Oracle Utilities Solutions Implemented by Red Clay Consulting Improves Customer Service and Billing at Cobb EMC
Atlanta-based Red Clay Consulting announced today that it has completed implementation of Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM), Oracle Smart Grid Gateway (SGG) and Oracle Direct Integration Pack (DIP) for Cobb Electric Membership Corporation (Cobb EMC). With the implementation of these products, Cobb EMC will enhance all aspects of its customer service, allowing the utility to refine its time-of-use (TOU) rates and improve billing for its 175,000 members by providing reliable electric energy at the lowest possible price. “We were extremely impressed with the Red Clay team for its dedication and rock-solid implementation methodology. When the product was delivered it was configured exactly to our specifications and was on-time and on-budget” says Bob Arnett, CIO.
The Validate, Estimate and Edit (VEE) engine that powers Oracle Utilities MDM allows Cobb EMC to mathematically estimate and compare interval data from one hour to the next and allows identification of discrepancies such as negative or excessively high reads. Cobb EMC will use this information to improve customer billing and assist with revenue protection. The hourly interval usage will be the driving factor in Cobb’s effort to provide CPP and TOU billing models to their customers via their website. In addition, MDM will analyze meter-tampering flags, power outages, power quality, and usage to identify potential revenue protection situations, such as meter tampering or unauthorized usage; potentially saving customers money.
As a recipient of Federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Cobb EMC is utilizing Oracle Utilities MDM as its repository for hourly interval usage by way of the Oracle SGG. As MDM is not the final destination for these hourly intervals, Cobb EMC is using the Oracle DIP to pass billing determinants to their Customer Information System, Oracle’s Customer Care &Billing (CC&B). The DIP also keeps data in sync between CC&B and MDM. Meter installations, disconnects, new contacts, service points etc. are all transferred to MDM from CC&B by way of the DIP, relying heavily on the Oracle Fusion Middleware Product.
“Red Clay brought a wealth of product knowledge to our MDM project. We were impressed by their focus on this market and how they have been able to keep up with the vendor changes in this industry. When our AMI/MDM project team scored the critical success factors to decide which implementation partner to choose, Red Clay was the clear winner and delivered solid results” says Tim Jarrell, Associate Vice President of IS Programs.
Red Clay’s strategic focus within the Oracle Utilities framework is on Meter Data Management (MDM) Solutions, Smart Grid Gateway (SGG), Mobile Workforce Management (MWM), Work and Asset Management (WAM) and Service Order Processing.
Red Clay also offers SmartGridONE (SG1) – a new solution designed as a complete meter data management system (MDMS) for smaller utilities and as a foundation MDMS for larger ones. Built upon the Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM) v2.0 framework, SG1 is a flexible, affordable and complete meter-to-cash MDM solution. SG1 configures the most commonly used MDM functionality to support MDM needs while providing a foundation for the future. SG1 comes loaded with pre-configured and pre-tuned software, hardware and database for utilities that want to lower cost, reduce risk and accelerate their deployment. Because SG1’s MDM configurations have been fully tested and require little to no customization, the timeline to go live is five months (plus one month of additional support); half of what typical MDM implementations involve.
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