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Electric / Gas / Water Information collection, analysis and application

Evolution of the Modern Meter Data Management Architecture

Metering Latin America 2004 13 August

Paul L. Nelsen, PE Director, International Product Line Management Itron Software Solutions Group

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Meter Data Management is a Key Strategic Initiative for Utilities

Energy companies should begin evaluating their future meter data management requirements and plan for impacts on technology, process and organization. Companies should consider moving to a shared services model for meter data management with formal service level agreements and pricing structures.

Business Impact: Successful energy companies will focus on interval meter data as an enterprise resource that provides value to both internal and external users.

Quoted from “Meter Data Management: Part 2 – Process and Organization, Meta Energy Information Strategies, by Rick Nicholson

To support multiple internal and external users as well as myriad business needs, IT organizations must prepare for changing requirements around metered data collection and processing systems, refresh rates, and reliability of energy data management environments.

Business Impact: In addition to being a base for revenue processing, information about energy consumption is critical for commodity/asset management optimization. It should be treated accordingly and made readily available to meet business requirements promptly and reliably.

Quoted from “Meter Data Management: Part 1 – From Revenue to Commodity Management, Meta Energy Information Strategies, by Zarko Sumic

“Load Data Warehouse is the most important emerging strategic initiative for utilities.”

Rick Nicholson

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Agenda

• Historical Perspective

• The Rising Importance of meter Data Management

• Best Practice Meter Data Management Architecture

Electric / Gas / Water Information collection, analysis and application Knowledge to Shape Your Future

Meter Data for Billing

• Metering systems designed to support monthly, semi­monthly, or hourly reads for billing

• CIS is the “System of Record” for mass­market customers • Large customer metering and load research applications require separate

systems, and special processes

DB2 Tables

Customer Contracts

Consumption

Hourly DLPs, Estimates,

hourly actuals

Manual interval data billing determinants

BTrieve

VSAM Flat Files

Mainframe

Load Profiles & Forecasts

Cobol/SAS

CIS

Flat Files

867s

Proprietary

Manual or Customer Reads Large customers

Rate Design

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C&I Customers Typically Receive More Attention from the Retail Business Because of Their Revenue Contribution

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Customers Revenues Load

Residential Commercial Industrial

Source: UDI Directory of Electric Power Producers and Distributors

Typical Utility (2001 ­ Consolidated)

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Although Usually More Accessible, Interval Data Is More Challenging to Manage

Yearly Requirements

Interval Meters Interval Meters Non­interval Meters Non­interval Meters

No: 7,500 Channels: 4 Interval: 15 minute Readings: Nightly/monthly

No: 1.2 million Channels: 1 Interval: N/A Readings: Monthly

Interval Records = (7,500 X 4) X (4 X 24 X 365) = 1.1 Billion Non­interval Records = (1,200,000 X 12) = 14.4 Million

Illustrative – Progress Energy Carolinas (CP&L) Estimate

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However, meter data is used throughout the utility

Customer Service – Helping customers understand bills and energy usage. Resolving high bill complaints.

Marketing – Developing appropriate tariff structures requires knowledge of customer class contributions to peak, and accurate understanding of cost structure

System Planning – System needs and planning is driven by consumption and demand.

Metering – Tracking meter assets to support maintenance and purchasing decisions

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Multiple Meter Reading Systems

• Through pilots, age, and other factors, most utilities have several processes and Systems for meter reading – C&I – Mass Market – AMR – Handheld – Read Sheets – Special Reads

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Deregulation Complicates Everything!

Trading and

Marketing Fuel Commodity

Supply Transmission

and Transportation

Delivery Retail

The Energy Value Chain

Integrated Utility

Wires & Pipes

Retailer/ ESP

Distribution Utility

Retailers And ESPs

Transco Commodity

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Energy information uses are expanding

Procurement Understanding how much to purchase based on real usage and load shapes generated over time

End­use Customers Understanding energy expenses, curtailment opportunities and financial impact

Distribution Operations Load balancing, understanding transmission constraints, peak load, etc.

Market Settlement –Market settlement requires accurate data associated with correct market participants

Demand Side Management Aggregating load for purchase; targeting customers for curtailment

Billing Complex billing,aggregating bills, estimation, rate comparisons Customer Service Helping customers understand bills and energy usage, understanding customers and how to serve them

Metering Tracking meter assets to support maintenance and purchasing decisions

E N E R G Y

D A T A

Traditional Emerging

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Proliferation of collection systems and new data users creates a fragmented meter data “architecture”

Mass Market E

lectric

& Gas Meters

Large C&I E

lectric &

Gas Meters

IDR

C&I Portal

CIS

Large Customer

CSR/Large Acct Rep

Customer Self­Service

Load Research

Customer Billing

Energy Accounting

Rates Regulators

Utility Bill

ISO/RTO

Customer

Note: Arrows in GREEN represent interval data flows. Arrows in BLUE represent register data flows

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Agenda

• Historical Perspective

• The Rising Importance of meter Data Management

• Best Practice Meter Data Management Architecture

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Key Utility Challenges

Managing the delivery of the commodity – Reduce costs through efficiency and capital avoidance – Increase capacity through pipes and wires

• Where needed, With less capitalization – Reduce losses

Managing the use of the commodity – Reduce peak – Reduce/mitigate its expense

Managing supply vs. demand – Reduce exposure to speculative energy trading markets – Improve credit and collections to ensure financial performance – Getting back to core operations

Adding services to attract and retail customers – Data availability – Value­added tools to understand and manage costs – Forecasting and scheduling.

