American Gas - March 2010 - (Page 25)

By Karen Ryan Both utilities collect gas meter readings several times a day. PG&E’s AMI-equipped customers may go online to see their cumulative daily gas consumption, and Atmos Energy is about to launch the same service. Lawicki notes that online access to daily usage totals has proved especially useful for customers, given the rebate options that the utility offers for conserving energy. For example, she explains, PG&E’s Winter Gas Savings rebate program rewards customers for conserving natural gas during January and February by providing them with up to a 20 percent rebate on their bills. “It’s important, therefore, that gas customers know their daily consumption levels because our rebate is pegged to the amount by which a customer cuts usage from one January-February period to the next.” According to both utilities, AMI makes life in the call center easier. “When a customer calls about a high gas bill, our agent can look up the daily consumption figures and ask the customer about activities on particular days that might have increased gas use. Perhaps the customer had weekend guests or turned on the pool heater,” says Anglin. Obviously, switching to AMI makes meter readers obsolete. Both utilities offer these employees the opportunity to be trained and certified for other company jobs. Up Close and Personal In the Detroit metropolitan area, where unemployment is especially acute, many natural gas customers are struggling to pay their utility bills. In response, DTE Energy launched Detroit Recovery in January 2009, which involves the utility’s community outreach agents going door-to-door in pre-selected neighborhoods to find people who need utility bill payment assistance, reports Lynne Ellyn, DTE Energy senior vice president and CIO. The agents are equipped with laptops and wireless connections to the utility—or what DTE Energy’s IT team fondly calls “Outreach in a Box”—to help customers arrange bill payment plans and make appointments with fuel-aid organizations. “This program has been very well received,” says Guy Harris, DTE Energy director of enterprise performance management. “The mobile technology permits our employees to engage proactively with customers in their living rooms or kitchens. Talking with customers in an environment in which they are most comfortable leads to a more cooperative interaction than Photo courtesy of Pacific Gas and electric co. might otherwise occur in a customer Gas meters throughout service office.” He reports that customer Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s service territory are satisfaction scores following an in-home visit being equipped with deare 20 percent higher than scores following an vices that automatically send readings several interaction through traditional channels. day to the The Outreach in a Box idea sprang from com- times a database. utility’s central munity events DTE Energy holds at schools, churches and the like. There, company representatives, using a computer network set up by the utility’s IT team, meet with customers to help them avoid gas shutoffs and to put them in touch with low-income assistance organizaAMERICAn GAS march 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Gas - March 2010

American Gas - March 2010
President’s Message
In the Know
Contents
Industry News
Safety First
To Be the Best
It All Computes
From Volatile to Variable
Vendor News
Advertisers' Index
Places to Be
Marketplace
Jobline
Noteworthies
Facts on Gas

American Gas - March 2010