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NHI Publications

ATLANTA, GA., August 23, 2000 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy companies preparing for deregulation would do well to heed this advice from companies that learned the hard way: If you underestimate the importance of a strong customer information system, your employees, your customers -- and ultimately your entire business -- will suffer.

The right customer information system (CIS) has to meet a company's existing needs and help move the organization into a restructured industry -- a tall order that requires customization and a willingness by energy executives to buy only the necessary components, CIS experts reveal in the current issue of Energy Competition Strategy Report.

In the in-depth report, executives at Sierra Pacific Power Company (SPPC) and Texas-New Mexico Power Company (TNMP) share the criteria they used to select new CIS systems and how they plan to use the systems to implement deregulation strategies. The companies both worked with Austin, TX-based TMG Consulting, which strongly recommends staying away from "Cadillac versions" of CIS programs.

"The message is to pick only the parts of a system the particular company needs," says David Schwartz, president of NHI Publications, publisher of ECSR. "This report tells companies how to avoid getting bogged down in too many CIS-related details and how to resist the bells and whistles that can add months of delay and hundreds of thousands of dollars to a CIS project."

The report also includes advice from a national CIS consultant, who reveals the six steps his organization takes to help energy companies develop CIS strategy, select vendors, and purchase software.

The following topics also are featured in the current issue of Energy Competition Strategy Report:

• Telecommunications: a grand growth opportunity for deregulated energy
  companies? Two electric utilities share why they chose to enter the
  telecommunications business as one way to add value to their
  organizations. And a telecommunications expert reveals the six
  "inherent qualities" energy companies must have to ease their entry
  into telecommunications.
• Driving up stock prices. While high tech and blue chip stocks brought
  investors huge returns last year, U.S. utility stocks were left in the
  dust. This report covers the strategies energy companies are using to
  boost value and reveals why "new economy electrics" may have the
  greatest chance of realizing bigger profits -- and higher stock prices.
• A hard look at the Northeast quadrant. The president of Select Energy,
  a marketing and energy services company, reports that although the
  Northeast is opening to competition, a number of factors are impeding
  successful implementation. William M. Schivley provides an in-depth
  look at what steps must be taken to Move competition ahead in that
  area.
• The power of public relations. A PR expert whose company is working
  with utilities in six states to develop PR programs for electric
  restructuring shares the public relations strategies energy companies
  can use to succeed under deregulation.
• New dot-com business bundles household services. ServiSense™ is
  selling electricity, telecommunications, Internet services, natural
  gas, fuel oil, and satellite TV. This report reveals the company's
  strategy to reach every household in America -- and why energy
  companies need to take notice.

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