Matthew W. Thomas is a utility professional with over 39 years of experience and currently serves as Assistant Director at Houston Public Works (HPW), Customer Accounts Services (CAS). Customer Account Services provides customer information, billings, credit and collections, and all meter-associated services to water and wastewater utility customers within the City of Houston. Additionally, CAS provides wholesale water services to many of nearby towns and utility districts, and also bills for the Solid Waste department. The City of Houston was the first major city in the U.S. to use in ground automated water meter reading (AMR) technology. The City of Houston is continuing its’ technology leadership with the adoption of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) that supports Smart Utility/City interoperability. Prior to joining HPW, Matthew spent twenty-two years in leadership roles in Electric Utility Operations, followed by twelve years of Financial Planning and Analysis leadership in the Oil and Gas industry.