Central Maine Power AMI Program: Building a Stronger, Smarter Grid for Maine Contact: Laney Brown;

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1 Central Maine Power AMI Program: Building a Stronger, Smarter Grid for Maine Contact: Laney Brown; laney.brown@cmpco.com October 10,

Delivers more than 9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity yearly to 600,000 retail electric customers.

2 Overview of Central Maine Power Wholly-owned subsidiary of Iberdrola S.A., global Top 5 energy company with 31,000 employees, operating in 40 countries. Delivers more than 9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity yearly to 600,000 retail electric customers. Electric service in central and southern Maine 11,000 square miles service area 23,695 miles of distribution circuits Most-treed state in the United Status Award-winning utility leader: JD Power #1 in Customer Satisfaction 6 times Edison Electric Institute award for Storm Recovery 2

3 Smart Meter Program Objectives and Features Received $96m grant from the US Department of Energy Smart Grid Investment program Installed more than 625k meters to CMP s residential, commercial and industrial customers. Deployed more than 7k network devices to provide 100% network coverage Upgraded or installed more than 10 new IT systems to support increased data volumes and new functionality Initiated a consumer research study to evaluate response to a variety of AMIenabled programs and devices Support future Smart Grid initiatives including power quality monitoring and distribution automation The AMI system will provide a wireless communications network that covers CMP s entire service territory and provides a platform for CMP s Smart Grid initiatives 3

4 Smart Meter Timelines and Milestones Q09 4Q09 1Q10 2Q10 3Q10 4Q10 1Q11 2Q11 3Q11 4Q11 1Q12 2Q12 3Q12 4Q12 Vendor Selection & Negotiations 3Q09-2Q10 Regulatory Approval (Feb10) DOE Funding Negotiated (Apr10) Meter and Network Deployment 2Q10-2Q12 System Deployment: Phase 1: Meter to Bill 3Q10 Phase 2: Customer Service Enhancements - 2Q11 2Q12 Phase 3: Demand Response, Outage and Settlement: 3Q12 Contracts Finalized (Jul10) First Meter Installed (Sept10) Information Research Study 4Q11-2Q13 554k Meters Installed (Dec2011) 100% meters installed (2Q12) 4

Technical Approach AMI System Overview The AMI Infrastructure is the link between the physical smart meter and the CMP s back office system: Network Management System AMI Head End System (HES) - 1

5 Technical Approach AMI System Overview The AMI Infrastructure is the link between the physical smart meter and the CMP s back office system: Network Management System AMI Head End System (HES) - 1 central system Wide Area Network (WAN) -45 communication gateways Extender Bridges Neighborhood Area Network (NAN) Repeaters Smart Meters integrated with Home Area Network (HAN) - 630k smart meters Collects meter data and directs traffic to and from meters Connect/forward meter data to back office systems Provide connectivity for other field applications Provide high speed wireless connectivity Collect/aggregate meter data in neighborhood environment Communicates data to the Wide Area Network Enables two-way communication from the meter Serves as part of NAN as well as HAN Minimum 4 channels Disconnect/reconnect switch 5

6 Project Results - in 24 months Over 5 million Smart Meter reads used for billing Over 70k avoided truck rolls Reduction in miles driven in 2012: 900k miles* 95% reduction in estimated bill calls 92% reduction in estimated reads on bills: # Estimated Bills: January # Estimated reads: January ,256 71,456 73,611 90,243 64,488 95,441 80,123 5,833 January 2005 January 2006 January 2007 January 2008 January 2009 January 2010 January 2011 January 2012 * Estimated full year reduction post deployment is 2m 6

7 Resolving Challenges Customer Concerns for Smart Meters CHALLENGE Customer concerns about the security, privacy, safety and health effects of Smart Meters jeopardize the project deployment schedule SOLUTION Strong regulatory strategy in execution of Smart Meter complaint mitigation Extensive outreach and communication effort to government officials/customers Advanced multi-stage planning customized to specific areas 75 days before deployment LESSONS LEARNED Advanced education with regulators and key stakeholders before deployment Positive feedback from government officials on outreach 7

8 Resolving Challenges: Extensive Outreach Planning : T-Minus 75 Days to Deploy T-75 T-60 T-45 T-30 T-15 T-0 T-75 to T-3 Technical Deployment T-75 to T-30 Market Analysis/Media Planning T-75 to T-30 Government & Community Relations T-75 to T-7 Deployment Communications T-60 to T-15 Employee Briefings & Training Results: Contacted 320 municipalities via direct mail and/or telephone Completed 140 municipal briefings with town councils and the public Cleared 320 municipalities for meter deployment T:30 to T-0 Measuring & Monitoring T-0 Meter Installation 8

