Mr. Mark D. Fowler
Areas
of Specialization
Mr. Fowler has significant experience in the utility industry as a management consultant. His functional expertise includes corporate level expertise in acquisitions and divestitures and operational reviews of subsidiary/parents relations. His expertise in field operations specialization also includes operations-improvement and work–management programs with emphasis on crews and supporting organizations.
Selected
Consulting Experience
Belize Electric Limited – Lead Consultant in an ongoing 18-month reengineering and organizational review. The review addresses organizational realignment and process improvements in new service installation, materials management, distribution, and management information systems.
Southern California Gas – Consultant on two management reviews performed for the California PUC. Areas of review included affiliate transactions and relationships, gas transmission and distribution, engineering, and construction. The second of these reviews focused exclusively on affiliate transactions.
GTE of Kentucky – Lead Consultant responsible for operating reviews of customer-contact functions and support services. Also responsible for review of charges from affiliate organizations.
Southern Connecticut Gas – Lead Consultant in a review for the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control. Responsible for review of the non-regulated charges to the operating company and for the review of the support-services and operations functions including work planning, materials, purchasing, MIS, and facilities.
Kentucky Power (a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Electric Power Corporation) – Consultant on a comprehensive management and operations review, responsible for the review of the transmission, distribution, and customer services functions for the Kentucky Public Service Commission. Key elements of the review included cost efficiencies, service company cost allocations, service quality, planning integration, and the composition and size of maintenance and construction workforces.
Connecticut Natural Gas Company – Lead Consultant for the review of support services for a comprehensive management review for the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control. Review included charges from the parent company to subsidiary operations.
Yankee Gas Services Company – Consultant in a management review for the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control. Areas included construction, maintenance and support services. Responsible for follow-up activities in several support-services functions.
City of Columbus, Georgia - Performed an operations review for the city’s water and wastewater divisions. Focus was primarily on the practices and processes in the construction workforce and in wastewater operations. Emphasis was divided between process improvements and human-relations issues.
City of Corpus Christi - Performed a management audit operations review of all areas of service. Responsibilities included examining processes in construction, fire, police, and support operations. Review was aimed at identifying process improvements in operations.
City of Colorado Springs - Currently working on a benchmarking project that is examining work-process and human-relations issues involved in a multi-service municipal utility making the transition to an automated meter reading.
Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania and Bell Atlantic DC - Lead Consultant in the comprehensive management audit for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia. Responsible for the review of support services, which included fleet, aircraft, materials management, purchasing, real estate, administrative services, and support services provided by affiliates. CO-lead on the related review of decision-making process used to decide whether to make or buy services, and in particular, the outsourcing and contraction of services related to support function and some OSP operations.
United Telephone Company of Pennsylvania - Consultant on a management audit for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission specializing in the area of customer service. Audit included a focused review of affiliate relations, collection and bad-debt processes, procedures, and regulatory compliance.
GTE North - Lead Consultant in the areas of workforce management and customer service for the Illinois Commerce Commission. Functional areas audited included central-office operation, outside-plant construction and maintenance, network engineering, and business office and service centers.
United Telephone Company of Texas - Consultant on a comprehensive management audit for the Texas Public Utility Commission in the areas of network planning and operations and customer services. Functional areas audited included central office operations, outside-plant construction and maintenance, network engineering, business offices, and service centers.
Tennessee local exchange companies (Telephone Electronics Corporation) - Assistant Project Manager and Lead Consultant for the review of productivity systems in a comprehensive management and operations audit for the Tennessee Public Utility Commission. Review covered all functional areas, with an emphasis on outside plant construction, installation and maintenance, and customer-relations work groups.
New York Telephone - Task Leader in a retrospective audit for the New York Public Service Commission of the affiliate transactions of NYT. Reviewed areas of the Material Enterprises Company, including purchasing, inventory management, staffing levels, product-costing methods, contract terms and conditions, and awards made through competitive bids and sole-source contracts. In the review of NYT’s relationship with NYNEX’s Business Information Systems Company, examined sales agency agreements for customer-premise equipment and network services as well as personal computer sales transactions between BISC and other NYNEX affiliates.
Illinois Bell Telephone Company - Technical Advisor to the staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission in a reconnaissance audit. Technical advice was provided in the area of customer service, which included centralized customer-contact functions, such as operator centers, residential and commercial business offices, and credit and collection centers.
BellSouth - Lead Consultant in a series of studies designed to define the market for technical telecommunications training in the U.S. and Canada.
Bellcore - Consultant in a study performed to forecast the management information requirements needed for service costing in the BellSouth operating companies.
Tennessee Public Service Commission - Lead Consultant on a collaborative engagement designed to develop a telecommunications technology deployment strategy. On this assignment, work areas included network evaluation and development of a ten-year telecommunications plan.
CONTEL Service Corporation - Consultant on a series of system implementation studies including installing new financial, budgeting, and performance-measurement systems. The studies involved all functional areas of local-exchange operations, as well as support groups from corporate and regional organizations.
Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation - Consultant on management audit for the New York Public Service Commission. Areas of review included corporate budgeting and the management of contractors.
Yankee Gas Services Company - Consultant in the management audit for the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control. Responsible for follow-up activities in several support-services functions.
Gas Company of New Mexico - Consultant in an organization and work management study. The study produced recommendations for information systems, organization structure, staffing mix and the planning, scheduling, and control of work management. Functional areas reviewed included customer services, meter repair and installation, construction, and engineering.
Potomac Electric Power Company - Consultant on a management audit of the fuel procurement activities for the Maryland Public Service Commission. Areas of review included fuel inventory management, gas and oil procurement, transportation, and storage.
Potomac Edison - Consultant for a comprehensive management and operations audit of the manpower planning, productivity, and staffing functions for the Maryland Public Service Commission. The review focused on all areas of Potomac Edison, including contractors, with special emphasis on customer service and field operations.
Sandia National Laboratories - Consultant in a work management study. The study produced recommendations covering contract versus in-house work force decision making, contract management, operations improvements, management processes, and organization structure.
Edmonton Power - Lead Consultant in a review of the maintenance management planning and implementation process. The review included maintenance at fossil fuel plants and in T&D operations.
Other
Business and Professional Experience
Acting General Manager for a steam-heating operation. Duties include employee hiring and training, implementation of manual and computerized systems and procedures, movement of all accounting functions to the parent company, and development of a long-range business plan.
Education
MBA, The University of Tulsa
BS, The University of Tulsa
