Essential Utility Customer Service

February 2, 2010 by Jim Linn · Leave a Comment
Filed under: events

Where do gas and electric utility customer service leaders go for professional development? To the AGA/EEI Customer Service Conference and Exposition, of course!

Each year customer service committee members gather to plan a conference of essential content for their peers. In 2010, the AGA/EEI Customer Service Conference and Exposition will be held April 11-14 in Milwaukee, home to We Energies, Integrys, Alliant Energy, Xcel and others. As with every conference, we have quite a line-up of programs and activities.

General sessions will be held in the mornings and geared toward broad utility customer service issues. This year we will have a review of the federal stimulus (ARRA) package from the federal (DOE), state (NASEO) and local perspectives. We will also discuss alternative transportation and smart grid (both gas and electric) and spend an entire morning on social media success in utilities and similar industries. The general sessions will wrap up with a morning on sensational customer service featuring Barbara Burke, author of The Napkin, The Melon and The Monkey on the topic of employee engagement. Check out the complete agenda and run down on the more than 20 breakout sessions where attendees can dig deep into functional area discussions.

Customer Service Executives (defined as vice president or equivalent) will enjoy an afternoon designed specifically for the executive level. These sessions are invitation only. Contact me directly for more information.

The conference prides itself on being held in a relevant exhibition hall where attendees can interact with companies providing the very latest customer service products and services. The exhibit hall is a great venue for networking and discussing sessions as they occur as well as shared experiences. The conference will culminate in a Tuesday evening social event at the Milwaukee Ale House.

If you are an AGA or EEI member and have never attended the Customer Service Conference, make this year your first. If you have joined us in the past don’t miss this year – the content is too rich to pass up. For those who join us every year, we cannot wait to see you in Milwaukee in April!

And, if you are a utility customer service partner, take a close look at the exhibitor and sponsor prospectus and join us for this event.

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Tags: customer service

Natural gas powered City Center opens in Vegas

January 21, 2010 by Tom Moskitis · 1 Comment
Filed under: events

The MGM Mirage City Center Project opened last month and it is the talk of the town. Attendees to the 2010 International Builders Show are flocking to see it.

City Center is a dazzling array of towering hotels, condos, restaurants and high end shops and boutiques occupying 67 acres with more than a quarter mile of frontage on the Las Vegas Strip. With more than 18 million square feet of development, it is truly a city within a city.

One million tons of concrete were used in its construction, enough to build a four foot wide sidewalk from Las Vegas to New York City and back. The steel that was used would be enough to build ten Eiffel Towers and the fiber optic cable in the project could circle the equator four times! Clearing the site produced more than 300,000 tons of construction debris but 93 percent of it was recycled.

This, plus the fact that natural gas is used throughout the project has enabled City Center to receive LEED Gold certification for energy and environmental excellence.

A ten megawatt natural gas fueled cogeneration plant provides much of the electricity. Every residential condo unit features a top of the line gas cooktop and all of the hotels and restaurants have huge kitchens filled with natural gas cooking equipment. I think the only chef in the project that does not cook with gas is the guy that makes sushi.

The MGM Mirage City Center is an outstanding example of how the direct use on natural gas provides builders with a pathway toward high efficiency, high performance and a low carbon footprint.

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Tags: international builders show

Natural Gas and The New American Home

January 20, 2010 by Tom Moskitis · 1 Comment
Filed under: events

Every year one of the highlights of the International Builders Show (IBS) is The New American Home (TNAH), the official showcase home of the convention. The 2009 TNAH, which features the revolutionary AISIN Gas Heat Pump, has been such a huge success that it remains open for tours for an 18 month period.

The 2010 TNAH, however, has met a different fate and is, in some ways, the poster child for the state of the new home construction industry. The home was about 75 percent complete in November when the builder ran out of money and could not, even after a concerted effort by the NAHB and allies throughout the country, obtain financing to finish the job. The bank foreclosed on the home on December 28 and the builder has gone out of business.

To its credit, the NAHB made lemonade out of this lemon by producing a very professional “virtual tour” of TNAH, and builders are lining up to view it. Numerous natural gas appliances are in the home, including the “Phoenix” solar/gas water heater from Heat Transfer Products, Inc. That product is in the AGA exhibit booth as is the Ecopower Microcogeneration (CHP) appliance sized for residential and small commercial applications. This unit, made by Marathon Engine Systems and fueled by natural gas, is running full time in our booth, producing all the electricity for the entire exhibit. We are not connected to the electric grid!

Despite the current condition of the housing industry, builder traffic in our exhibit has been excellent and there appears to be a lot of interest in the natural gas technology we are showcasing. The Natural Gas Home is truly a Green Home.

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