has conveyed the wrong message to consumers, and utility companies are working to rectify misconceptions. By initializing strategic communication plans, utilities can show their customers they have more options, and ultimately more control with smart meters. By communicating the benefits of smart grid, utilities will have engaged and satisfied customers.

This article highlights the Consumer Engagement Session at Autovation. Read on to learn best practices for customer outreach and learn how early communication plans push deployments to succeed.

Empowered Customers, Smarter Grid

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is working to give over 1.4 million electric and gas customers’ visibility into their energy usage habits, empowering their consumers and open energy markets. By taking a unique approach to the smart grid, SDG&E is improving grid reliability, resiliency, security and efficiency in the face of increased complexity.

Farrell Cox, smart meter deployment manager, SDG&E shared the strategic components of the program:

  • By using smart energy devices, new products and services, SDG&E is encouraging customer participation in energy management.
  • Incorporating and enabling all generation and storage options to support customer choice, improving grid stability and power supply options while reducing GHG.
  • Enhancing the grid to reduce customer disruptions, resist attack, improving workforce and asset optimization and improving efficiency.

Cox described the factors that are driving the need for energy system changes:

  • Customer empowerment: Choice, control and convenience.
  • Centralized renewables: Increased volume threatens grid stability.
  • Distributed renewables (rooftop solar): No control, can’t see it and no communication.
  • Electric vehicles: Current electric grid cannot manage potential volume.

As SDG&E installs smart meters it is increasing customer empowerment. The customer benefits of the deployment are:

  • Enhances reliability and outage detection, and speeds restoration.
  • Gives customers more control over every day energy usage, opportunity for lower bills.
  • Reduces need to access property, more privacy.

SDG&E uses online tools, demand response, dynamic pricing and Home Area Network pilots to empower its customers, giving them direct control over their data. Customers can track problems and rectify them on their own. By observing their energy spend, they can compare day-to-day energy usage and manage their bill.

A Smarter Path to Smart Meters

Pepco Holdings, Inc. (PHI) works to supply power to over 1.5 million customers through Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco. The company is working to advance the smart grid with the utilities it serves. Jay Demarest, PHI and Susan Komornik, The Cadmus Group, Inc. shared lessons learned in early deployments. New technologies often bring an anxiety and a vacuum of misinformation, so it’s extremely important to communicate the benefits of smart grid deployment to customers early on.

Smart meter installation has been under way in Delaware since 2009, the District of Columbia since 2010 and in Maryland since June 2011. Delmarva Power’s aim with its communications plan was to strike a balance:

  • Don’t overpromise.
  • Keep stakeholders involved in planning.
  • Be flexible in timing and execution.
  • Provide good communications/not noise.
  • Offer credible benefits customers can understand.
  • Answer all questions factually.
  • Simple message in customer language/not utility speak.

Where did the communication play into the project lifecycle? For Delmarva, the planning began early:

  • In 2007, PHI announced its “Blueprint for the future” plan to meet the challenges of rising prices and the impact on the environment.
  • In 2008, the Commission approved installations.
  • In 2009, Delmarva initiated research, surveys and field testing to measure customer awareness and understanding.
  • In 2010, deployment began and meanwhile, marketing teams were selected to develop strategies for educating customers on smart meter benefits.

Customer research on smart meters showed positive indicators that 80 percent feel neutral to positive and half see smart meters as an advantage. Research showed the key benefits customers recognized are:

  • Tool to monitor usage.
  • Provide accurate readings.
  • Better customer service.

The challenge was that about one-third of Delmarva customers surveyed know little to nothing about energy efficiency, and while customers are aware of the online tools, most were not enrolled.

And when deployment began, the marketing team developed and implemented a phased plan with creative execution, focus group testing of messaging and communications planning.

Komornik described the goals of an education and outreach phased approach:

  • Introduce and educate customers about proactive energy management.
  • Position smart meters as key to their energy empowerment.
  • Activate customers in energy management with a phased approach.

The Delmarva marketing plan was all about empowering the consumer, with slogans like “Stop Guessing,” “Now you know that your smart meter can help reduce energy bills” and “Take Control of Your Energy.”

It’s vital to reach your consumer. Delmarva send a newsletter to customers. “A QR code is a very effective tracking tool,” said Komornik. And social media is vital because that’s how utilities can integrate themselves into the daily lives of their customers: “Get on the train or get off the tracks,” said Komornik on social media strategy.

