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1 Please silence all cell phones

2 Case Study Rapid & Successful Deployment of AMR David D Avanzo Manager, Member Services AMR Project Manager LANE ANEELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

3 the FAST and the FURIOUS, the GOOD, BAD and the UGLY or, the FEW and the PROUD!

4 So, where is Lane Electric located? Located in Eugene, Oregon, Lane Electric is a relatively small electric cooperative that serves approximately 12,500 meters across much of rural Lane County. Lane s 2,600 sq. mile service territory is divided into four specific areas or districts, served by seven directors who represent the members living within these districts. Fun Fact! There are 36 counties in Oregon. 40 different cooperatives, municipal, PUD s and investor owned electric utilities serve those counties. 10 serve Lane County alone!

5 What does Lane Electric look like? Lane Electric s service area lies between the Pacific Ocean, to the West and the Cascade Mountain Range to the East, and serves a large, geographically diverse area Seasonal/weather problems with consistent meter readings Large service area can produce longer billing periods which also helped us make our decision to go to AMR. Pacific Ocean Cascade Mountains

6 Our timeline As a result of strategic planning September 2004: December 2005: January 2006: April 2006: May 2006: July 10, 2006: November 18, 2006: Began learning about AMR Signed contracts with selected vendor Ordered SAT equipment Began SAT test Completed SAT test Evaluated results Began full deployment Completed deployment +/- 5 month deployment Economics

7 What does Lane Electric look like? Today, Lane Electric Employs 47 employees Has 1 central office located in Eugene, Oregon Serves 12,500 meters 92% residential 7% commercial 1% agricultural/industrial Lane Electric s largest loads are Oakridge High School and King Estate winery. King Estate Winery Oakridge High School

8 So, why AMR at Lane Electric? Let s begin with Contract meter reading service Lane Electric has used contract meter-reading services for over 30 years. Inconsistent workforce High turnover rate High reading error-rate Higher level of customer concerns Higher meter accuracies Solid-state vs. electro-mechanical meters Upon spot verification, it was found that a fair percentage of the meters in the field were recording actual energy consumption at about 70%. In a few cases, meters recorded 17% of actual. Bad for Lane s cash register Once replaced, caused a number of high bill concerns Increased revenues / Reduced line losses With more accurate readings came more accurate billings. Accurate billings accounted for higher revenue. We were able to bill more accurately. In fact, for a partial year with a partially installed AMR system, our line loss came down 1.2% or approximately 180,000 was added to our operating margins.

9 So, why AMR at Lane Electric? And Timely and consistent billing periods Fewer 28-day billing periods followed by 34-day billing periods Increased customer satisfaction Fewer access problems Locked gates and enclosed meter problems reduced/eliminated Higher level of customer service Once deployed, customers realize benefit of automated technology Able to handle billing issues faster and more accurately Able to address disconnects and reconnects quicker Able to get answers for members within minutes rather than hours or days Ability to manage power outages better/faster Provides the ability to: Gather large amounts of data in a short period of time Identify problem areas and deploy the proper resources to the area Verify service restoration once repairs have been before crews leave the area Ping a meter via the system rather than calling members on phone

10 So, why AMR at Lane Electric? And More data available for Engineering studies Substation and phase balance information Circuit loading Higher system reliability By tightening up our system to propagate higher PLC signal strength, fewer problems occur because crews have already repaired deficiencies on the distribution system. Wholesale replacement of aging meters Replacement of 40-year old electro-mechanical meters with new, solid-state technology More accurate Higher efficiencies Ability to store usage data 300 days of hourly data, fully retrievable Stable rates All these things contribute to a more efficient distribution system and a tighter, more accurate cash register. Fewer outages + reduced costs + efficient operations = satisfied customers!

11 What we did First, we PLANNED our work we assembled an AMR Team which consisted of representatives from Operations & Maintenance, Data Processing, Accounting, Engineering, Member Services and the General Manager performed the necessary Due Diligence BEFORE making any assumptions or commitments, our board directed staff to verify that AMR was a good/proper g investment for the membership. -During this process, we looked at the Who's, What's, When's, Where's, Why s, How s s & the Costs of AMR and then we evaluated the effects on our membership. spent over 18 months Learning & Researching the various technologies and how they might/might not work with our system and our geography. solicited Assistance from AMR experts, utilities using AMR, vendors and contractors during our 2-year 2 evaluation process.

