Customer Satisfaction Rising at Guam Power Authority Following AMI Deployment

ATLANTA, July 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Grid modernization programs are driving measurable increases in customer satisfaction at utilities like Guam Power Authority (GPA), Landis+Gyr announced today.

According to customer surveys conducted before and after installing advanced meters, GPA realized a 9% increase in overall customer satisfaction with the utility and a 13% increase in satisfaction with GPA customer service since 2012 – the year it began installing Landis+Gyr's Gridstream^® AMI solution. The customer satisfaction numbers are linked to improvements in outage response, line losses and customer transactions, such as new account set-up and final billing on terminated accounts.

"Customer satisfaction is influenced by a variety of factors, including how we managed billing changes after meter installations, and the improved efficiency of transactions for transient customers," said John Cruz, Manager of the Strategic Planning and Operations Research Division at GPA. "We've seen a sizable reduction in truck rolls for service calls and both technical and non-technical line losses. These efficiencies allow us to keep power costs lower and reduce connection fees. Customers are responding to service improvements overall."

With its advanced metering project now complete, GPA is expanding capabilities for managing distributed generation from solar installations, improving power quality with voltage management initiatives and analyzing AMI data for insights into distribution network performance to promote operational efficiencies.

"GPA's experience demonstrates how the value of technology investments goes beyond the utility and positively impacts energy consumers. GPA is a perfect example of how a utility can undergo a radical cultural transformation through the adoption of technology," said Abe Ortega, Vice President of International Sales and Marketing at Landis+Gyr. "The infrastructure is in place to add applications that achieve further improvements in customer engagement and operational efficiencies."

Landis+Gyr's Gridstream platform provides a reliable and secure connection to critical points across the distribution system, and interfaces with existing utility systems and applications to more effectively manage billing, operations, engineering and customer engagement. The network component of the solution enables two-way communications with meters, sensors and switches to provide interval load and voltage data and support net metering, outage management and remote service connection capabilities.

About Guam Power Authority
GPA is both a generation and distribution utility serving over 50,000 customers on the Island of Guam. The utility has 429 megawatts of generation capacity, maintains 663 miles of transmission and distribution lines and operates 29 substations. The utility employs 485 people with an elected five-member Commission on Consolidated Utilities and is regulated by the Guam Public Utilities Commission.

About Landis+Gyr
Landis+Gyr is the leading global provider of integrated energy management solutions for the utility sector. Offering the broadest portfolio of products and services to address complex industry challenges, the company delivers comprehensive solutions for the foundation of a smarter grid including; smart metering, distribution network sensing and automation tools, load control, analytics and energy storage. Landis+Gyr operates in 31 countries across five continents as an independent growth platform of the Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502) and is also 40% owned by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). With annualized sales of more than US$1.5 billion, the company employs 5,700 people with the sole mission of helping the world manage energy better. More information is available at landisgyr.com

SOURCE Landis+Gyr