Having a well-designed website is key. Easy navigation will help spread your message. Delmarva used a microsite approach which had different pages for:

  • Smart meter definition.
  • Understanding smart meter data.
  • How to start saving energy.

Using TV commercials, online banners, billboards, radio announcements, press releases and print advertisements, Delmarva got the message across that smart meters help curb energy spend, empowering customers to engage with their online tools and manage their energy usage.

Customer smart meter education can be successful if executed with:

  • Research and testing.
  • Careful planning.
  • Proactive partnership.
  • Phased messaging and an integrated media approach.

Please share your customer engagement experiences (challenges and successes) with your peers. There are several ways you can do this:

We look forward to hearing from you!

Posted in Autovation, customer engagement, Deployment, Smart Grid, Smart Meters | Leave a Comment »

Solving the Conundrum of How to Stay Constantly Connected

Posted by Utilimetrics on December 1, 2011

In a day and age where legal pads have been replaced by iPads and your Facebook page draws more interest than the price of oil, it’s important to keep your company connected constantly. Social media outlets and a strong online presence have become mainstays in today’s business environment as well as a key personal interaction tool.

With the likes of Facebook and Twitter having 500 million and 125 million users, respectively, the shift from Wall St. to the World Wide Web is becoming more and more evident with every click of the mouse and stroke of the keyboard. According to a poll from Effie Worldwide and Mashable.com, 70% of marketers plan to increase their social media budget by more than 10% this year (1).

In 2011’s version of a traffic report, gone are words like bumper-to-bumper and rush hour, replaced by click-throughs and unique visitors. The dark days of putting a message out, crossing fingers and hoping your target demographic glances at it are coming to a close. Engaging customers and providing a convenient, accessible catalog are necessities for survival in the World “Wild” Web.

The landscape of the Business-to-Business realm has taken a similar turn with the new digital age. According to a recent Enquiro Survey, when participants were asked to indicated how they would go about making a Business-to-Business purchase, 93.2 percent said they would research the purchase online (2).

B2B transactions differ from most consumer transactions because these decisions require coordination between a number of different personnel before the final transaction is completed. Therefore, the process requires a period of time between researching the product and placing the order. The biggest research tool available today? You guessed it: the World “Wild” Web.

The vastness and enormity of the Internet can either work for or against your company, depending on the approach you take. You can either get lost in the clutter or embrace the new mediums you’re presented. Providing your target demographics and potential buyers with additional information about your products, services and brand gives your company the opportunity to transcend the traditional role of supplier or vendor.

When drawing up a marketing strategy and taking into consideration the purchasing behavior of the 21st Century’s tech-savvy consumer one needs to keep a few key points in the forefront:

  • Spotlight Your Brand: Make sure your brand, products and updates are visible to the industry’s most relevant buyers. With today’s consumer being inundated with banner ads, billboards, e-mails, commercials, etc., it’s becoming more important than ever to distinguish your company and brand in the mind of the potential buyer. 
  • Showcase Your Products: Promote your newest products, overstock items and exclusive deals directly to your target market. Set your company apart from competitors by highlighting your business’s unique catalog of products and services.

 

  • Engage Your Customers: Website, Facebook page, Twitter handle, e-mail info, address, phone number.  Likes and Follows gain more influence each day, the consumer can never have too many ways to reach you or find out more information about your company and its products.

It’s information overload for today’s consumers, as they are constantly bombarded, even overwhelmed, by the ever-growing stream of advertisements and marketing pitches they receive every day. In 2007, the market research firm Yankelovich estimated that the average person living in a city is exposed to 3,500 to 5,000 marketing messages per day (3). Compound that with a 2009 Microsoft study that found that 97% of e-mails sent were destined for the junk mail folder and you’ll come to the conclusion that you’re constantly competing for your target demographics’ attention span, now more than ever (4).

Embrace the new age. Realize that when you open your mind to these new online outlets that you open the eyes of your potential buyers. Put the rubber to the road and get your business on your customers’ computer screens. And you’d better do it fast, because the ever-changing internet landscape of today won’t wait around for you, me or anybody.

 One business tool that could set you up for success is the Smart Utility Marketplace. Advertising in the Utilimetrics Smart Utility Marketplace gives your company the unique opportunity to directly engage your target market. For further information on the unique opportunities that the Smart Utility Marketplace offers your company visit SmartUtilityMarketplace.com.

