About

Why did the utility cross the road ?
To find the best solutions for its business and customers! 

The quality of life we enjoy is directly related to the quality of services offered by the utilities that serve us.  A public utility touches the lives of every man, woman, and child and affects us where we live, work, and play.  Very few industries have such a profound impact on their communities.  The utilities industry stands at the crossroads of change, looking toward a future of limitless possibilities. Is your company ready?

At Pate & Associates, we believe “QUALITY SERVICE” is a way of doing business that should be heralded by the customers who attest to it. As a fully equipped vehicle for innovation, we bring over 29 years of proven expertise in creativity, planning, and strong execution in the most complex segments of the utilities industry…. 

We Can Get You There!

About Us
The experience of Pate & Associates comes from over 29 years of working directly with industry leaders across the electric, natural gas, and water utility industry. The culmination of that knowledge and expertise allows us to provide a myriad of services to help move you forward.

We offer:

• Hands-on experience in operational management of electric, gas, and water distribution systems.
• Hands-on team development and mentoring expertise.
• Best in class meter reading management and operations.
• Best practices in corporate level benchmarking.

 

Our Services

At Pate & Associates we offer a myriad of services to help move you forward:

AMI consulting and project management team development for utilities.
     Technology Procurement: Requirements definition; specifications and Requests for Proposals; vendor selection and contract negotiation.
    HAN Technology:  Requirements definition; specifications and Requests for Proposals; vendor selection and contract negotiation.

Consulting services for case studies, technical, and business development issues on Smart Grid technologies for utilities.
   Business Case Development: Needs assessments, economic and financial analyses; value chain modeling to identify the full range of benefits;
   alternative scenario impact modeling and contingency planning.

Consulting services focused on technical and business development issues for the utility industry, meter industry vendors, and investors.
   Reengineering: Process analysis, benchmarking, and optimization to ensure that business processes, employees, and organization are aligned with
   the new technologies.
   Project Management: Implementation planning; project management, monitoring, and control.
   Strategic Planning: Identifying and quantifying organizational and customer service-related goals and objectives; developing strategies and tactics
   to achieve competitive customer relations management.
   Customer Satisfaction: Customer focus groups including survey design and administration; programs for managing customer expectations;
   communications and public relations.

Richard G. Pate

Richard G. Pate is a results proven utility industry leader and an expert in AMI technologies, utility operations, and workforce management.  With over 29 years of visionary leadership and hands-on experience, Richard’s acumen includes electric distribution systems, natural gas distribution systems, coal fired power plant efficiency engineering, and customer service technologies and operations.

He has been instrumental in driving AMI technology and its integration in the manufacturing realm of the electric utility industry. Richard has worked with many of the major IOU and COOP utilities in the United States, having served as Distribution Engineering and Distribution Line Department Manager for Indiana & Michigan Power Company, Advanced C&I Product Manager for Landis+Gyr, and most recently as Marketing Manager for Electric Products for Sensus, USA.

In addition to his Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology from Purdue University, Richard holds an Executive Masters of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters of Science in Human Resources Management & Development from National Lewis University.