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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.
notification was sent to all customers who provided NU with their address

8. 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

9. 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.

10. Transitioning from Automation to Live Voice Answer

11. 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

12. 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
campaign thanking customers for their patience
Targeted survey soliciting post-storm satisfaction feedback

13. Questions? ?

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