  1. http://mashable.com/2011/04/19/marketers-social-media-spend/
  2. http://www.enquiro.com/whitepapers/pdf/b2b-survey-summary.pdf
  3. http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2005-06-19-cannes-box_x.htm
  4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7988579.stm

 

Posted in customer engagement | Leave a Comment »

Preparation, Customer Focus and the Right Technology Help PPL Electric Utilities Excel During Storms

Posted by Utilimetrics on November 17, 2011

By Kurt W. Blumenau, PPL Electric Utilities

PPL Electric Utilities’ experience in several major storms this year has shown that timely preparation, customer focus and strong supporting technology are keys to effective storm response.

When the utility first received word of a potentially damaging pre-Halloween snowstorm moving toward its 29-county service area, it found itself in familiar territory. PPL Electric, which serves 1.4 million customers in central and eastern Pennsylvania, had already responded to three major storms this year alone. Damaging thunderstorms before Memorial Day, Hurricane Irene in August and Tropical Storm Lee in September all prompted the utility to extensively prepare and quickly respond to significant challenges and customer needs.

The lessons learned from those storms helped PPL Electric respond as smoothly as possible to what turned out to be one of the three worst storms of the past 20 years in terms of customer outages. The company appreciates the work of its field crews, the contributions of contractors and the patience and persistence of customers during the October snowstorm and throughout this turbulent year. 

As in prior storms, PPL Electric Utilities prepared for the October snowstorm by ensuring the availability of crews, both internally and from its contractors of choice. These are outside companies that regularly work with PPL Electric and are familiar with the company’s network and geographical area.

PPL Electric Utilities also reached out to its sister utilities in Kentucky, just as it had during Hurricane Irene. Crews and contractors from Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities were among the first on the scene to help. LG&E and KU were acquired last year by PPL Electric Utilities’ parent company, PPL Corporation.

Finally, the utility arranged for necessary materials and equipment, as well as extra staffing in a variety of support areas, such as customer contact representatives, system dispatchers, field assessors and material handlers.

All of these resources and more would prove to be needed in the response effort, as PPL Electric Utilities’ service area ended up in the bulls-eye of the storm. Eight to 13 inches of heavy, wet snow were reported Sunday in parts of the utility’s service area. That snow, falling on trees that still had their leaves, caused extensive damage to transmission and distribution lines as broken limbs and branches contacted wires and poles. In some places, the single day’s storm broke snowfall records for the entire month of October.

Nearly 390,000 customers were left without service, and PPL Electric Utilities faced more than 3,000 individual repair jobs. Some of those jobs required extensive cleanup before crews could even start on the electrical repair work. Dave DeCampli, president of PPL Electric Utilities, called the damage some of the worst he’s seen in more than 30 years in the utility business.

As PPL Electric Utilities deployed its initial resources, it immediately began looking for additional crews to help it repair the extensive storm damage. Over the course of the storm, the company received help from four other utilities and 16 contracting companies from 10 states.

PPL Electric Utilities arranged with vendors to make free ice, water and coffee available to customers in especially hard-hit areas. The company also reached out to customers with rounds of personal phone calls in the final few days of the restoration process. And, customer outreach representatives made door-to-door visits to affected customers in areas with concentrated damage.

PPL Electric Utilities worked throughout the storm to provide daily updates to state and local officials in affected areas, as well as to hear those officials’ input on high-priority jobs in their areas. 

It also used new media more extensively than ever, posting coordinated messages and updates on Twitter and Facebook and interacting with customers. Regularly updated outage information was also posted on PPL Electric’s online Outage Center, along with information on where to find ice, water and coffee vendors.

Many Twitter customers thanked the utility throughout the storm for information, updates and contact through social media. The company’s Twitter account, @pplelectric, rose from 1,500 followers at the start of the storm to 2,300 followers by the end.

Other forms of customer contact stand out as areas in which PPL Electric Utilities can improve its storm response. The utility’s customer contact system was overloaded by calls during the peak of storm outages on Sunday, and customers struggled to get through to report outages. More than 1.2 million calls to the company were reported during both Hurricane Irene and the snowstorm.

Also, many customers received automated estimated restoration times that offered confusing, sometimes inaccurate information on when power would be restored in their area.

DeCampli has pledged that PPL Electric Utilities will make necessary upgrades to make it easier for customers to reach the company, as well as to provide more accurate and consistent restoration information. Plans are being developed to expand the call center’s telephone capacity and upgrade the IVR system to better meet customer needs to report outages and get ERTs

PPL’s External Affairs team worked to pair television and print reporters with crews working in the field as much as possible. The coverage produced by this strategy showed viewers and readers just how severe the damage in the field was, and helped them understand why the customer restoration process was continuing into the week.