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These Issues Are Requiring Utility Managers to Ask Some Tough Questions

Operations

Marketing

Customer Service

• Will AMR help me reduce costs?

• Can I used targeted AMR and metering to improve key operations.

Metering

• How do we manage the volume of data being collected?

• How do we deploy the best technology for our service territory?

• How can I best support my large C&I customers?

• How do I satisfy my customers’ request for information?

• Can I more effectively target customers to programs?

• If I offer new products can I evaluate their success?

• How do I link EMS and meter data?

• Can I minimize unexpected settlement charges?

• Do I have the tools to manage congestion and perform accurate system forecasts?

Energy Accounting

• Can I effectively track energy from generation to consumption?

• Can I effectively identify and correct non­technical losses?

• Can I reduce the timeline to perform wholesale accounting?

• Can I interact with wholesale entities in an optimal manner?

Information Technology

• How do I reduce operational costs to support all these systems?

• Will our application architecture hinder or enable process integration?

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Answers place increased focus on the availability and use of meter data

Meter Reading Meter

Reading Customer Service

Customer Service Marketing Marketing System

Operations System

Operations Energy

Accounting Energy

Accounting Information Technology Information Technology

•One approach for all meters is not feasible for a diverse service territory •Companies will require one meter data management system for all customers •Integration of data collection across all areas of the business will be necessary •In some cases, more frequent data collection using shorter intervals will be necessary •Downstream process owners should drive validation, editing & estimation (“VEE”) standards

•Quickly translate load into cost without the CIS system •Emergence of risk­ based pricing (e.g., real­time pricing and time­ of­use) challenges legacy billing systems •Large C&I customers will require a “total solution” •Effective use of the Internet to display large customer load data is necessary •Key account managers and C&I customer service personnel will require access to more data

•Marketing will require more metering data to evaluate customer and product profitability •In some cases, marketing may be able to develop new products from technology solutions (e.g., Web data presentation) •Need to measure the effectiveness of and compliance with demand response programs

•Integration of metering and RTU data collection into one central repository •Use of metering data as a basis for system planning and analysis activities •Extension of outage notification to the customer endpoint •Leverage high­end metering capabilities with outage management systems

•Integration of meter, SCADA and forecasted data as a tool for the evaluation of risk management activities •Need for robust reporting capabilities for transmission scheduling and use •Proper tracking of energy usage at multiple levels in the system facilitates analysis of losses. •Complex calculation of “on the fly” load data (e.g., losses, aggregation) speeds problem location and dispute resolution

•Systems integration expertise required for successful delivery of MDM solution •Scalability needs of technical solution could grow exponentially •Solution will require capable and robust database management processes •Emergence of Internet technologies (e.g., XML, browser­ based architecture) •Enterprise­wide meter system of record

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Manage Revenue Cycle

• Collect and Record Usage

• Rate Transactions • Bill Customers • Collect Money • Manage Credit

and Collections • Manage

Settlements • Manage Accounts

Receivable • Manage Revenue

Assurance

Manage Local Distribution Services

• Plan and Forecast Capital Requirements

• Maintain and Monitor Distribution Network

• Activate and Deactivate Customers

Provide Customer Service

• Manage Customer Relationship

• Process Order Requests

• Resolve Customer Disputes

Develop Products and Services

• Understand Customer Usage

• Develop Service Concepts

• Design Service Offering

• Create Rates and Tariffs

Utility Distribution Company Core Processes Proc

ess Activities

The Impact of Improved Data Quality and Availability Affects the Entire Retail Enterprise

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Agenda

• Historical Perspective

• The Rising Importance of meter Data Management

• Best Practice Meter Data Management Architecture

Electric / Gas / Water Information collection, analysis and application Knowledge to Shape Your Future

The Future Vision of Meter Data Management Is Based on an Integrated Data Repository

Mass Market E

lectric

& Gas Meters

Large C&I E

lectric &

Gas Meters

Meter Data Management

System

Billing System

Large Customer

CRM

Customer

Load Forecasting

Energy Accounting

Rates Regulators

Utility Bill

Web

Register Reads

Register Reads & Interval Data

Interval Data

Data via XML API

SCADA/RTU Devices

ISO/RTO

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A Fully Evolved Meter Data Management Architecture

Core Functions

Export Adapters

Security Management

Configuration Management

Reporting Infrastructure

Calculation Engine Validation Estimating and Editing Engine

Task Management

Import/Export Management

Metering System Integration

Flexible API’s for Meter Data Access

Meter Data Management

Route & Cycle Management

EMR/ OMR

(non­interval)

Fixed Network (interval/non­ interval)

OTHER (SCADA,

building control systems, etc.)

Interval Data

Collection

External Systems

Forecasting Data Access

Interface to corporate Systems: CIS, GIS, ERP

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Meter Data Management Facilitates Collection, Analysis & Application of Metering Data

Collect

Analyze

Apply

Meter Reading

• Route Management • Data Collection

• Validation • Estimation • Editing

Customer Service

• Billing Determinant Calculation • Complex Invoicing

• Internet Load Presentment

• Key Account Management

Marketing • Customer Profitability • Product Development

System Operations

• Real­time Monitoring • RTU Data Collection

• Energy Management • System Planning • Load Forecasting

Energy Accounting

• Load Research • Energy Settlement • Risk Management

• ISO/RTO Reporting • Shadow Settlement

Enablers • AMR Technologies • C&I AMR • SCADA/EMS

• Data Warehousing • Load Research & Forecasting • CIS

• Web • CRM • E­mail

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Four key Functions of Meter Data Management

Mass Market Data

Management

Collection System

Integration

C&I Collection and Data Mgmt

Meter Config Management