Director, Northeast Utilities Call Centers AGA / EEI Conference Storm Preparedness Tony Simas Director, Northeast Utilities Call Centers April 15, 2013

Agenda Company Overview Hurricane Sandy Overview Hurricane Sandy’s Impact on Northeast Utilities Before the Storm Made Landfall Once the Storm Hit During Restoration Concierge Services Wrapping Up Questions 2

Northeast Utilities Service Company Overview NSTAR Electric Service Area NSTAR Gas Service Area Northeast Utilities Electric Service Area Northeast Utilities Gas Service Area CL&P, NSTAR Gas, NSTAR Electric, PSNH, WMECO, and Yankee Gas 3 Call Centers: Windsor, CT, Westwood, MA, and Manchester, NH 3.5 Million Customers in 623 Communities; 9,300+ Employees $27.3B in assets $7.5B in revenues Service Territory Spans Three States CT

Hurricane Sandy Overview (October, 2012) Largest Atlantic hurricane on record, and the second costliest, behind Hurricane Katrina (2005) Impacted 24 states, from Florida to Maine and as far west as Michigan and Wisconsin More than 8.5 million power outages were reported throughout the east coast

Hurricane Sandy’s Impact on Northeast Utilities Nearly 1.5 million NU customers lost power During the height of the storm, NU staffed more than 700 Customer Service Representatives to handle inbound calls Using a blend of live-answer and technology, All three NU Call Centers answered nearly 1 million inbound customer calls, with a cumulative blended ASA of 8 seconds

Call Center Pre-Storm Preparation Employees Ensure appropriate 24 hour staffing coverage for duration of storm Notify employees of storm schedule Logistics Hotel accommodations Transportation (extreme weather situations) Meals Technology Two state virtual call center Ensure all automated systems are ready to go Support Stretch breaks for CSRs Handling difficult callers Employee Assistance Program is available for employees who need it.

Before the Storm made Landfall NU proactively conducted automated outbound calling campaigns warning customers of the impending storm: Special notification to all of NU’s medical/life support customers A general notification to all NU Customers. e-mail notification was sent to all customers who provided NU with their e-mail address

Leveraged internal storm portal Once the Storm Hit All three Call Centers leveraged automated outage-reporting technology to handle the majority of the initial inbound call surge A second automated notification went out to the medical/life support customers Leveraged internal storm portal

During Restoration As the storm subsided and restoration efforts began, the three Call Centers began moving away from automated outage-reporting technology to live-voice answer Utilized employees from other departments/areas Utilized NSTAR’s Business Partner Credit Call Center in Pittsburgh, PA Put MARS (Mutual Assistance Routing System) on notice Reminder: speak to fact that MARS is put on notice for all ERPs, and not just Sandy.

Transitioning from Automation to Live Voice Answer

Concierge Services Concierge Services were provided to customers who were experiencing the longest outages: Reached out to customers who called to report their outage more than 10 times Reached out to single-service lights out customers Updated customers with new ETRs when town level ETRs had passed and followed up with them as more information became available Referred medical/life support customers in need of assistance to their local Red Cross Used community liaisons who worked with town officials on critical restoration needs

Wrapping Up Reached out to single-service lights out customers to verify outage Reached out to customers who were unable to take service Outbound call campaign to thank customers for their patience and provide them with the option to speak to a live CSR if they were still without power E-mail campaign thanking customers for their patience Targeted e-mail survey soliciting post-storm satisfaction feedback

Questions? ?

Tony Simas 781-441-3621 Antonio.Simas@nstar.com 1 NSTAR Way SW200 Contact Information Tony Simas 781-441-3621 Antonio.Simas@nstar.com 1 NSTAR Way SW200 Westwood, MA 02090