Some 540 tree and line crews worked around the clock to restore power over five to six days. In all field work, the company applied its standard prioritization policy. Public health and safety facilities, such as hospitals, received top priority for restoration along with transmission lines. After those facilities were back online, the company gave priority to larger repair jobs that would restore the most customers to power as quickly as possible.

The utility’s bulked-up workforce was able to bring the vast majority of affected customers back to service within 48 hours. However, the last and smallest outages lingered until overnight Thursday into Friday.

Posted in customer engagement, Outage Management, Storm Recovery | Leave a Comment »

A Brilliant Path to the Smart Energy Home

Posted by Utilimetrics on October 17, 2011

Though the vision of a smart energy home is still in its formative stages, smart meters, demand response systems, energy efficiency programs and home-area networking technologies are being deployed in significant numbers by utilities.

So what’s next? Smart appliances, home energy management systems, electric vehicles and a greater variety of other systems and devices are likely to follow. How should utility companies prepare, and which devices will have the greatest impact on residential energy consumption? More importantly, which of these devices will consumers embrace?

The panelists at the Autovation 2011 Closing General Session, moderated by Clint Wheelock, founder and president of Pike Research, explored several visions of the future for residential smart energy applications, assessing the likely consumer adoption patterns and preferences, along with the business models holding the greatest promise. Panelists included:

  • Ron Zimmer, president and CEO of CABA Energy
  • Val Jensen, vice president, marketing and environmental programs for Commonwealth Edison
  • Ogi Kavazovic, vice president of strategy & marketing for Opower

Consumer Engagement

Smart customer engagement was the vanguard of discussion. “There’s no one person or one company that can possibly follow all of the permeations and changes, particularly today, in what’s happening in the connected home or in intelligent buildings,” said Ron Zimmer.

“We’re going to have to be more engaged, better engaged with the customers,” said Jenson. To date, there are approximately 27 million smart meters, and they’re not all the same.  Future projections are that by 2015, that number will be 65 million, which is 54% of the households in the U.S.

“Our analysis shows,” said Wheelock, “that the most compelling cases for smart grid…. center around the opportunity to improve the efficiency of utility grid operations, things that most customers don’t see.”

 “All customers want is for their lights to be on and for it to be cheap,” said Kavazovic, reiterating the sentiments of a utility executive. “When you think about the energy management space, it’s a really difficult value proposition for the consumer because in one way, what we are saying and essentially asking them to do is a lot more work and pay a lot more attention to continue receiving the same level of service they’ve been receiving for decades—And that’s tough.”

“Customers are not aware of problems they are trying to solve—from their perspective there is no problem,” said Kavazovic. “The utility…. Is almost the only entity that can play this role in terms of opening up the eyes of the customers, and educating them about what they don’t instinctively know.”

The Opportunity for Utilities

The good news is that there is quite a bit of wasted energy use throughout homes in this country, so while the rates may be low, there’s an opportunity to do much better. Roughly 20% of energy use within the home doesn’t actually contribute to any lifestyle improvements. “For example,” said Kavazovic, “people leave the AC on when nobody is home for three, 10 hours at a time.” That’s the opportunity when it comes to communicating change to customers.

More good news: The majority of the customers get the notion that they can do better when it comes to energy conservation. That’s the opportunity when it comes to the smart home.

Appealing to a Mass Market

Can we take these initial ideas and make them more pragmatic and cost-effective to appeal to the mass consumer? “From a classical economics perspective, if you look at the electricity consumer, they pay a fixed fee for electricity, but the value they get from that kilowatt-hour electricity far exceeds their price,” said Jensen.  “It’s something they call consumer surplus. The value of the product far exceeds what we’re charging them for. It seems there’s a lot of value out there yet to be captured by somebody that could figure out how to translate a new product that could capture that consumer surplus.”

We have to maximize the net value to customers. By implicating the best network service provider possible, you can maximize the value, explained Jensen.

Looking Ahead

What’s really exciting is that what is happening now in energy, on smart grid, in the world of smart meters, is truly helping shape that vision that people had 30-40 years ago in terms of what we could possibly expect to see in intelligent buildings.

With AMI deployment, we’re taking the first steps.

“The utility…. has a very important role to play in customer engagement,” said Kavazovic. “The utility has the data in terms of usage and a captive customer base to help bridge the gap between where they are today and where they need to be. The biggest problem between the consumer and the math is that the customers don’t know what they don’t know.”

