Data Empowered
Utilities
Data analytics: Empowering utilities to solve
today’s problems while building tomorrow’s
business
Author: Thomas Zimmermann, CEO Smart Grid Services,
Smart Grid Division, Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector
Executive Summary................................................................................ 2
Motives: What’s Driving Utilities Toward Data Analytics......................... 2
Empowering the Utility Workforce to Solve Business Problems.............. 2
Advantages of Cloud............................................................................... 4
Starting Strategically with Analytics....................................................... 4
Conclusion.............................................................................................. 5
www.siemens.com/emeter
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Executive Summary
Utility professionals such as CIOs, enterprise architects,
data analysts, customer operations staff, and marketing
managers are under immense pressure to manage
the flood of data from smart meter deployments. The
challenge is to create clear, useful insights that serve
needs of a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
This motivates utility professionals to either build an
in-house enterprise-wide analytics solution or look for
custom, off-the-shelf products to solve problems quickly.
Utility decision makers want to know: Is there a scalable
and measurable analytics solution that empowers their
professionals to create actionable intelligence today and
for the future? The answer lies in adopting a phased
approach. Start small, use analytics first to focus on
specific use cases, and expand as needed by showing
success metrics. This will help utility professionals to
address growing analytical needs as well as solve
business problems.
Motives: What’s Driving Utilities
Toward Data Analytics
Automated
Investigation Ticket
Created
Revenue Protection
Our sophisticated application
uses advanced data mining
techniques to automatically
detect loss or theft.
Load
AMI
DATA
Advanced
Data
Mining
to
Identify
Candidates
Analysis
Review
Field
Investigation
2.Improving reliability. Around the world, the increase in
extreme and unpredictable weather patterns has created
a trend of declining reliability metrics for many utilities.
In North America alone, utilities are spending billions of
dollars to improve infrastructure to prevent or minimize
outages.² Also, regulators pay close attention to
reliability and customer satisfaction.
3.Building a utility brand. Utilities need to build a strong,
consumer-facing brand to support their future business.
But most customers aren’t aware of this relationship
until something goes wrong — such as a power outage,
or an unexpectedly high bill. According to J.D. Power
and Associates, in 2013 overall customer satisfaction
declined among North American utilities.³ In deregulated
markets, retail providers constantly compete to create
brand awareness. Creating a customer-driven brand is
a long-term but vital strategy.
4.Finding new revenue streams. Utility revenues are
declining even while the cost of electricity is increasing
globally.⁴ All parts of a utility organization — billing,
operations, field service, marketing, planning, and more
— need innovative tools to detect non-technical losses
due to fraud and theft. This will also help utilities remain
competitive in the face of growing revenue challenges,
such as distributed generation.
Non-Technical Loss Verified
Empowering the Utility Workforce
to Solve Business Problems
Result Fed Back to System
Data
Analysis
Figure A
Siemens Revenue Protection Analytics application can help
utilities address revenue leakage problems.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all application that solves all
analytical challenges. In fact, utility professionals see
a myriad of data types being tested to solve business
problems. How can utility professionals respond to the
growing needs from business owners using the right
data-set for the right outcome? Current market research,
as well as numerous conversations that Siemens have
had with utility with utility decision-makers in various
business groups, indicate four key
needs that are increasingly driving the utility industry
toward analytics solutions:
1.Recouping investment. Worldwide, utilities have
been investing billions of dollars into smart metering
and smart grid deployments.¹ From a business
perspective and to satisfy regulators and stakeholders,
utilities need to start using the data produced by
these technologies to solve business problems — right
away. This means business stakeholders are looking to
muster specific insights from smart meter and grid
data as quickly as possible.
Recently, the energy industry news and analysis firm
UtilityDive surveyed⁵ over 527 professionals, from across
many U.S. utility organizations, about the most pressing
challenges their industry faces. Aging infrastructure was
by far the most pressing challenge reported (by 48% of
responding utility professionals). Furthermore, 31% of
respondents cited the aging utility workforce as a top
industry challenge. These are only two of many major
industry concerns.
Survey Source: The State of the Electric Utility 2014 by Utility Dive
Figure B
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In the long term, grid asset analytics also supports more
accurate planning of grid expansions and updates. This
helps utilities justify major capital expenditures — and
realize maximum benefits from these investments.
Analytics can help utilities optimize resources while
also building new capabilities and solving critical
problems. Here are four specific examples:
1.Proactive management of distribution grid assets
Most utilities don’t have a complete and current
picture of what’s happening on their transformers
and other key distribution assets. Analytics can help
utilities accurately calculate transformer loads in real
time. This is crucial to understanding the stress on
utility assets, which in turn determines the useful
life of specific equipment as well as overall network
reliability.
Utilities that understand the status and condition
of their equipment can save vast amounts of money
by scheduling maintenance and replacement more
appropriately.
