Data Entry Instructions

1. Benchmarking Community Data Entry Instructions

2. Agreements with Community to Improve data Quality • 1QC Activities: • Focused effort to report back on status of data entry • “Data Coach” to help utility with data collection process • Notify utility of any unanswered key* questions (pre-Data Review Meeting) • Compare new data to previous year's for data integrity • Customized outlier reports (graphs and questions) to help highlight data problems • More analysis and data validation on a per question basis • Status Report to Community Members • Sharing with community members the status of data entry • Withhold report sections if data in that section is not complete • Progress of data collection shared with senior contact at each utility * Key questions will be identified in the questionnaire and will include performance profile questions and other important items

3. Agreements with Community to Improve data Quality • Community Activities: • Minimum data set will be due at each data entry deadline • Data deadlines are firmly enforced • Responsible for responding to outliers/missing data within timeframe that does not negatively impact community progress toward accurate results

4. General Data Gathering Instructions • Provide 2013 data unless otherwise noted for all numeric and quantitative answers • If you can't answer a question, leave it blank. We now give you the option to check “Not Applicable” or “Not Available” • Answer text questions concisely. • We're looking for fairly recent and valuable information that you consider worth sharing with other utilities. We'd be interested in efforts that failed as well as efforts that proved successful. Anything that other utilities can learn from. • Enter percentages as whole numbers: 2% = 2; 0.5% = 0.5. Do use the leading zeros before the decimal point. Do not include % sign • Do not enter %, $ or other signs with numeric data. This will cause data to be treated as text and cause it to graph incorrectly • Do not enter "," as a separator in large numeric values • Forgetting zeros at the end of a number: Large numbers that are collected from company reports are often reported (000's) of dollars. Often, when the person entering data copies these numbers, they forget to add the 3 zeros at the end of the number.

5. Data Entry Portal • 1QC uses a single data entry portal and login. You login once and you'll see all of the sections for your survey. If your company is participating in both T&D and Customer Service, you'll see all of the sections for both surveys. • If you've participated with us in the past, you'll also see last year's surveys. • More than one person can access the data entry portal at a time. However, only one person should be in each section of the survey at a time. So you may have one person entering Meter Reading and one person entering Field Service, but not two people entering Meter Reading. • We have no way of indicating if more than one person is in the form. You need to coordinate the data entry effort or only have a single person performing data entry. • All users get the same user name and password.

6. Data Entry Gateway • To access any of the data entry forms, go to our website www.1qconsulting.com and find Data Entry Gateway under “Community Links”. From there, follow the link to login. • From the data entry gateway, you are also able to download all the supporting documents.

7. Login • After you click link for “On-line Data Entry Access” you'll see the login screen. Enter the username and password combo we provided. • While you are able to reset your password, please don't. We will have to set it back to the one we issued. If you forget your password, please contact us. • Using the “Keep me Logged In” button will keep you from having to reenter your user name/password combo each time you return.

8. Data entry Portal • Once you log in, you'll see the portal below. • Each tab of the excel file matches one “survey” in the on-line data entry. • To enter data, check the box next to the section or “survey” you want to respond to and the click the “Respond” button at the top of the list. That will bring up a separate window with that section's/survey's data entry fields. • You can filter the portal to show just this year’s surveys or just the “statistical” sections.

9. Data Entry Instructions • Finding a specific question: most browsers offer a find function which is the best way to find a specific question to edit. “ctrl-F” launches the find function. • To save your data, click the blue arrow button on the bottom of your screen to go to the next page. Even if you only enter one answer, you’ll need to do this to ensure your data is saved. (Sometimes, it will save as you tab to the next field, but don’t count on it – use the blue arrow.) • There is a Not Applicable option. In the Excel file it's just column A. Since it's Excel, you can enter anything you want into the Excel file column A. On-line you can enter a reason why it's not applicable. We don't care, so you don't need to fill it out for us, but you can store your reason on-line with your answers if you like. • Forward/Back buttons: When you enter data the first time, you can go forward and/or back if needed. • You can resume entering data at anytime or resume the survey to edit your answers.

10. Data Entry Instructions (cont.) • Totals: In some of the questions in Excel we calculate the totals. There is also a function on-line that calculates totals. So you do not need to enter your totals on-line, but do make sure the on-line and Excel totals match. • In the Safety question, we calculate more than totals. The on-line software can’t match those calculations. To ensure streamlined data entry, we included the blank fields to enter the calculated values. This way you don’t have to worry about entering data in the wrong fields.

11. Comparing Historical Data • For returning members… • If you wish to see how you answered a question last year you can open last year's survey side-by-side with this years survey. • Then find the matching questions and adjust the screens so that you can see the two questions to compare your answers.

12. Status summary AND PRINTING • On the last page of the section you will find two links: • The bottom link will take you to your answers for that section. You will be able to print your answers.

13. Status summary • The top link will tale you to a status summary of which questions you've answered or not answered.

14. Completed Questions • In the past, any answer in a question caused the software to consider that question to be “completed”. • This year, we've modified the software so that certain criteria need to be met before questions are considered answered. • For instance, a financial question matrix will required most of the question to be filled in for the software to consider it to be “completed”, while a choose many check box question will only require 1 box to be checked to be considered “completed”. • We expect this change will make the “Status Summary Report” to be more useful. • There is also a “Key Question Summary Report” available this year. This will identify question that are key to completing the performance profiles and whether or not you have answered them.

15. Problems? Let Us Know • Note, we have tried to thoroughly beta test our software, but there may still be a few issues we missed.  Feel free to let me know the minute you run across any problems.  They can usually be fixed in less than 24 hours. • We've also worked to make sure the on-line survey matches the Excel spreadsheet, but if you find discrepancies, please let us know.

16. We Thank you for your Input and Participation! Contact Information Debi McLain Debi.McLain@1QConsulting.com760-272-7277 Ken BuckstaffKen.Buckstaff@1QConsulting.com310-922-0783 Gene Dimitrov301-535-0590Gene.Dimitrov@1QConsulting.com Tim SzybalskiTim.Szybalski@1QConsulting.com925-878-5066 Corporate offices California 400 Continental Blvd. Suite 600El Segundo, CA 90245(310) 426-2790 Maryland 3 Bethesda Metro Center Suite 700Bethesda, MD 20814(301) 961-1505