billing, metering crm/cis america 2004
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Billing, Metering CRM/CIS America 2004. Transition Strategy: Manual Field Data Collection to AMR Implementation Chuck Session Manager, Cinergy Meter Reading. My Objectives Today. Cinergy Corporation overview Review current manual Cinergy Field Data collection options - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Billing, Metering CRM/CIS America 2004
Transition Strategy: Manual Field Data Collection to AMR
Implementation
Chuck SessionManager, Cinergy Meter Reading
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My Objectives TodayMy Objectives Today
• Cinergy Corporation overview
• Review current manual Cinergy Field Data collection options
• Explain how PB ARC’s has been key to our Meter Route Management success
• Discuss Cinergy’s staffing transition for Field Data Collection & Contractor performance expectations
• Future Cinergy AMR technology Options
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IntroductionIntroduction
• Cinergy is a gas and electric utility serving 1.5 million electric customers and 500,000 thousand gas customers over a 25,000 thousand square mile area in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
• Two operating companies (Cincinnati Gas and Electric and subsidiaries [East] and PSI Energy [West]) with two call centers (one union, one non-union).
• The centers receive approximately 3.7 million calls per year.
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Field Data CollectionField Data Collection
• Cinergy Meter Readers read over 24.7 million meters annually.
• Within the I-275 urban beltway in Cincinnati, 408,000 (52%) of all meters are inside. In Northern Kentucky, over 79,000 (42%) are inside and 487,000 (37%) of Cinergy’s East Meter Reading customers have inside meters .
• In Indiana, 99% of all customer meters are outside.
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Cinergy East Meter Location Summary
Cinergy East Meter Location Summary
Number Inside Number OutsideDivision Gas Electric Total Gas Electric Total All Meters
01 Lawrenceburg 837 0 837 4,693 0 4,693 5,53002 Brookville 2 0 2 1,041 0 1,041 1,04310 Cincinnati 170,665 193,770 364,435 120,799 220,823 341,622 706,05720 Middletown 11,138 7,620 18,758 35,238 61,325 96,563 115,32130 Batavia 300 7,084 7,384 27,270 73,218 100,488 107,87240 Oxford 0 1,096 1,096 149 7,183 7,332 8,42850 Fairfield 832 5,185 6,017 36,224 65,099 101,323 107,34060 Harrison 301 743 1,044 1,848 4,808 6,656 7,70070 Loveland 394 5,898 6,292 26,674 44,600 71,274 77,56680 Kentucky 38,173 38,945 77,118 37,910 71,164 109,074 186,19290 Kentucky 251 955 1,206 16,622 23,524 40,146 41,352Total 222,893 261,296 484,189 308,468 571,744 880,212 1,364,401
Totals
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The “Key” RoomThe “Key” Room
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Meter Reading Customer Survey Results 2003
Meter Reading Customer Survey Results 2003
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
October November December
Courteous Property Respect
Effort to Read Meter Read is Correct
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Itron Data Cap ProcessingItron Data Cap Processing
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Cinergy Field Data Collection Options
Cinergy Field Data Collection Options
• Cycle Meter Read (includes Mobile AMR)
• Gray Card
• On Line Read
• Succession Read (Customer on / off request)
• Special Read (Customer appointment)
• Kick Out / Next Day Read
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Mobile AMR ReadsMobile AMR Reads
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
# Installed 13,000 23,500
1996/97 2003
• Initial installation of 13,000 in 1996/97 for hard to read locations
• Over 23,000 AMR meters installed in Ohio and Kentucky today
• Installed in hard to access meter locations
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Gray Card / On Line ReadsGray Card / On Line Reads
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
Gray Cards 119,103 105,713
Web 6,929 15,456
2002 2003
• Gray Card reads filled out by customers and returned to Cinergy for billing
• Introduction of On-Line read option in 2002. 2003 was the first full year for application.
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Succession ReadsSuccession Reads
• Cinergy East Meter Reading personnel read over 116,887 Succession Reads in 2003
• The number of Succession Reads completed by this meter reading group has increased each of the last 4 years and they continue to reduce their “cost per order.”
• In 2004, this work group is expected to complete over 190,000 Succession Reads.
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East Succession ReadsEast Succession Reads
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
1999 3,361 6,796 3,803 13,621 17,226 21,626 25,590 30,149 37,806 43,567 49,940 55,827
2000 5,347 11,157 16,223 21,682 28,060 35,222 42,089 49,899 56,430 61,941 66,508 70,717
2001 4,883 10,952 17,823 24,434 29,941 36,136 43,530 51,585 59,336 66,281 72,993 80,004
2002 6,058 12,535 19,782 26,782 34,186 43,491 51,494 60,568 69,313 76,653 83,782 91,373
2003 6,672 14,132 21,077 27,489 34,597 43,802 51,809 62,200 72,036 84,051 100,103 116,887
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
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Succession Reads Percentage By Department
Succession Reads Percentage By Department
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2003 2004
Meter Reading Service Delivery
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Succession Reads AverageRead By Department
Succession Reads AverageRead By Department
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
2003 2004
Meter Reading Service Delivery
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Cinergy East Special ReadsCinergy East Special Reads
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
1999 1,304 2,468 3,502 4,632 5,585 6,580 7,304 8,111 8,952 9,665 10,372 11,205
2000 1,378 2,663 4,001 5,062 6,003 6,830 7,592 8,604 9,555 10,814 11,845 13,139
2001 2,062 4,148 5,737 7,194 8,845 10,308 11,801 13,452 15,000 16,484 17,783 18,967
2002 1,903 3,785 5,081 6,221 7,530 8,819 10,078 11,151 12,067 13,010 13,858 15,090
2003 2,187 4,430 6,361 7,825 9,647 11,698 13,567 15,621 17,376 19,164 20,860 23,262
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
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Cinergy East Kick Out /Next Day
Cinergy East Kick Out /Next Day
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
2002 8,531 17,769 26,290 36,995 48,427 56,366 63,963 69,275 71,130 72,890 73,513 73,585
2003 4,122 6,145 8,719 13,490 16,333 20,095 23,495 28,424 32,582 39,224 43,997 48,805
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
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Criteria considered in the transition to Contract Meter
Reading
Criteria considered in the transition to Contract Meter
Reading
• Are there contract Meter Reading firms who want the business?
