Dive Summary:
- Participating utilities said they are somewhat prepared to manage the increased data and gave themselves a 6.7 rating on a 1-10 scale; 45% said they still struggle to report information as fast as they need to.
- According to the study, “utilities plan to leverage smart grid data to improve customer service through efforts such as delivering demand response programs, forecasting demands, complying with regulatory requirements and minimizing outages” in the next five years.
- Utilities responded that smart meters aren’t the only contributing factor to the data influx, citing outage/distribution management systems, customer data/feedback, and alternative energy sources as other ways information is now collected.
From the article:
Smart grid deployments have inundated utilities with data. The average utility with at least one smart meter program in place has increased the frequency of its data collection 180 times-collecting data once every four hours as opposed to just once a month. This is according to the first report from Oracle's "Utility Transformations" series, which examines how utilities use information generated from smart grid deployments to drive greater organizational efficiency, more reliable service and stronger customer relationships.
The report, "Big Data, Bigger Opportunities: Plans and Preparedness for the Data Deluge," surveyed 151 North American senior-level executives (see table for demograhics) at utilities with smart meter programs in place, and measures the perceptions of the business impact of "big data," preparedness to handle data growth and plans to extract optimal business value from the collected data to better target, engage and serve utility customers. ...
