BEFORE THE NEW MEXICO PUBLIC REGULATION COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF

)

NEW MEXICO'S APPLICATION FOR AUTHORIZATION

)

TO IMPLEMENT GRID MODERNIZATION

)

COMPONENTS THAT INCLUDE ADVANCED

) Case No. 22-00058-UT

METERING INFRASTRUCTURE AND APPLICATION

)

TO RECOVER THE ASSOCIATED COSTS THROUGH

)

A RIDER, ISSUANCE OF RELATED ACCOUNTING

)

ORDERS, AND OTHER ASSOCIATED RELIEF

)

_______________________________________________________

DIRECT TESTIMONY

OF

MARIO A. CERVANTES

October 3, 2022

NMPRC CASE NO. 22-00058-UT

INDEX TO THE DIRECT TESTIMONY OF

MARIO A. CERVANTES

WITNESS FOR

PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW MEXICO

I.

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE ......................................................................

1

II.

AMI BILL MANAGEMENT ENHANCEMENTS ...............................................

3

III.

CUSTOMER ENERGY MANAGEMENT PLATFORM ...................................

10

IV.

CALL CENTER STAFFING FOR AMI DEPLOYMENT..................................

18

  1. COMPLIANCE WITH REGULATIONS AND REQUEST FOR LIMITED

VARIANCE..........................................................................................................

21

VI. CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................

23

PNM Exhibit MAC-1

Resume

PNM Exhibit MAC-2

Prepay Energy Working Group- Prepay Trends Analysis &

Database Update

Self-Verification

i

DIRECT TESTIMONY

OF MARIO A. CERVANTES

NMPRC CASE NO. 22-00058-UT

1

I. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE

2

  1. Q. PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME, POSITION AND BUSINESS ADDRESS.
  2. A. My name is Mario A. Cervantes. I am the Director of Customer Experience for
  3. Public Service Company of New Mexico ("PNM"). My address is 414 Silver
  4. Avenue, SW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.

7

  1. Q. PLEASE SUMMARIZE YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND AND
  2. PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
  3. A. Please see PNM Exhibit MAC-1 for my educational background and professional
  4. qualifications.

12

  1. Q. PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS DIRECTOR OF
  2. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
  3. A. In my role, I am primarily responsible for the development and execution of the
  4. Customer Experience strategy for PNM. My areas of responsibility include the
  5. PNM Contact Center, Voice of the Customer and Insights, Digital Experience,
  6. Revenue Operations, and Low-Income Programs.

19

1

DIRECT TESTIMONY

OF MARIO A. CERVANTES

NMPRC CASE NO. 22-00058-UT

  1. Q. WHY IS GRID MODERNIZATION NECESSARY TO IMPROVE THE
  2. PNM CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?
  3. A. PNM's proposed grid modernization is critical to improving customer experience

4 and engaging customers as partners in moving toward a carbon-free future.

  1. Through outreach, PNM received consistent feedback regarding the need for more
  2. detailed customer energy usage information and more advanced tools to manage

7

bills. PNM's grid modernization plan will provide a pathway to enhancing

8

customers' experience by providing granular energy usage data through the

  1. Customer Energy Management Platform. It will also give customers new bill
  2. management tools, including the ability to pre-pay, set their own bill date, and set
  3. customized alerts about usage or rates. In the longer term, the grid modernization
  4. improvements will allow customers to better understand their energy options for
  5. distributed energy resource adoption, efficiency programs, and time-of-day rates.
  6. The grid modernization investments PNM proposes in this application are
  7. important steps toward the customer empowerment that will be necessary to meet
  8. the state's environmental goals while also maintaining system reliability and
  9. affordability.

18

  1. Q. PLEASE STATE THE PURPOSE OF YOUR DIRECT TESTIMONY.
  2. A. The purpose of my testimony is to: 1) describe the advanced metering infrastructure
  3. ("AMI") bill management enhancements; 2) describe the Customer Energy
  4. Management Platform features and benefits; 3) describe call center staffing needs

2

DIRECT TESTIMONY

OF MARIO A. CERVANTES

NMPRC CASE NO. 22-00058-UT

  1. as AMI is deployed; and 4) describe how PNM plans to comply with New Mexico
  2. Public Regulation Commission ("NMPRC" or "Commission") regulations and its
  3. request for a limited variance.

4

5II. AMI BILL MANAGEMENT ENHANCEMENTS

6

  1. Q. HOW DOES AMI ENABLE CUSTOMERS TO MANAGE THEIR BILLS?
  2. A. The AMI system collects customer interval energy usage data daily and stores it in
  3. the Meter Data Management System ("MDMS"). The daily usage data updates are
  4. combined with historical usage data and made available to customers through the
  5. Customer Energy Management Platform. This Platform provides customers
  6. information regarding their hourly, daily, monthly, and annual energy usage.
  7. Customers will have insight into their total usage and peak demand for each bill
  8. period. The Customer Energy Management Platform will also apply the customer's
  9. rate to estimate total bill costs at the end of the billing period.

16

  1. The primary function of the AMI meter is to measure the amount of electricity used
  2. over specific time intervals for billing purposes. For example, customers enrolled
  3. in the whole-home electric vehicle ("WHEV") rate can use the interval data by
  4. segmenting the consumption data into the time-of-day increments in alignment with
  5. that rate structure. If the rate structure changes over time, the interval data supports

3

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PNM Resources Inc. published this content on 30 September 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 03 October 2022 22:35:28 UTC.