By adopting the cloud technology, the utility anticipates a flexible scale to support the smart meter rollout while realizing value from the massive data sets that come with a smart, connected network.
El Paso Electric (EPE) recently upgraded its customer information system to Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service in a move to better serve its 460,000 customers. The integrated customer billing and meter data management cloud platform is expected to provide EPE with a foundation for enhanced service offerings while supporting its smart meter rollout.
EPE partnered with Oracle Consulting Services for the implementation, which also involved migrating to an advanced metering infrastructure and a meter data management (MDM) system to support and process interval meter data. Rather than installing a separate MDM system, the utility opted to migrate to Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service for an integrated customer and meter data management platform, which provides EPE with a clear, consistent view of its customers’ energy use and helps streamline its operations.
“With the Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service integrated solution, we expect to regularly leverage new functionality to drive our business and process optimization strategies,” said Cheryl Mele, VP of Customer Care and Communications, El Paso Electric.
The move has also allowed EPE to benefit from automated patching and product and security upgrades, thereby reducing costs and IT burden. This allows EPE’s customer information system and IT personnel to focus more time on implementing incremental functionality that benefits the business.
“While a typical technology migration of this nature can require up to six months to return to pre-migration customer call handling times, we returned to near normal times in under one month with an intuitive tool and outstanding contact center representatives,” Mele added.
EPE’s smart meter project launches in May 2023 and is expected to fully replace all existing meters by 2025. By adopting Oracle’s SaaS technology, the utility anticipates a flexible scale to support the smart meter rollout while realizing value from the massive data sets that come with a smart, connected network.
“With Oracle’s modern SaaS meter-to-cash solution featuring an advanced MDM and intuitive dashboards, El Paso Electric has streamlined its operations. As El Paso Electric moves forward with their meter transition, they will benefit from reduced service rep training time, faster call resolution, and improved overall service levels,” said Dave De Maio, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Oracle Client Services for Industries.
The implementation followed the Oracle True Cloud Method, a collaborative approach to cloud implementation designed with customer training engrained in all phases of the project lifecycle. This methodology utilizes continuous knowledge transfer as a cornerstone to help customers develop self-sustaining internal capabilities critical to maximizing their cloud investment. The implementation was further enabled by Oracle’s library of complementary implementation assets.
Additional Resources
- Read the Technical Blog
- Learn more about Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service
- Learn more about Oracle True Cloud Method
- Oracle.com
- El Paso Electric (EPE)
- EPE’s smart meter project
About Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
UAI Enables Utility Transformation Through Analytics
UAI is a utility-led membership organization that provides support to the industry to advance the analytics profession and utility organizations of all types, sizes, and analytics maturity levels, as well as analytics professionals throughout every phase of their career.
Transforming into a data decision-based company is one of the most difficult transitions a utility will have to make to thrive in the new energy economy. It’s more than just managing massive amounts of data, implementing the right tools and technology, and people and process management. It’s ensuring you have proper change management processes in place to address cultural challenges, as well as data management and governance plans, and best practice and compliant security strategies in place. It’s implementing the best organizational structure for your utility, and hiring and retaining talented staff, plus so much more! UAI brings together leading utilities who are serious about tackling these challenges and together we concentrate on utility analytics.
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