What You Will Learn
1. External Factors Influencing the Utility Industry Today
- the utility business
- emerging issues facing the utility business
- deregulation
- clean air
- alternative power
- financial crisis
- critical infrastructure
- mergers
- pending legislation: healthcare, energy bill (Cap & Trade), financial management reform, SOX, and others  
- key statistics in the utility business

2. Organizationwide Risks
- DJUI company risks
- top 50 issues potentially facing your organization
- risks facing attendee organizations
- how internal audit can evaluate the impact of these issues on IA’s planning

3. Deregulation and the Utility Industry
 
4. Unique Utility Theory and Practices
- definition of a public utility
- accounting
- assets
- inventory
- financial statements
- construction
- regulatory
- FERC
- SEC
- state commissions
- PCAOB and SOX
- tax
- safety
- environmental
- rates
- rate structure
- rate case process
- cost of service
- test year
- CWIP treatment
- commodity trading
- derivatives
- planning energy needs
- trading process
- accounting

5. Internal Audit’s Role in the Utility Business
- changing standards for the profession
- risk assessment approach for utilities
- ERM and IA
 
6. Generation Operations and Risk Profile
- types of generation and costing models
- fuel contracting & inventory management
- repairs and maintenance
- generation operation processes
- construction projects
- jointly owned facilities
- renewable energy
 
7. Transmission Operations and Risk Profile
- Smart Grid
- operating transmission system
- NERC and interconnections operations
- commodity trading’s impact on transmission operations
- FERC Standards of Conduct

8. Utility Operations: Customer Service Call Centers
- customer service operations
- metrics for customer service effectiveness
- call center processes

9. Distribution System Operations and Risk Profile
- meter reading
- work order system
- service dispatching & routing
- emergency operations
- cut-for-non-pay requirements
 
10. Revenue Billing
- customer classifications
- revenue accounting
- bill factors and components
- unbilled Revenue
 
11. Credit and Collection
- internal collections and walk-in facilities
- third-party payment centers/stations and collection agencies
- cold weather rules
             
12. Unique Risks in Utility Support Functions and Common Processes
- inventory
- procurement
- security
- information technology