When customer demand grows, the utility has an important role to play: The utility should provide a basic level of awareness and information to all customers using practical and existing channels of communication. Give them a full diagnosis of where they are today.

“The utility certainly does play an integral role in all of this from a communications perspective,” said Wheelock. When Pike Research investigated how customers expect to be informed about changes like these, the majority of the customers said they expect to hear that information from the utility, because that’s whom they communicate with. “Even a monthly bill is a form of communication,” said Wheelock.

Posted in Autovation, customer engagement, Electric Vehicles, Emerging Technology, Home Area Networks, Smart Grid | Leave a Comment »

Opening General Session Sets a Fantastic Tone for Autovation 2011

Posted by Utilimetrics on October 11, 2011

Change and innovation were at the forefront of several informative presentations at the Autovation Opening General Session Sept. 26 in Washington, DC.

AMI Deployment and Smart Metering Initiatives

Today, 26 states have some type of government regulations requiring implementation of smart meters. These projects demand significant cost and resources, and as William M. Gausman, senior vice president, strategic initiatives at Pepco Holdings, Inc. explained, are much more than meter-to-meter deployment projects.

“This is a comprehensive initiative,” said Gausman.  Pepco is implementing new technologies, including a 300,000 meter deployment in Delaware. He specified that looking at the deployment holistically from the very beginning, to how data is managed, to educating the customers, is the key to successful deployment.

Pepco received $170 million in federal funding to invest in the smart metering project, and $4 million from a smart grid workforce training provider to assist in re-training meter readers. Smart planning is “under the umbrella of change management,” said Gausman. “We have to change the way we operate internally, from the skills and technicians…. Which impacts our whole design…. To be able to accommodate the data that’s coming back from all of these devices.”

AMI deployments lead to significant change, and companies must be willing to accept this challenge. “What we’re faced with,” said Gausman, “is being able to take the new technology and past technologies and integrate the system… that is really based on designs that are 80 to 90 years old.”

The challenge is making these systems operate in a way that works, and as Gausman described, this is not a program where “you wake up one day and decide that you’re implementing smart meters,” he said.

Gausman said it took a couple of years to develop the concept, then achieve approval. “It is a long path, and without the proper planning, you cannot have a successful program,” he concluded

Measuring and Managing Energy Spending

Paul Feldman, past chairman of the Midwest ISO, displayed data readings from a 24-hour period to present how energy demand varies from hour-to-hour, and how retail price for energy doesn’t properly mirror the real price.

By using a movie generated by the grid operator of the Midwest ISO, Feldman took attendees on a tour of how prices swing during one day, fluctuating from a price point of $0 or less MW/h to over $200 per MW/h. 

“The constant price motivates how you actually use electricity across the day,” says Feldman.  “What the movie shows is the actual price is moving around more than any other commodity on earth, and certainly shows that retail price bares no practical relationship to the real price.”

As the movie played, in just a few hours the prices shifted dramatically from one region to the next.

Exciting Innovation at DC Water

George Hawkins, DC Water general manager is involved with many ambitious projects designed to enhance and improve the water utility.

A repeated theme during Hawkins’ presentation was his passion for conservation.  He concluded his presentation by stating, “It is my strong conviction that you all are at the forefront of protecting human civilization.”

The Opening General Session was also an opportunity for Utilimetrics to recognize industry and association leaders and supporters.

Autovation Sponsors and Exhibitors

Dozens of exhibitors packed the expo and provided information, product and service demonstrations and advice to attendees. Click here for a list of all exhibitors and links to their websites.

Autovation sponsors helped support Autovation and its activities. We are very grateful to our sponsors:

Diamond Sponsor: Itron

Gold Sponsors: Neptune, Sensus and SilverSpring Networks,

Silver Sponsors: Aclara, at&t, Elster and Trilliant

Bronze Sponsors: On-Ramp Wireless, Siemens and Sprint

Autovation Host Utilities
Autovation 2011 host utilities Pepco Holdings, Inc. and DC Water were thanked for their hospitality and assistance in planning Autovation. 

Utilimetrics Awards
Utilimetrics presented four awards during the Opening General Session:

Utilimetrics Excellence in Project Management Award

Presented to Hydro One and accepted by Rick Stevens, Hydro One vice president of asset management.

Utilimetrics Consumer Outreach Award

Presented to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and accepted by Farrell Cox, SDG&E smart meter deployment manager.

Ed Malemezian Utility Professional Best Practices Award

Presented to Charles Kiely, assistant general manager of consumer services, DC Water.

