Dick, thanks for the e-mail.  I don't think I disagree with any of the points you made and I do think we have come a long way over the last year in the DSM "technology" we employ.  Unfortunately, a lot of these changes in thinking, sales and cost structure are too little too late.  It is highly unlikely at this point that EES will exist beyond next week.  All the best in the future and I would like to personally thank you for your contribution, thought process and caring to the end to make your point.

Regards
Delainey
 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Rusk, Richard  
Sent:	Saturday, December 01, 2001 1:29 PM
To:	Delainey, David W.; Dietrich, Janet; Leff, Dan
Subject:	DSM developers create value

Dave, Janet, and Dan,

Before I think about where I could best apply my talents somewhere else I want to make sure you know why I (and all the other DSM developers) can bring value to you at EES.

If DSM is part of the future offering of EES I think it is absolutely essential that you have your own developers in house, both in the home office and the field offices.  They are the originators of DSM value.  There are no projects for the rest of the DSM team to evaluate and plan for until a developer puts it on the list in the first place.  I routinely make the decision on my own whether to include or discard projects that have NPVs over $1million each.  I think this should be seen as a key decision in our business process!

I think there has not been enough recognition at EES that DSM development is a creative activity.  Those lists of projects we price and implement can't be created by having a rookie go down a checklist.  The DSM engineers ask a lot of probing questions to find projects that will both save energy and be acceptable to the customer.  And the largest, most valuable projects take the most experience and creativity to discover.

There has been talk about outsourcing the development services in the past.  That can be done to a point but you need to have your own developers to teach the outsiders and evaluate their work.  I have worked on EES development efforts with outside consultants and they always need some time to catch on to our value proposition and our ways of processing information.

As you are thinking about the future of EES I want to make a sales pitch for keeping the team of DSM developers you have.  This has been my niche in life here at EES the past 3 years, and was the entire focus of my professional life for the 8 years before that.  I am a licensed Professional Engineer and a Certified Energy Manager.  I know what I am talking about--you have a very talented, experienced team that should be seen as a source of value and not just necessary overhead.

Most of your developers came from smaller organizations where we performed more functions--everything from cold sales calls, to report writing, to bookkeeping, to ordering office supplies and shoveling snow.  We can do it again!

Dick Rusk


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