direct testimony of the capital expenditures, reliability, and - nyseg

Case 09-E-____; Case 09-G-____ (NYSEG)DIRECT TESTIMONY OF THE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES,RELIABILITY, AND OPERATIONS PANEL12345678910111213141516171819metering including handling new rates, meter programming and meter retirementprograms. With the onset of the Smart Grid/Smart Metering initiatives, NYSEGis requesting an additional meter engineer position to focus on the new initiativesand provide support and backup. NYSEG has over 850,000 electric customerswith only one Meter Engineer supporting all programs. With metering andrecording technology changing so rapidly it is imperative to begin developingadditional talent in the metering department.Q. Is the Panel proposing to add additional positions to the NYSEG Meter ReadingSupport (MV90) group?A. The MV90 group is responsible for maintaining and reviewing the electric meterreading data for NYSEG, including the manual handheld system and the MV90telemetering data. There are currently six analytical staff and one manager for thedepartment. The Mandatory Hourly Pricing (MHP) mandates have increased theamount of data collected and analyzed by this group immensely. The existingstaff can handle the workload as of 2009, but any additional MHP that is phasedin will require additional positions. NYSEG is automating as many processes aspossible, although the volume of data flowing through this department on a dailybasis warrants NYSEG adding one additional analyst position to assist withbilling, the energy control center, and energy profiler online.92