Cutting Costs With Real-Time Mobile Data

Deck: 

All systems are Reddy.

Fortnightly Magazine - January 2006
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An examination of FERC Form 1 data from the 100 largest U.S. electric utilities reveals that the “miscellaneous” is the largest expense category for 59 of the 100 investor-owned utilities (IOUs) studied, and a close second for the remaining 41 utilities (see Figure 1).

For these 100 IOUs, miscellaneous distribution operations expenses totaled $878 million in 2004 and $835 million in 2003, representing the largest single element (between 31 and 32 percent) of their combined annual $2.7 billion distribution-operations expenditure.

If we shine some light on these expenditures, it appears that reduction in clerical workloads and paperwork through better integration of real-time data across the enterprise holds great promise for tangible benefits. And when it comes to reducing clerical workloads and paperwork, the integration of real-time data from mobile-data systems should be at the top of any good list of initiatives to improve efficiency while increasing system reliability and customer satisfaction.

One utility relatively far down the path of mobile-data system usage is Potomac Electric Power Co. (Pepco). They’ve reported that their implementation of a mobile-data system for Pepco field workers led to the elimination of 100,000 pieces of paper per year for this group alone.

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