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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

Current Trends in Retail Service Quality

W. J. Schweiger

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

NSTAR’s Mission…

“We are in the Business of Serving our Customers Well”

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

Success will be achieved by providing…• Dependable Service • Urgency in Restoration Response• Prompt and Accurate Information about

System Conditions• Accurate Metering and Billing

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

For NSTAR’s Employees… “It starts with Us”• Working Productively and Safely• Teamwork and Customer Focus• Mutual Trust and Respect• Diversity• Two-way Communication• Ownership and Accountability• Restructuring of Operations to Better

Support and Respond to the Needs of Our Customers

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

Our Strategy is to…• Improve Customer Service• Create a Performance Driven Culture• Achieve Maximum Efficiency in

Operations

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

We’re on the Path to Success…• Performance Measures

– Operate and Exceed the standards of performance

– Track performance against standards. Metrics, Metrics, Metrics………

• Drive Leadership Behaviors– Support the organization with programs that

facilitate learning and development and reinforce our commitment to diversity

• Communications All Around– Communicate to constituencies

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

What Does It Mean to Serve our Electric Customers Well?

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our OwnWhat Does It Mean to Service our Electric Customers Well? • Dependable Service • Urgency in Response• Prompt and Accurate Information on

System Conditions• Timely Response to Customer Inquiry

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

Dependable Service… the lights don’t go out• Achieve Top Quartile Performance for System

Reliability• Approximately 90 projects, in 35 communities targeted

for June 1, 2002 completion • Reliability Improvement Projects, including:

– Conversion of 4kV open loop system– Replacement of wire, cable, and switchgear– Upgrading of system control and protection

equipment• Capacity Enhancement Projects• Vegetation Management

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

• Back To The Basics– O&M Means… Operate and Maintain– Capital Work Plan Plan Schedule Execute

• Basic Premise ……… Good Service

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our OwnUrgency in Restoration Response…if the lights go out, the entire organization is charged with rapid restoral• Achieve Top Quartile Performance in Customer

Restoration Restoration• Summer Preparedness and Contingency Planning• Improve Dispatch and First Response• Improvements in Restoration Process• Enhanced deployment of distribution automation

and the role of technology in service restoral

First Response Is Restoration

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

Prompt and Accurate Information About System Conditions…• Establish linkage between the

operation of the system and the customer

• Keep the customer informed– Why are the lights out? – When will service be restored?

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

The Role of Technology…

• GIS initiatives in Gas & Electric • “State-of-the-Art” Outage Management System• Establishment of standards for outage restoral• Distribution Automation• Rollout of mobile data terminals & technology

in the field • Call Handling• Billing• Outage response & customer communication

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

Outage Call ProcessCUSTOMER CALL OUTAGE ANALYSIS &

DISPATCH

ELECTRONIC BULLETINBOARD

CUSTOMER

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

• Increasing Call Answer Rate• Providing Prompt Information to

Customer Inquiries• Prompt Area-specific Messages to be

posted for our Customers • DTE Outage Reporting Protocol

– Notification to Regulators & Municipal Officials

Prompt and Accurate Information to Customers

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own

Summary…• Enhanced focus on performance & quality

of service• Utilize SQI as the framework for a

performance based culture• Role of technology

– Call handling– Billing– Outage response & customer communication

• Incorporate Safety in all our performance

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Building a Company We’re Proud To Call Our Own