Robert J. Green Distinguished Service Award

Presented to Steve Hadden, SAIC.

After the Opening General Session, hundreds of attendees made their way to education sessions, networking receptions and the expo where they had numerous opportunities to learn, share, explore, experience and celebrate this great industry.

Thanks to everyone who participated in Autovation 2011. Autovation 2012 is Sept. 30-Oct. 3 in Long Beach, Calif. Make plans now.

 

Posted in Autovation, Change Management, customer engagement, Deployment, Grants, Smart Grid, Smart Meters, Water utilities | Leave a Comment »

Three Critical Factors for Successful AMI Deployment

Posted by Utilimetrics on September 19, 2011

By Jeff Trampleasure, vice president of operations, Metadigm Services

 Today, 25 states have smart metering legislation or policies, and utility companies across the U.S. are updating their infrastructure to adhere by the mandates already in place, or inevitably on the way. There are roughly 150 million electric meters in the U.S. and the total installed base of AMR units in the U.S. is estimated between 75M-80M units, or more than 50 percent of all approximate 150M electric meters. However, only a small fraction are replaced with smart meters.

The investments utilities are making in smart grid services are substantial –$50B in the U.S. alone according to authors Marcy Lowe, Hua Fan and Gery Gereffi’s 2011 report, U.S. Smart Grid.

As utilities upgrade the technology, they seek out masters in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) deployment. Quite a few firms specialize in meter installation. Some install the meters and move on to other projects while others remain involved after installation to ensure the systems work accurately, safely and successfully—and that’s a big issue. 

Working with the right smart asset solutions company makes the critical difference in post-installation, continuing support for your customers, and cost-efficiency.  In choosing asset management partners for smart grid upgrade projects, keep in mind that each time you change companies—for example, installers vs. maintenance—you can open the door to data errors, billing errors and transactional costs.

For example, just last month Alabama Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, updated 1.4 million meters over a three-year period throughout the state. Southern Company started deploying meters in 2008 and completed deployment in 2010. The utility planned on a 36-month project, but completed it in 33 months, three months ahead of schedule. That’s a story most utilities would like to repeat. In order to achieve successful full deployment, there are three critical factors to keep in mind as you plan AMI deployment and post-AMI operations. 

Critical Factor #1—Tell end users what to expect up front

Communication may not be visible in the “utility belt,” but all utilities agree it is of the utmost importance in customer satisfaction. Smart meter installation is a hot-button issue across the U.S., and utility companies are conscious of the responsibility to ensure customers understand why their bill might seem to be adjusted after the deployment.

A glance at headlines in local papers proves that people can be confused that digital meters are causing their bills to increase because they read the electricity usage incorrectly. Often, what’s really causing the rise is the fact that mechanical meters are so incorrect and newer technologies are far more accurate in measuring consumption. Unfortunately, many utilities have also discovered that wiring technicalities and switching a smart meter from one address to another without proper procedures can also create a billing nightmare. Expelling rumors about what happens with smart meter technology upfront is a good practice before the installation begins.

“People want to blame the utility company,” says Angela Taylor with Metadigm Services. “But what we’ve seen in our work with Cobb EMC, Georgia Power, and others is that a proactive customer communications campaign can help the end user see the benefits from better monitoring.”

But the communication efforts shouldn’t stop with pre-installation outreach. End users have questions or concerns during and after the installation process, too.

“Making yourself available before, during and after the deployment makes a big difference in customer service,” says Steve Hallock, senior vice president of product innovation at Metadigm.  He suggests live person assistance to the utility company’s customers during business hours, and 24/7 assistance via web.

Critical Factor #2—Be rigorous about post-AMI expertise

Installation is more than just a meter-for-meter exchange-it involves pre-planning to post-AMI deployment.  For most utilities, a meter upgrade project is a completely new undertaking.  Look for service companies to support you with a lot of experience not just in installation, but in post-deployment. Going from a labor-intensive manual meter reading system to a high-tech two-way communicating system involves more than just a shift in technology for utilities—it’s a culture shift as well.

Utilities are challenged with how to respond to meters that now convey a stream of information.  How to respond to all this data is beyond the role of data analysts and IT operators. The right firm with a focus on proactive asset management can help make the transition from traditional metering to the new paradigm a smooth transition.   Post-AMI deployment represents a critical phase that involves careful consideration of many variables including compliance to safety, reaction to meter alarms and verification of accuracy to name a few.