For instance, Siemens offers an Equipment Load
Management (ELM) application that helps utility
professionals analyze loads on transformers and other
grid assets using meter-level data. In this example, see
Figure C below, grid planners can look at the
transformer capacity using ELM, grid planners by each
smart meter. This analytics approach provides an
efficient process to start solving distribution grid
issues that were unnoticed until now.
2.Detecting and preventing electricity outages
Smart meter and smart grid analytics can help utilities
identify outages quickly, even before customers call
to report them.
Using analytics, utilities can quickly identify outages
which require the attention of field crews and dispatch
the nearest crew to restore power efficiently. Smart
meters provide a wealth of information about outages
through “last gasp” messages. Utilities can correlate
these messages with their distribution network
database, yielding timely and accurate information
about an outage event.
For instance, several U.S. utilities have leveraged
capabilities included in eMeter’s EnergyIP⁷ Meter Data
Management platform for better resource planning and
reducing service interruption. They are integrating
outage events, , meter data and insights from analytics
with their Outage Management Systems.⁸ These utilities
report that this integration ultimately helps improve
customer satisfaction — which in turn helps satisfy
regulators, who tend to pay close attention to reliability
metrics such as the Customer Average Interruption
Duration Index (CAIDI).
3.Reducing utility revenue losses
In North America every year, up to 3% of electricity
produced is stolen⁹ — and in some other parts of
the world, that figure is much higher.
Figure C
Siemens ELM application helps utilities analyze power loads on transformer,
meter-by-meter, allowing grid planners to balance transformer capacity.
• What’s the percentage of time that our transformers
are overloaded?
• How does a given transformer’s lifespan affect its
actual load?
• Which transformers should be investigated and
prioritized for replacement?
Electricity theft means more than lost utility revenue;
it also poses safety and reliability risks. For instance,
a large marijuana grow operation might overload
distribution assets and cause outages. Similarly,
bypassed meters and unauthorized wiring can increase
risks of fire or shock. Since electricity thieves are
getting sophisticated and harder to detect, analytics
is extremely useful in revealing theft-related patterns,
especially as those patterns shift.
For instance, Siemens Revenue Protection Analytics
application can help utilities preserve and grow revenue
by applying advanced data science techniques to
interpret and reveal patterns from smart meter data.
These can indicate either possible incidents of theft or
hardware problems that may be resulting in unbilled
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revenue for utilities. The application allows a utility
revenue protection analyst to quickly isolate service
points where non-technical loss may be occurring, track
all site investigations and record evidence for future use.
collaboration, which tends to yield new opportunities and
support long-term business evolution. Over time, a phased,
use-case-driven approach can build strong support
throughout an organization for comprehensive analytics.
4.Addressing retail competitiveness and new
business opportunities
Deregulated and unbundled energy markets in various
parts of the world have unique challenges specific to
demand and supply. Customer retention and ability to
provide a cost-effective service to the consumers are
top most priorities in these market. Whether, the retail
market is competitive or not in your region yet,
analytics can help utility professionals improve
customer operations and engagement by selecting
specific use-cases.¹⁰
Siemens expects a shortage of skills in the analytics
discipline among utilities across the globe. Current market
research and utility decision-makers echo these worries as
well. Fortunately, Siemens employs many highly skilled data
professionals, who can solve specific analytical and
business problems for utilities. This not only provides
business and operational benefits to utilities, but also
maximizes the efficiency of a utility’s investment.
Analytics also can help utility executives, managers
and staff. Gaining a deeper understanding of
customer segments and characteristics, as well as
broader market trends, can help “future-proof” a
utility.
Meanwhile, on a day-to-day basis, data analytics can
help utilities devise proactive, cost-effective solutions
for managing demand, increasing revenues, and also
optimizing existing programs. For instance, when
designing and targeting demand response programs
or innovative tariffs, analytics can help identify
customers who might benefit most (and also yield
the greatest benefit to utilities).
Advantages of Cloud
IT systems in many utility companies still lack the ability
to process large volumes of smart meter and grid data.
Nor can these systems easily support in-depth, real-time
analysis of existing network data. Advanced analytics
requires robust computing power. Siemens provides
analytics applications, including Equipment Load
Management and Revenue Protection — allowing
utilities to bypass limitations of legacy computing
hardware while avoiding significant up-front investments
for IT upgrades.
Utility professionals can engage Siemens analytics
platform and applications as a subscription-based
service. This model encourages starting small and
experimenting, which can be easier to “sell” to internal
stakeholders in a utility, and fosters cross-department
Siemens Analytics offering includes applications with
dashboards that have been developed based on a Siemens
deep industry expertise. These applications and reports
provide actionable insights that support quick and clear
decision making — and they also enhance crossdepartmental collaboration and communication.
