caseworks tm copyright © 2011 flexnova and specialized energy consultants (sec) 1 rate case and...

CaseWorksTM

Copyright © 2011 Flexnova and Specialized Energy Consultants (SEC)

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Rate Case and Regulatory Affairs Management Using

CaseWorksTM


Contact Information: Andre Chon 609-668-1591, [email protected]

Steve Rossi 216-288-6961, [email protected]

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Table of Contents

• What’s CaseWorks?• Utility Industry Trends and Pain Points • Who benefits from using CaseWorks?• Will CaseWorks Benefit Your Organization?• CaseWorks Benefits• Current CaseWorks Customers• CaseWorks Features and Functions• Solution Overview• CaseWorks Overview and Screen Shots

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What’s CaseWorks?• CaseWorks provides utilities complete case management and workflow

for managing regulatory and rate case processes.

• CaseWorks automates all the procedural steps in a docket/case, including drafting, reviewing and filing business critical documents (testimonies, briefs, data requests, etc and coordinates regulatory activities with external groups such as legislative bodies and legal counsel.

• The CaseWorks framework can be leveraged to support other processes important to utilities: Complaint Tracking, Legislative, Transmission and Distribution Projects, SOX, NOPR/NOI

• CaseWorks was jointly developed by Flexnova and Specialized Energy Consultants (SEC)

• Flexnova specializes in developing utility industry business solutions using Microsoft information worker and business process management technology

• SEC specializes in Utility Industry consulting (utility management and operations training, costing and rate design analysis, software tools)

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Utility Industry Trends and Pain Points

• With escalating energy costs, many utilities are planning to file rate cases in the near future

• Most utilities have no recent experience with filing rate cases, so they are worried about doing it right and capturing the learnings for future rate cases

• Current rate and regulatory processes are extremely manual and time consuming

• The volume of work during the discovery phase of a rate case is overwhelming (literally thousands of mini-projects requiring close collaboration between disparate groups)

• Critical documents are stored all over the place (hard drives, shared drives, email, databases, paper)

• Aging workforce – utilities are worried about knowledge walking out the door (40% are eligible for retirement in the next ten years)

• Utilities are legally bound to provide timely and consistent responses to regulatory information requests and orders

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Who benefits from using CaseWorks?

• Rates Department

• Regulatory Affairs

• Director/VP of Rates and/or Regulatory Affairs

• Manager in Rates/Regulatory Dept.

• Senior Attorney or Rate Case Attorney

• Lobbyist

• Accounting, Finance and all other departments that are involved in Rate Case planning, filing and providing responses to data requests

• Senior Management

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Will CaseWorks Benefit Your Organization?

• Are you planning to file a rate case or are you currently managing a rate case?

• Are you concerned about the consistency of your responses to regulatory information requests?

• Do you have trouble finding the most current version of a critical document or file?

• Are your current processes for handling regulatory and legislative affairs very labor intensive?

• Is your process for assigning, distributing, reviewing, tracking and filing data requests cumbersome?

• Are your people complaining about too many emails and meetings?

• Do you need to respond more quickly to regulatory changes and compliance orders?

• Are you concerned about retaining the knowledge of workers who are leaving or retiring from the company?

• Are you trying to provide your internal customer with a focused business solution that requires little customization?

• Do you have special requirements regarding document control, access, and retention?

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• Do you have difficulty handling and communicating regulatory activities across multiple jurisdictions in a consistent manner?

• How well does your Regulatory Affairs department support the company’s public policy?

• In a rate case, how well does the company coordinate and collaborate amongst departments (i.e. legal, regulatory affairs, rates, accounting, etc.)?

• How well does the company retain rate case knowledge; now and future?

• How does the company train new personnel for a rate case?

• Does the company distribute rate case information to the right people on time?

• Does the company know at all times, the exact status of each data request?

• What type of search tool is available for research to support the company’s rate case activities?

• How does the company manage version control and retention of business critical documents?

• How does the company support hearings? Do they bring reams of paper documents in bindings or would it be preferable to have all these documents readily accessible on a laptop?

Will CaseWorks Benefit Your Organization?

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CaseWorks Benefits• Reduces time spent on research, review, response, and approval processes

• Reduces the risk of non-compliance

• Improves timeliness, accuracy, and consistency of information

• Improves knowledge sharing, teamwork, and communication

• Improves the ability to manage multi-jurisdictional regulatory activities simultaneously

• Automates the handling of data requests via intelligent email notification

• Provides web-based access to outside lawyers and consultants making it possible to reduce billable hours for research and review processes

• Reduces “reinventing the wheel” by providing access to all information, best practices, and history from past cases

• Automatically converts to PDF format all data request responses and supporting attachments

• Reduces paper and mailing costs

• Reduces time spent in meetings getting everyone synchronized and up-to-date

• Reduces the amount of travel needed to collaborate with remote locations

• Improves the ability to quickly retrieve critical information during hearings

• Improves the ability to track compliance with regulatory directives

• Decreases the time needed to train new team members

• Enables the utility to be more proactive in its dealings with regulators

• Provides the ability to coordinate regulatory activities with various internal and external groups such as legislative and legal for managing public policy