• Do they have the organizational leadership to effectively manage this size project for Cinergy?
• Can they do so and meet Cinergy’s performance expectations?
• Can they do so cost competitively?
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Indiana Contract Meter Reading
Indiana Contract Meter Reading
• Pilot of 187,000 customers July 2000 for one year based on a cost per read.
• Contractor responsible for uniforms, material and training.
• RFP for 3 year contract 7/01 – 6/04 with two successful bidders.
• Current contractors are reading over 500,000 meters Cinergy West.
• Performance metrics for % of meters read, accuracy, customer stewardship and safety.
• Financial penalties are in place in the event of non-performance.
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Cinergy Staffing Resources Cinergy Staffing Resources
• Cinergy East> In 1996 Cinergy East
had 145 full time meter readers
> With the exception of 10 new hires (3rd quarter 2003 due to internal work shifted to meter reading) no full time meter readers have been hired since 1996.
> Today there are 97 FT and 83 PT meter readers.
• Cinergy West> In 1996, Cinergy West
had 110 full time meter readers.
> With the exception of 7 new hires (arbitration in 2001-2002), no full time meter reading personnel have been hired since 1995.
> Today there are 37 full time Cinergy and 60 contract meter readers.
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Indiana Contract Meter Reading
Indiana Contract Meter Reading
Benefits
• Meters are read on a competitive cost per read basis.
• Contractors only get paid when the work is completed accurately and on time.
• Contractors have demonstrated the ability to read meters effectively. (99.67% completion rate year end 2003 billing cycle).
• Contractors are allowed 1 inaccurate read per 1,000 and must read 98% of all meters assigned to avoid financial penalty.
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Meter Route Management PB ARC’s
Meter Route Management PB ARC’s
• Cinergy invested in the Power Builder Automated Route Control System (PB ARC’s) licensed by DB Microware in 1996.
• Aggressive implementation of PB ARC’s in Indiana in 1997. Initial reduction of 273 routes.
• Adjusted routes using a benchmark of 6.5 hours of read time.
• The PB ARC’s tool has enabled Cinergy to more effectively optimize staffing resources for the effective and efficient completion of meter routes.
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Meter Route Management cont…..
Meter Route Management cont…..
Benefits
• Time stamp capability of meter reads held in PB ARC’s provides an exact picture of route times and meter reader productivity.
• Customer growth and route modifications can be more effectively controlled before they reach a critical stage.
• PB ARC’s software enables the route analyst to complete time studies and resequencing of the routes more efficiently.
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Meter Route Management cont…..
Meter Route Management cont…..
Benefits
• Control meter route expansion due to customer growth.
• Geographically organize meter reading routes to minimize unnecessary drive time.
• Efficient utilization of existing staffing resources and cost effective planning for additional meter reading personnel
• Meter routes in the west are 28 less than in 1996 despite annual customer growth in the last 7 years.
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Cinergy West RoutesCinergy West Routes
1,500
1,550
1,600
1,650
1,700
1,750
1,800
1,850
1,900
1,950
West 1,929 1,656 1,728 1,781 1,832 1,882 1,910 1,901
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
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Manual Meter Reading to AMR Transition
Manual Meter Reading to AMR Transition
• Sooner rather than later technology will replace manual Field Data Collection
• Cinergy customer base differences over their three state service territory may require a hybrid AMR technology for the most cost effective application. There is no “one solution fits all” technology fit for Cinergy today.
• A conversion timeline for AMR technology installation is estimated to be 36 –48 months across the three state jurisdictions
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AMR AnalysisAMR Analysis
• Cinergy has continued to evaluate potential AMR technology applications since 1995.
• Currently fall into the “camp of limited deployment.”• Participate in various AMR pilots past and current.• Have not been able to find the AMR technology that
meets our economic criteria for company-wide implementation.
• Limited interest from residential mass market for services related to daily and hourly usage monitoring.
• Looking at downstream business impacts (adjacencies to meter reading) for additional benefits.
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AMR Technology Under Consideration
AMR Technology Under Consideration
• Power Line Carrier (PLC)
• Fixed Data Networks with a Radio Frequency (RF)
• Internet Protocol (IP) applications
• Mobile AMR solutions / Handheld AMR option