12 What we did As well, we invested a lot of time and resources to develop a comprehensive slate of Goals & Objectives that each potential AMR system needed to be able to address. built a Solid Business Case for the purchase and deployment of an AMR system. developed a detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) for systems meeting the criteria that we d d developed specifically for OUR system! Based on OUR needs! began looking at our existing processes and learned that some level of Process Enhancement would be required. With the advanced features offered by AMR, many of our older processes were destined for change. For example, our Servicemen performed our re-reads, reads, in & out reads, connects & disconnects, voltage monitoring and meter accuracy checks IN THE FIELD What were they to do now that we had deployed AMR? SERVICE WORK! The stuff they were actually trained for

13 What we did We also developed and have maintained critical, Partnerships we can call and rely upon to provide services and expertise that we didn t, and don t t have at home. AMR System Technology Joel & Ed Cannon, Bill Simons Cannon Technologies, Inc. Minneapolis, Minnesota info@cannontech.com Project Development & Management Greg Johnson Katamatech, Inc. Charlotte, North Carolina gjohnson@katamatech.com Process Enhancement & Implementation Michael Lascara TurningPoint Group, LLC Charlotte, North Carolina mlascara@turningpointgroupllc.com Meter Exchange & Deployment Larry Chapman Chapman Metering Avoca, Iowa larry@chapmanmetering.com Partnerships like these, are critical to your success. Initiate them, develop them and respect them. They may end up being your lifeline to a successful ul deployment.

14 What we did Then, we WORKED our plan Researched the various technologies Power Line Carrier (PLC) Telephone Line Carrier Coaxial cable Radio frequency (RF) Determined our system requirements Substation equipment Quantities and types of meters Signal enhancement equipment Personnel resources available/required Determined which type of system was best for Lane Electric based on: The condition of our physical distribution system Geographical characteristics Internal capabilities & skills Availability of time & resources Ease of integration/interfacing with our existing systems Features & benefits each system provided Ease of installation in the office and in the field

15 What we did And WORKED our plan Developed a business model which included: Features & benefits of each system (hard & soft benefits) Metering & line losses Contract meter reading expenses Field personnel cost savings Overtime reduction Reduced outage times Cost savings potential Approximately a 7 year payback on a $3.2 million investment Initiated the RFP process Developed detailed RFP Contacted vendors for proposals Reviewed and evaluated proposals Did the vendor pay attention to details? Was each item responded to? Did they have the ability to deliver what we wanted? Were they willing to work with us? How did their estimates compare? Updated business model with actual costs

16 What we did And WORKED our plan Requested presentations for board and staff These presentations provided answers for the AMR Team How solid was their company? Would their system integrate with our critical business systems? Outage Management System Customer Information System What were their procurement and delivery processes? Who were their business partners? Could they deliver? They also provided some intangibles for the AMR Team Were the vendors professional? Did they know their systems well? Could they respond to questions? Were they a good fit for Lane Electric? Selected Cannon Technologies as our vendor/partner Developed and signed a purchase agreement and contract Began a multi-faceted communication campaign to inform our members

17 What we did And WORKED our plan Initiated the purchase and delivery of the first test substation equipment Contacted Chapman Metering for the initial deployment of 1500 meters Once deployed and operational, we test drove the system, under a System Acceptance Test (SAT), for approximately 3 months to make sure that t it performed as it was represented to us. Upon completion of the SAT test, the results were positive and we elected to fully deploy an AMR system. The remaining deployment encompassed an additional 11,000 meters and 11 substations. Our timeline 5 months Begin full deployment on July 10, 2007 Have system fully operational by December 1, in preparation for storm season.

18 How we did On November 18 th, % of our meters were installed Supply/demand problems slowed delivery on polyphase meters Equipment installed in all 12 substations DSL Communications to 8 of 12 substations was installed and operating Delivery of substation communications delayed by provider We were reading 80% or 10,000 meters automatically As we speak All 12 substations are communicating We are reading 96.4% of the meters installed in field 9 substations have been released for billing Remaining polyphase meters have been delivered and are being programmed and installed by Chapman Metering

19 What we learned Lessons learned A A task will expand to fill up the time allotted for it, even if the time estimate was conservative. In other words, the longer the deployment, the higher the cost as tasks will fill up the time allotted. There will be budget surprises If any part of your AMR system is new any other conceivable item), it will be late. new (including an interface, a product, an application, or It takes diligence, effort and hard work to stay with the project t plan and time schedule Use of third party resources (consultants and installers) helps to properly manage the project and maintain sanity. For any AMR system, backhaul communications to data concentration n points will invariably be the cause of delay and frustration. The AMR system is worth the efforts!

20 Looking ahead Future options and direction Smart metering Legislative requirements Time of Use metering Demand control and shifting Net metering requirements Conservation & Energy Efficiency AMR/AMI it s s not a matter of if It s s a matter of when!

21 So, during our process there were some fast & furious times there were good, bad & ugly issues But, all said and done we are one of FEW the and the PROUD PROUD!