• Provides a common collaborative platform for all team members

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Current CaseWorks Customers

• Ameren

• AGL Resources

• Consolidated Edison

• Constellation Energy

• Kansas City Power and Light

• Otter Tail Power

• Pepco

• Washington Gas

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CaseWorks Features and Functions• Administration – the creation, deletion, and maintenance of cases, data requests, procedural steps, user roles,

and case templates

• Automatic email notification of appropriate users upon the occurrence of specific events (beginning of document review cycle, acknowledgement of review by all assigned reviewers, assignment of witness, expiration of the time allotted for review)

• Ability to set deadlines for generation of automatic reminders when time allotted for review has passed

• Automatic disaggregation of multiple data requests into individual data request sites on the case management application

• Re-aggregation of user-selected data requests and associated responses into a Microsoft WORD document conforming to a consistent and agreed upon layout

• Ability to manage both inbound and outbound data requests

• Ability to customize data request formats by jurisdiction

• Availability of draft, review and commentary functionality in all procedural steps (i.e. Testimony, briefs, Comments, etc.)

• Ability to track and automatically update the number of review cycles

• Ability to search for and locate all files and documents stored in the case management application (Boolean search is supported)

• Ability to download all documents from a case or docket to a portable or desktop computer for offline availability and portability.

• Ability to bulk assign multiple data requests to a witness

• Ability to edit multiple data requests simultaneously

• Automatic generation of notification for all assigned data requests in a set as a single e-mail to all selected parties (i.e. witness, case coordinator, assigned lawyer)

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CaseWorks Features and Functions (cont.)• Ability to route data requests for Drafting, Review, and Departmental Review

• Ability to designate particular data requests as confidential or public

• Ability to modify/change witnesses and roles for each case

• Automatic status changes/updates at the case level to reflect the current procedural step

• Automatic population of the filing date into the data request response document at the time of filing

• Ability to display and maintain Contacts, Events, Announcements, and Tasks at various locations in the application

• Ability to display and maintain Case schedules

• Ability to link to a public utility commission’s web site for access to service lists

• Ability to categorize different types of interrogatories (i.e. hearing requests, settlement negotiation requests)

• Ability to track the number of review cycles for each data request

• Reporting on various aspects of active and completed data requests (status, due dates, late, assigned to, etc.)

• Ability to “Submit” responses at any stage of the standard data request lifecycle (i.e. skip certain stages and go straight to filing)

• Ability to back up to any previous stage of the data request lifecycle and restart the process from that point forward

• Ability to customize email notification messages

• Ability to automatically create document folders for assigned witnesses at the creation of each case

• Ability to designate documents as “draft” or “final”

• Ability to delete all “draft” documents automatically following the completion of a case

• Audit trail of email notifications generated and the recipients to whom they were sent.

Solution Overview:Solution Overview:Rate Case & Public Policy ManagementRate Case & Public Policy ManagementSolutions Area: Rate Case, Regulatory and Public Policy ManagementRate Case, Regulatory and Public Policy ManagementSolution Name: CaseWorksCaseWorks

Delivery Partner(s): Flexnova/Specialized Energy ConsultantsFlexnova/Specialized Energy Consultants

Solution Scenario: Utilities can automate the management of regulatory, legislative and customerUtilities can automate the management of regulatory, legislative and customer complaint complaint processes with CaseWorks’ public policy management module. Itprocesses with CaseWorks’ public policy management module. It provides flexible and provides flexible and configurable workflow, centralized documentconfigurable workflow, centralized document management, and tracking capabilities to streamline docket management andmanagement, and tracking capabilities to streamline docket management and public policy processes across multiple jurisdictions. public policy processes across multiple jurisdictions.

Solution Results: Streamlines the management of multi-jurisdictional regulatory activities Streamlines the management of multi-jurisdictional regulatory activities resulting resulting in improved timeliness, regulatory compliance, and accuracy and consistency in improved timeliness, regulatory compliance, and accuracy and consistency of of information. Reduces time spent on research, review, response, and approval information. Reduces time spent on research, review, response, and approval

processes. Automates and effectively manages all procedural steps in a docket processes. Automates and effectively manages all procedural steps in a docket such as drafting, reviewing and filing testimonies, data requests, such as drafting, reviewing and filing testimonies, data requests,

comments/briefs and compliance filing utilizing workflow, task tracking, comments/briefs and compliance filing utilizing workflow, task tracking, intelligent email intelligent email notification, and real time reporting. Provides the ability to notification, and real time reporting. Provides the ability to coordinate regulatory activities with coordinate regulatory activities with various internal and external groups such various internal and external groups such as legislative and legal for proactively managing public as legislative and legal for proactively managing public policy.policy.

Customer Installs: Constellation Energy, Con Edison, KCP&L, PHI, AGL Resources, Constellation Energy, Con Edison, KCP&L, PHI, AGL Resources, Ameren, Washington Gas, Otter Tail Power Ameren, Washington Gas, Otter Tail Power

Contact Information: Andre Chon, 609-668-1591 [email protected] Chon, 609-668-1591 [email protected] Rossi, 216-288-6961 [email protected] Rossi, 216-288-6961 [email protected]

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CaseWorks Overview and Screen Shots

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Data Request Workflow

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CaseWorks Home Page

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Case/Docket Home Page

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Data Requests Dashboard

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Submission of Items for Filing

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Data Request Item Home Page

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Data Request Item Attributes

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Procedural Steps

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Assignment of Reviewers

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Case Calendar

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Testimony Workspace

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Sample Event Notification Email

caseworks tm copyright © 2011 flexnova and specialized energy consultants (sec) 1 rate case and...

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