Walter R. Levesque

Walter R. Levesque, is a Principal of Plexus. His office is in the Minneapolis area. Mr. Levesque has perhaps an extensive and varied background in the AMR industry. He has been a utility executive for an AMR deployment of 500,000 meters, served as a senior officer for two AMR companies, and consulted in the US and internationally on over 70 AMR/AMI business case evaluations. He is skilled in finance, accounting, labor and regulatory issues.

Mr. Levesque recently brought his 30 years of utility industry and AMR expertise to Plexus Research, joining the Plexus team in 2005. As a member of the Plexus team, he has already begun conducting market research for clients.

Mr. Levesque recognizes the importance of a high quality team-building process in the construction of an AMR/AMI analysis for a utility. He has also developed multiple business case models. He has spoken at national and international utility industry conferences, and to regulatory associations. He has written for major utility industry publications.

Mr. Levesque presented as a utility executive at the first AMRA conference in Traverse City, Michigan. He addressed cost-justification, the value of customer satisfaction and the impact of AMR on regulatory relationships. Levesque was the principal for a large AMR company, in a joint investigation with a team from EDS, of the benefits and associated cost of fixed network radio AMR systems.

Mr. Levesque has an extensive utility background particularly focused on the revenue cycle functions within the utility. He was the utility executive responsible at two utilities for their CIS system conversions. He participated in writing winter disconnection regulations and revamped credit and collection policies and procedures at three utility companies. The impact of his regulatory involvement resulted in praise from regulators while reducing the ratio of bad debts to revenue for the utilities. He is experienced in operations management, including time and motion procedures, and has managed several meter reading re-routing projects.

Mr. Levesque has extensive skills and experience in utility finance, which he applies to both utility and regulatory oriented projects. He successfully concluded Kidder Peabody’s course in corporate finance, a hallmark seminar in the natural gas utility industry. He developed a capital leasing portfolio with a significantly high return on investment. He instituted cash management processes as well as capital and operating lease programs. He has been responsible for end of year financial reporting, creation of annual utility operating plans and capital budgets along with the five-year strategic plan.

Mr. Levesque ported his extensive experience in the regulated utility industry to the highly competitive AMR industry. He has spent the last 15 years in the AMR industry working for three AMR companies. He was Chief Financial Officer for EnScan, Inc., the pioneer of mobile AMR technology. The rapid growth of EnScan and its strong strategic positioning as an AMR solution attracted the attention of Itron, at the time the leader in manual meter reading solutions. Mr. Levesque played a key role in the integration of the two organizations following Itron’s acquisition of Enscan. He has participated in several studies to evaluate the market price of AMR companies. He has evaluated and participated in the strategic combination of a number of AMR companies. He was the consultant for the acquisition and construction of the Itron manufacturing facility, resulting in a manufacturing process focused on quality, low cost and employee satisfaction.

In his executive role for AMR companies he has created strategic plans and developed sales and marketing strategies. He has managed relationships between a utility, the AMR provider and third party installers He has presented to, discussed with and testified in front of several regulatory bodies.

Mr. Levesque has experience in the international AMR arena. He has presented at MATES conference and utility industry sessions during the deregulation process in England. He has international sales experience in Europe and South America.

Mr. Levesque, as an AMR consultant, has conducted business case analyses for dozens of utilities, consulted to AMR and home automation and alarm system monitoring companies. .

Mr. Levesque uniquely understands the AMR industry from the perspective of all its constituents: the utility, the AMR provider, regulators, installers, third party financiers, and as importantly he understands the value to the end customer. He has participated on the buying side and the selling side of the AMR decision. He has participated in several labor negotiations as the utility representative on the Labor Negotiating committee and has assisted in the writing of labor union agreements. He has extensive experience in labor and contract negotiations and understands the internal process of successful automation projects. He is an entrepreneurial, performance driven, customer-focused team builder.

Mr. Levesque has published several papers on AMR business case analysis and on outsourcing. He has served on the local Boards and as the President of the Board of Senior Community Services and the Edina Baseball Association.

Mr. Levesque received the Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire. He later earned his MBA from Babson College, a world renowned school with a focus on entrepreneurship.

Mr. Levesque is a member of the Automated Meter Reading Association and has been a past member and participant of: EEI, the New England Gas Association, Credit and Collection Professionals, Society of Competitive Intelligence, and United Way, as well as coach of several sports teams. He lives with his wife in Edina, Minnesota.

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