9 Achievement of New Efficiencies Automation of Customer Service Orders for Faster Resolution CHALLENGE Automated customer service orders while maintaining or improving customer service SOLUTION Utilize the Smart Metering system to remotely execute customer orders, for example, move in and move out or disconnect or reconnect service Take advantage of system changes to optimize processes increase automation and flexibility for customer requests and credit and collections LESSONS LEARNED Re-engineer business processes utilizing the resources and system changes created by Smart Meter deployment 9

10 Achievement of New Efficiencies Faster, More Efficient Customer Service Orders The Customer Requests: Before Smart Meter With Smart Meter I am moving out today. Can you take a final reading? I am moving out at 2PM next Tuesday. Can you take a final reading at that time? I paid my bill on Saturday, can I get reconnected today? No. We can close out your account with a final read next business day. No. We can close out your account on a future date but can not guarantee any particular time of day. No We can reconnect the customer the next business day Yes. With no rolled trucks or field employees Yes. With no rolled trucks or field employees Yes Executing controlled pilot 10

11 Technology Innovation Managing a Rapidly Evolving Technology CHALLENGE Smart Meter technology is rapidly evolving - all components require frequent upgrades The challenge is how to minimize disruption in core services to customers as we continually and frequently upgrade our systems. SOLUTION Commit significant advanced planning to upgrade the system with no customer impact Ensure the proper resources and facilities to support extensive testing Review and update standard testing on all components, including meters, in this highly complex, highly integrated system LESSONS LEARNED Highly complex and integrated system from back office to millions of end points Meter becomes part of the integrated system end-to-end test and requires more rigorous levels of testing 11

Case Study on Managing Evolving Technology Extensive testing of remote disconnect and reconnect meters to minimize customer impact Tests needed to be conducted: In the production environment In

12 Case Study on Managing Evolving Technology Extensive testing of remote disconnect and reconnect meters to minimize customer impact Tests needed to be conducted: In the production environment In diverse geographic areas Across different times of the day With frequent execution The solution: Design and build a productiontest environment with 54 meters on poles deployed through the service area Results No impact to customers or employees Ongoing production-test environment Test Meters across the Service Area 12

13 Technology Innovations Providing customers the ability to monitor their usage CHALLENGE 68% of customers would like to monitor usage to control their bill SOLUTION Provide two options for customers to monitor their usage: 1. Online Energy Manager portal to provide daily, weekly or monthly usage and cost information 2. Bill alerts that provide a text, call or alert to inform customers of their daily usage and costs with a comparison to a individualized usage goal LESSONS LEARNED Utilize the Smart Meter platform to provide ongoing customer and operational benefits Source: J. D. Power Smart Energy Study, July/August 2011, Central Maine Power residential customers, N=575 13

communication Telephone call Email alert Text alert Customers can set their own daily goal FRM: CMPBillAlert SUBJ:

14 Technology Innovations Bill Alerts Support Customers Ability to Monitor Usage Customers are alerted weekly on: Cost to date on their upcoming bill Average daily cost Daily cost goal Customers can select the preferred methods of communication Telephone call alert Text alert Customers can set their own daily goal FRM: CMPBillAlert SUBJ: Bill Alert from Central Maine Power MSG: Days into cycle: 8 Cost to date: Avg daily cost: 4.59 Daily cost goal:

Vision to Deliver Benefits Today and Tomorrow To build a Stronger, Smarter Grid for Maine Important technology to improve service, efficiency and the environment Innovate to deliver technology

15 Vision to Deliver Benefits Today and Tomorrow To build a Stronger, Smarter Grid for Maine Important technology to improve service, efficiency and the environment Innovate to deliver technology solution to achieve operational efficiencies and enhance delivery of service for the customer AMI as a platform for operational and customer enhancements today and Smart Grid opportunities in the future

Evaluation of Business Cases for Smart Grid Solutions Kenny Mercado, Senior VP Electric Operations

Evaluation of Business Cases for Smart Grid Solutions Kenny Mercado, Senior VP Electric Operations April 21, 2015 CenterPoint Energy (CNP) Headquartered in Houston, Texas Serving 5.7 million electric &