Critical Factor #3—Plan for data collection and management

When an installation company is not involved following deployment, the utility often has to figure out how to respond to the stream of data from every meter. Ted Masters, VP of sales for Metadigm suggests selecting a company that is willing to work with you as a long-term partner rather than one that finishes your project and moves on to the next one.

As utilities are aware, preventative strategies must be in place to address safety during a storm, vegetation and other intrusive factors. Utility companies are flooded with customer demands when disaster strikes. And beyond blackouts and severe storms, day-to-day meter readings take manpower and expertise.  The new technologies provide real-time interval data that needs to be monitored and managed properly.

“Now that we have deployed smart meters, we’re better able to take care of our customers and manage our power grid, and that’s what it’s all about,” said Reginald Murchison, Manager-Metering Services at Alabama Power.

Posted in Change Management, customer engagement, Deployment, Project Management, Smart Grid, Smart Meters | Leave a Comment »

Naperville IL Smart Meter Deployment Campaign Hits a Home Run with Customers

Posted by Utilimetrics on September 8, 2011

The city of Naperville, Ill., earns high grades for the educational campaign it’s assembled to accompany the city’s smart meter deployment.

Customer engagement is one of the most critical aspects to consider when deploying a smart meter program. Without customer buy-in, deployments can go wrong quickly, or fail to get off the ground entirely.

The municipal utility of Naperville, Ill., hit a home run when it comes to customer engagement and education. Make that a grand slam. Naperville officials have deployed numerous programs to peak the interest of rate payers as the city prepares for a full rollout this November to its 57,000 customers, which includes 50,000 homeowners.

Naperville, a city of 145,000 residents located 30 minutes west of Chicago, has turned to innovative measures such as recruiting smart meter ambassadors to promote the Naperville Smart Grid Initiative, and measuring RF signals in an effort to alleviate concerns about health issues from the very low levels of RF emitted from smart meters.

According to Nadja P. Lalvani, community relations manager for the city of Naperville, outreach programs like these are groundbreaking when it comes to the electric utility industry.

Autovation attendees will learn first hand about the special customer engagement programs utilized by Naperville, as well as other details regarding its DOE grant and partnership. Dave Tilson, a senior manager with smart grid consultant West Monroe Partners, will join Lalvani at the podium. West Monroe assisted Naperville with its smart grid application, built the business case and also assists with community outreach.

Naperville has installed 80 meters out of a 200-meter pilot that will be completed by September. The city sought customer buy-in for the project immediately upon receiving its $11 million stimulus grant in 2009 and has created an interactive web site where customers can learn about the program.

The utility has relied heavily on three highly successful portions of their community outreach campaign.

  • Recruiting residential and business customers to act as smart meter ambassadors to spread the word about the initiative and its goals.
  • Deploying a Smart Grid Customer Bill of Rights.
  • Including thorough RF emission testing to assure the safety of smart meters

The ambassador program has been highly successful in utilizing an educated customer base to promote the program to fellow rate payers. So far, more than 30 customers have signed up.

“We’re very excited about this program and the benefits that will result,” says Lalvani. “As far as we can tell, no one else has implemented a program like this.”

Tilson notes that having customers promote the benefits of the program allows rate payers to form their own opinion of the smart meter initiative. “This is not just something coming from the city, it’s coming from customers and neighbors,” says Tilson. “There is a culture of not trusting the government, but that element is taken away by having this group of people advocate for us.”

The Smart Grid Customer Bill of Rights spells out the rights of customers in terms of the right to be informed, the right to privacy, and the right to data security.

When it comes to addressing safety concerns, Lalvani says that the city will measure RF emissions from smart meters and collector units, and then isolate those readings from whatever ambient RF emissions are present naturally in each neighborhood. The effort will cost about $25,000, mostly in hardware costs to purchase the measuring meter.

“This is being done in direct response to some concerns expressed by our residents on the safety of smart meters,” says Lalvani. “I have not heard of other utilities that have added this additional step to their projects. But we’ve been contacted by several municipal and investor-owned utilities that are interested to see the results of our testing.”

Naperville’s smart grid initiative benefits from the fact that its customers are very tech-savvy and interested in energy conservation efforts. For example, 25 percent of the utility’s customers have signed up for paperless billing, and 10 percent are enrolled in voluntary renewable energy programs. Additionally, 7 percent of cars registered in Naperville are hybrids.

“As we expected, our residents are very excited about this smart grid project, mainly because it is great for the environment and offers customers more options and tools when it comes to managing their electric usage,” says Lalvani.