Starting Strategically with Analytics
Siemens has decades of experience helping utilities solve
business problems. Here are three takeways for utility CIOs,
marketing managers, operations staff, and other key utility
players who are either beginning or fine-tuning an analytics
strategy:
1.Start small and focused. Many utilities benefit from
starting with small pilot projects that focus on a
particular section of the grid, or on a specific challenge
or opportunity, rather than immediately deploying
analytics across the entire enterprise and network.
2.Innovate constantly. Don’t be stalled by constrained
resources and skills. Cloud and managed services
support innovation by augmenting in-house capacities,
thus, crucial to creating an agile organization.
3.Bridge IT and OT silios. Use analytic apps to bridge info
silos (IT/OT¹¹, business development, customer service,
and more) and encourage cross-departmental
collaboration. This not only spurs creativity; it also can
increase support and resources for using analytics to
solve problems, support decisions and address
opportunities.
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Conclusion
Siemens analytics solution, that includes platform and
applications, enables utility professionals deliver timely
insights and results to a variety of stakeholders. These
results improve companies conformance with regulatory
and other external mandates. This type of end-to-end
solution will distinguish yourself from the competitors as
well as increase customer satisfaction and revenue
assurance.
Learn more about how data analytics might benefit your
utility by empowering you to solve problems, identify
and explore opportunities, and prepare for the future.
About Siemens Grid Application
Platform
Siemens’ grid application platform helps leading electric,
gas, and water utilities worldwide modernize the speed
of processing sensor data. We transform business
operations with a software application approach that
delivers accurate billing, proactive outage management,
revenue protection, customer engagement and more.
Deployed at over 50 utilities worldwide, our solutions
empower utilities to rapidly deploy software and
communications systems to effectively scale and
maximize operational efficiency. Visit us at
www.siemens.com/emeter to learn more.
Smart Grid IT Systems Forecast, Published 4Q 2013 by NavigantResearch. Also see Global Smart Grid Technologies and Growth Markets, 2013 – 2020,
Published July 2013 by GTM Research
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For instance, New York State will be spending billions of dollars in the next 10 years to upgrade physical infrastructure as well as improve distribution
grid with new technologies - http://www.intelligentutility.com/article/14/03/pulling-insights-lessons-storm. In addition, China shows an acceleration in
smart meter deployments- http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/green/newsid=34434.php
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J.D. Power and Associates Reports for more detail - http://www.jdpower.com/content/press-release/dTFT2FN/2013-electric-utility-business-customersatisfaction-study.htm
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Utilities revenues are declining in North America as well as in Europe. Demand cycles are reducing and utilities face competition from other sources
such as renewable generations : http://www.forbes.com/sites/edfenergyexchange/2014/03/07/changing-times-for-electric-utilities/, http://www.
investingdaily.com/19316/lessons-from-european-utilities-wires-have-what-it-takes/
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State of the Electric Utility Industry 2014. Report by UtilityDive, February 2014: http://www.utilitydive.com/library/2014-state-of-the-electric-utility/
eMeter Equipment Load Management data sheet: http://w3.siemens.com/smartgrid/global/SiteCollectionDocuments/Products_systems_solutions/
Smart%20Metering/emeter/EM_074_ELM_DataSheet_vertical_F2.pdf
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EnergyIP Meter Data Management platform by eMeter, a Siemens Business: http://w3.siemens.com/smartgrid/global/en/products-systems-solutions/
software-solutions/emeter/Pages/EnergyIP.aspx
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Outage Management: How three utilities are enhancing their ability to detect and respond to outages using EnergyIP. Case study, March 2014: http://
solutions.emeter.com/FY14Q2_Case_Study_OutageMgmt_LP.html
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Electricity theft, a bigger issue than you think. Peter Kelly-Detwiler, Forbes, April 23, 2013: http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterdetwiler/2013/04/23/
electricity-theft-a-bigger-issue-than-you-think/
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Customers as grid participants: key shift in the utility industry paradigm. Chris King, Chief Regulatory Officer, eMeter. Siemens Smart Grid Watch blog,
Aug. 8, 2013: https://blogs.siemens.com/smartgridwatch/stories/1246/
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Embattled Utilities Face ‘Talent Storm’, Jeff McMahon: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2014/03/31/embattled-utilities-face-talent-cliff/
How utilities can blend the IT/OT silos, Chris King, eMeter. Siemens Smart Grid Watch blog, May 31, 2013: https://blogs.siemens.com/smartgridwatch/
stories/1025-how-utilities-can-blend-the-it-ot-silos7 8 stories/1025-how-utilities-can-blend-the-it-ot-silos7
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eMeter, A Siemens Business
4000 E. 3rd Avenue, Suite 400
Foster City, CA 94404
Tel: (650) 227-7770
Fax: (650) 227-7771
Copyright 2014
Siemens Industry, Inc.
All rights reserved.
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