A2A Industry Perspectives (IP) provides content across all stages of strategy development:
- Policy
- Objectives
- Current State
- Risk Assessment
- Vision
- Strategy
- Goals
- Implementation Plan
A2A Industry Perspectives (IP) provides content across all stages of strategy development:
Today I attended the Utilitydive webinar “How Utilities Can Better Manage Grid Modernization” hosted by West Monroe Partners; generally informative and underpinned by a great survey and case for change report “Managing Grid Modernization: Integrating IT and Operations at U.S. Utilities”.
A copy of the report is available here (in exchange for your marketing details).
And really, it’s presentations and information like this that have inspired A2A – utility operations are typically risk adverse, silo’d, disengaged, archaic and continually distracted with emergency response and regulatory requests; yet there is a human desire for modernization and associated buzzwords, but thought to be achieved by propagating the existing process, skillsets, cultures and technologies.
In today’s utilities, Information Technology and HR has likely been mostly outsourced; Operational Technology (OT) is held tightly by engineering and operations – as it is seen as ‘black magic’ by much of the business and the source of cautious advancement for the technical workforce; where much of the innovation is obtained by purchasing a vendors proprietary technology, islanded and ‘air-gapped’ from other systems, for security of course.
As shown in the West Monroe report, there really is a gap in industry for OT professionals, let alone IT/OT experts, and a lack of practical information, advice and OT leadership to make it happen properly:
For more information and perspectives, have a browse through A2A, reach out and connect.
High winds and rain across New England sees hundreds of thousands of premises without power, flooding and trees across roads. This is the second Nor’easter this winter, following the #bombcyclone in January 2018.
Power utilities and their contractors have working admirably in tough conditions to restore power and support the community.
But really, in today’s day and age, in one of the most populous and modern corners of a western nation – is this acceptable?
Many social media posts from the community would suggest not, so either the power systems are not engineered or operated to meet expectations of users or the environment has changed.
But hey – the mass media was kind and the shareholder will profit, so all good?! /cynic
Many business cases for Grid Modernization (formerly known as Smart Grid) have focused on the technology and the direct and indirect benefits, generally a long bullet point list which sounds good, but is not usually presented as a compelling argument focused on outcomes.
The following contains a storyboard to use to develop a compelling Grid Modernization business case.
The Distribution System Operator (DSO) is traditionally a monopoly with only one way for customers to access a reliable supply – the electricity network. Both customer behaviour and the regulated revenue stream were dependable and predictable.
However, the industry is experiencing increasing:
For the DSO, adoption and proliferation of these disruptive technologies will lead to:
The objective is to:
AND/OR
To meet the objective by investing in the minimum required asset to meet forecast demand, safety and service standards and increase existing asset utilisation (i.e. balance supply / load, smooth profile).
This is to be supported by ongoing corporate and asset strategies for continuous improvement (improve productivity / efficiency).
I’ll be presenting “Considerations in Developing an Operations Telecommunications Strategy” at the Burns & McDonnell Next Practices Forum in April 2018 in Denver ,CO.
I’ve been refreshing the private telecommunications network strategy for New England’s largest Investor Owned Utility, and is developing a holistic approach to guide telecommunications investment through to 2027.
The private telecommunications infrastructure consists of Wide Area Network (WAN) and Field Area Network (FAN) systems used to safely, reliably, and efficiently execute complex business operations.
My approach to telecommunications strategy development is pragmatic and provides consideration of possible business models, technology, and operating frameworks, including collaboration with Burns & McDonnell to evaluate investments including fiber optic and wireless network deployments.
In this presentation, I’ll discuss considerations and methodology to develop a compelling strategy including evaluating the current environment, developing a vision, and analyzing options to direct future investment and operations.
Register for the Burns & McDonnell Next Practices Forum here.
Operational Technology (OT) is the electronic and computing equipment used for the Real-Time protection, operation and management of the assets, infrastructure and networks. It is characterised by its mission and business critical use, industrial digital electronic technologies and computing nature, installation practices and technical skillsets.
Operational Technology includes:
Operational Technology does not include:
[1] In other industries power electronics and energy storage systems could be considered OT, however for a Distribution System Operators’ (DSO) area of expertise it is considered as Transmission and/or Distribution infrastructure
The Distribution System Operator (DSO) is traditionally a monopoly with only one way for customers to access a reliable supply – the electricity network. Both customer behaviour and the regulated revenue stream were dependable and predictable for the shareholder.
However, the industry is experiencing increasing:
For the DSO, adoption and proliferation of these disruptive technologies will lead to:
The DSO objective is to maintain a safe and reliable service at the lowest price (and increase shareholder Return on Investment).
To meet the objective by investing in the minimum required asset to meet forecast demand, safety and customer service standards and increase existing asset utilisation (i.e. balance supply / load, smooth profile).
This is to be supported by ongoing corporate and asset strategies for continuous improvement (improve productivity / efficiency) to minimize operating overhead.
The Distribution System Operator’s (DSO) purpose is to connect customers with electricity. This valued and essential service is achieved via an electrical infrastructure that is:
To meet and manage customer service objectives of improving safety, reliable and affordable; the electrical infrastructure and workforce has increasingly leveraged digital technology.
Digital technology is a broad term for all electronic, power electronic, computing and software systems used to provide, process, transform, protect, distribute and transfer electrical infrastructure, corporate and customer data.
Current State
The DSO’s digital technology portfolio includes Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) including disciplines central SCADA Computing Systems, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Metering Systems, Telecommunications Systems and both Substation and Pole Mounted Protection, Control and Automation systems.
A majority of the technology and information is core to the achievement of Western Power’s current and future customer service objectives, unique to an electricity utility and key to development of the energy industry.
Currently at most DSOs, technology is service orientated and grows inefficiently in response to specific problems or through the initiative of individuals.
This leads to two risks to the achievement of enterprise objectives!
Issues / Risks
Vision
<Insert DSO’s Vision – Technology or otherwise>
Proposed Strategy