Naperville’s city-owned utility was the only electric utility in Illinois to receive a stimulus grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, when the U.S. government distributed more than $3 billion to modernize the U.S. electric grid. The $11 million Naperville received represents 50 percent of the expenditure for the initiative.

The smart grid program is funded entirely by the municipality. When the program is fully deployed, the city will offer both flat rates and time-of-use rates, which will allow customers to save money on their energy bill by converting their energy usage to off-peak hours.

The presentation at Autovation is Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 3 p.m.

 

 

Posted in Autovation, customer engagement, Deployment, Education, Pre-Deployment, Project Management, Smart Grid, Smart Meters | 1 Comment »

Autovation Education Sessions Available Online

Posted by Utilimetrics on August 23, 2011

Autovation Education Sessions are a work-in-progress with changes expected daily until we arrive in DC. But, we know how important it is to keep you up-to-date on the agenda, so we are providing a PDF of the current schedule. The PDF will be updated often. Click here to access the PDF.

 Autovation speakers are among the most respected in the industry. Click here to read their bios.

 Be sure to include at least one workshop in your education experience. Three two-hour workshops are planned to help you develop tangible ideas and plans that you can take back to your utility and put to immediate use.

 A workshop on Smart Grid Business Case Development is offered Monday, Sept. 26, 3-5 p.m. Led by Steve Hadden and Andy Owens from SAIC, this workshop will prepare utility attendees to guide a successful business case analysis at their own utilities. “Successful” means the analysis will produce a reliable result, which may show either that AMI is a productive investment, or that it is not. While there are many paths to this result, only some enable the utility to act on the decision. Attendees will understand the process and content of the AMI business case, and the reasons why the process is important.

Tuesday, Sept. 27, 3-5 p.m. Kevin Cornish, Enspiria Solutions and Mark Day, UISOL will lead a workshop on RFP Development. They will introduce participants to the proposal development process for major initiatives such as smart metering/AMI, MDMS, DR, DMS, and similar smart grid projects. They will present a suggested proposal process outline and the participants as a group will explore key components of the process. Topics include proposal process overview, purpose and intent, schedule, roles and responsibilities, document development, pricing solicitations, timelines, and vendor engagement. Best practices in areas such as requirements evaluation and reference verification will be shared.

 Join Steve Rogers, Capgemini, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 9-11 a.m. for a workshop on AMI Information and System Integration.  Smart meter/grid projects involve business process changes that drive substantial changes to IT landscapes.  Having a structured approach to analyzing and designing solutions for those changes can bring benefits that last beyond the project.  Learn how using an open source architecture framework known as TOGAF9, developed by The Open Group, is helping utility representatives on two projects have a better understanding of the impacts to their IT applications, data stores, infrastructures and online presentment efforts.

Autovation offers the best education in the industry. Register today. We look forward to seeing you in DC.

Important Autovation Links

Preliminary Program (Please note—this is a printed piece that was produced last spring.  Changes will appear in the Final Program which is in production and will be available shortly before Autovation.)

Exhibitor List
Utility Registrants
Register
Hotels
Exhibitor Prospectus
Sponsorship Brochure
Website

Posted in Autovation, Clean Technology, customer engagement, Cybersecurity Issues, Demand Response, Deployment, Education, Electric Vehicles, Emerging Technology, Home Area Networks, Meter Data Management, Pre-Deployment, Project Management, Smart Grid, Smart Meters, Standards, Transmission and Distribution Technologies, Water utilities | Leave a Comment »

Contribute to News Link and Send Us Your Company News

Posted by Utilimetrics on August 17, 2011

Utilimetrics publishes bylined articles from members in News Link, the weekly e-newsletter, provided they are educational. Suggested topics include updates on recent deployments, lessons learned and consumer programs. However, we will consider all topics related to utility automation.

Share your company news with the Utilimetrics community by sending us your press releases. Over 9,000 people receive News Link. Let Utilimetrics help you spread the word about your company. This is another great benefit of utilimetrics membership.

For information about contributing an article, contact Janice Greenberg and jgreenberg@utilimetrics.org or 847.227.0478. And, ask your public relations staff to add Janice to your media list.

Posted in Autovation, Clean Technology, customer engagement, Cybersecurity Issues, Demand Response, Deployment, Education, Electric Vehicles, Emerging Technology, Home Area Networks, Interoperability, Meter Data Management, Pre-Deployment, Project Management, Smart Grid, Smart Meters, Transmission and Distribution Technologies, Water utilities | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

 
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