Chip Merriam, Vice President, Legislative & Regulatory Compliance, OUC

Guerry Waters, Group Vice President, Oracle Utilities

Beth Kearns, Managing Partner, Red Clay Consulting

OUC Rolls out Best Smart Infrastructure with Oracle Utilities Applications                      The Perspective from OUC

Hedi Ago, IT Director, OUC

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Agenda

• Introductions• The OUC Story• OUC Dynamics/Imperatives/Goals• The Approach• The Results• Questions

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The OUC Story

Why we chose Oracle and its MDM product…..

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OUC Dynamics

• Smart Grid: introducing new business opportunities & challenges

o Full AMI for both water and electrico Infrastructure o Leverage big datao Data mgmt & governance more

critical

• Emerging technologies: enabling operational efficiencies

• Maintain reliability: already one of the most reliable utilities in the nation

• Shift in reducing rates and customer focus: customer interactions are a priority and access to meter data is a cornerstone of strategy

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OUC Imperatives

Leverage technologies to be the one of the best utilities in the United States. 1. Full AMI for water and electric2. Achieve the best reliability ratings3. Full IVR / Web capabilities4. Implement the best MDM system5. Aim for extensive pre paid metering6. Be Green

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OUC Goals

• Reduce service calls

• Fast and accurate turnaround from meter reading to billing (eliminating the manual collection of no-reads)

• Identify issues proactively and automate corrective action

• Educate & empower customers (to engage in activities, enable automation of efficiency with customers & to implement demand response programs)

• Improve on-time & accurate billing (with integrated meter-to-cash operations)

• Provide a foundation to support Smart Grid, Smart Customers and Smart Programs (easy access to usage and program information)

• Reallocate staff (meter readers and customer experience people)

• Drive customers to the websiteto answer questions

• Add online chat services• Display additional data online

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OUC Customer Interaction Costs

Cost per Call Center Call

$5.73

Cost per Walk-in Customer

$5.00

Cost per IVR Call

$0.50

26,000/month

125,000/month

Cost per Paper Bill

$0.50

Cost per e-Bill

$0.22

Cost per Web Transaction$0.05

** estimated

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OUC Customer Research Objectives

Understand customer thoughts,

needs & preferences

Determine how contact-rich & silent customers prefer to

be served

Determine opportunities for

migrating customers to lower-cost

channels

Gain insight into how technology is shaping

OUC’s relationship with customers

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The COMPLETE picture

MDM Related and CE Projects

All projects except E1 Upgrade are linked/associated with the MDM project

Infrastructure Projects

Interfaces

Cust. Exp. Web Projects

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

St Cloud Customer Migration

Closing of Service Centers

Mass Meter Exchange for AMI

AMI (Electric / Water)

Head End System (HES) projects for AMI

MDM Phase I and II

Pre-Paid Meters

2012 2013

MD

M In

fras

truc

ture

Pro

ject

sCE

Pro

ject

s

MDM is the Foundation of OUC’s New Customer Experience Functionality

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Why is Meter Data Management Important?

• Improve on-time billing & accuracy

• Enable new pricing, tariff design & analysis

• Increase infrastructure efficiency

• Improve forecasting & system planning

• Reduce revenue leakage, theft & bad debt

• Create operational efficiencies to lower operating expenses

• Increase meter information accessibility

• Allow internal & external customers to manage usage & energy costs through actionable info

• Identify & conduct preventative maintenance

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History of the MDM Project

• OUC was heading down a more customized solution path using multiple vendors. 

• No long term implementation strategy

• Spending significantly more money customizing a solution than we ultimately spent on the Oracle solution.

MyOUC.com

Historical Timeline of MDM Projects

2010 2011 2012 2013

Another Vendor Phase I OraclePhase I

OraclePhase II

OUC began Smart Grid initiatives in 2007, MDM started in 2010

Phase I completed within original approved Budget

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OUC’s Chosen Implementation Approach

• Single Service• AMI/HES integration• Single CIS integration• Validation (VEE)• Billing calculations• Exception management

C R A W LAMI-BASED BILLING

• Additional Integration• FAs to/from CIS• Complex Billing Determinants• Custom validation &

Estimation rules• Web Presentment• Meter Move In/Out & Provisioning

W A L KREFINE RULES AND SHARING

INTERVAL DATA

• Reporting / Analytics• OMS Integration• Load Research Output• Additional Services (Water, Chilled

Water, etc)• Demand Response• Additional Device Integration

R U NLEVERAGING THE DIGITAL

NETWORK

1 2 3METER TO CASHEXTENDED

MDMADVANCEDAMI/ MDM

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OUC’s Future Strategy & Next Steps

• Integration of ~240,000 Elster AMI Electric Service Meters

• Integration of ~145,000 Elster AMI Water Service Meters

• Estimated 385,000 total AMI meters in MDM

• Ability to load data from the field from HFF files

• Billing data for all AMI meters coming from one source, MDM

• Advanced revenue protection capabilities

• Automated Device Communications

Phase III

• Meter Analytics – Revenue Protection, Billing

• Increased volume of meters collecting interval data

FUTURE - Consumption Dashboard and AMI Integration

Phase 1 – Fixed scope, Electric ONLY, Specific Residential and Small

Commercial

Phase II

Phase III

Accelerated Roll Out of all Smart Meters

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Process Flow

Meter Data Management

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The Results

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A BEAUTIFUL THING…….

ESB

Day 1, 8:00 PMPayment Applied to Acct.

Reconnect

Customer paid at OUC facility or other method

Roll a truck forMeter “Turn On”

Customer Reconnection Under “Old Way”

Multiple protocols

including Batch fileDay 112:00 noon

Day 29:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Goal: < 15

minutes

24+hours

Customer Reconnection — “Old Way” Real-Time Opportunity Defined with OUConnect(All forms of interaction: web, payment centers, IVR, call center)

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Leveraging the Seamless Highly Integrated Infrastructure

12 minutes elapsed time from payment at a location to service reconnection. Less than 7 minutes for the IVR/Web.

OUC won the “Smart Grid Infrastructure Award” for Large Utilities in CS week 2014

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Why Oracle

• Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management & Smart Grid Gateway • The most complete and cost effective applications for our business needs• Consolidates vast amounts of data into central data source for all departments• Improves on-time & accurate billing with comprehensive integration of meter-to-

cash operations

• SmartGridGateway (SGG)• Proven track record of Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management implementations • “Crawl, Walk, Run” approach• Pre-configured options and fully robust “out of the box” functionality

• Low risk & affordable • Rapid deployment (fully tested & requires minimal customizations) • Complete core meter-to-cash MDM solution with endless possibilities for

enhancement

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OUC Key Lessons Learned

Develop long term Smart Grid

strategy

Develop “partner relationships”

with vendors vs “vendor

relationships”

Choose a system that is proven

with successful implementations

Leverage proven out-of-the-box functionality

where possible

Start small, customize later

Continue Leveraging the

smart grid investment

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Questions?