Ecologic Analytics' MDMS Plays a Critical Role in Pacific Gas & Electric's SmartMeter™ Program Going Live with a Phased Customer Rollout
Ecologic Analytics Turns AMI Data into Validated Billing Information
MINNEAPOLIS - February 14, 2008: Ecologic Analytics (formerly WACS), a leading provider of meter data management (MDM) software solutions and decision management technologies for electric, natural gas and water utilities, announced today that it has passed a significant milestone as Pacific Gas & Electric completed the implementation and integration of the Ecologic Analytics Meter Data Management System (MDMS) in its production environment. Pacific Gas & Electric began billing a portion of its customers using AMI data that has been consolidated, validated, estimated, edited and presented to Pacific Gas & Electric's customer information system by the Ecologic MDMS. Pacific Gas & Electric plans to automate all 10.3+ million meters in its service territory by end of 2011 as part of its SmartMeter™ program. Meter readings and usage data from all meters are managed within the Ecologic MDMS and presented from there to the utility enterprise systems which require it.
In the current phase of its SmartMeter™ program, Pacific Gas & Electric is remotely collecting daily meter reads from approximately 150,000 electric meters enabled with SmartMeter™ technology. Collection of at least hourly interval data from all automated meters is planned for the near future. Meanwhile, Pacific Gas & Electric continues to collect monthly handheld reads from the remaining non-automated meters. AMI- and manual-meter reads are consolidated and stored in the Ecologic MDMS. The WAVE™ and iWAVE™ modules are key components of the Ecologic Analytics solution; these rules-based automated validation engines ensure that daily and interval data are thoroughly validated, estimated and edited prior to making them available to the enterprise for billing or other uses. Over time, Pacific Gas & Electric's customers will receive more detailed information and voluntary rate options to help them save money by reducing their energy usage during times of exceptionally high electricity demand.
"Pacific Gas & Electric's go-live with our system is a major accomplishment for Pacific Gas & Electric and for us here at Ecologic," said Kristine Beck, chief operations officer at Ecologic Analytics. "The Pacific Gas & Electric SmartMeter™ system collects a tremendous amount of data. Our MDMS provides the foundation for enabling new tariffs with prices that vary by the time of day, supporting proper sizing of transformers, reducing service theft, and many other benefits."
Leading up to the Go Live date, the Ecologic MDMS was running in a pilot mode and processing hourly interval and daily data for over 5000 automated gas and electric meters. During the pilot stage, the MDMS passed more than 100 different test scenarios that verified both proper prioritization and configuration of rules to meet Pacific Gas & Electric's specifications for quality billing and compliance with the California Public Utilities Commission's guidelines for Validation, Estimation & Editing (VEE). In addition, the Ecologic MDMS was rigorously tested and certified by a leading third-party integrator. This third-party assessment demonstrated that Ecologic Analytics' system can load, WAVE™ (validate, estimate and edit) and post billing determinants for over 10 million meters on a fully populated database. The target timeframe for completion of this test was five hours. In fact, the Ecologic MDMS completed the test in less than 90 minutes, a significant accomplishment.
As Pacific Gas & Electric progresses through the rollout of its SmartMeter™ program, interval meter reading data will enable advanced applications such as time-of-use billing, demand response forecasting, and more efficient outage management.
About Ecologic Analytics
Ecologic Analytics, LLC is a leading provider of meter data management (MDM) systems for electric, natural gas and water utilities. Ecologic Analytics offers a flexible, configurable and highly scalable enterprise software solution that receives data from any AMI/AMR system and/or manual source, supporting the dynamic operational and business processes needed for smart grid initiatives. Founded in 2000, the company is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Media Contact Information
Matt Schwarz
Director of Marketing Communications
Ecologic Analytics, LLC
Phone: (952) 843-6043
Fax: (612) 395-5535
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