Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (BGE) has selected Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management to leverage state-of-the-art, enterprise-level software as part of the utility's pilot of an advanced metering initiative to enhance customer service and encourage energy efficiency.
BGE serves more than 1.2 million business and residential electric customers and more than 640,000 gas customers in Baltimore City and all, or part of, 10 Central Maryland counties. The utility's Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) pilot will deploy Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management in a pilot project for approximately 3,100 mostly residential customers and 6,000 meters from May through October 2008. Following the pilot, and provided that it receives permission from the state regulators to proceed, the company plans to implement the AMI program throughout its service area beginning in 2009.
To support its AMI pilot, BGE chose Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management to help it manage and analyze high volumes of meter data more effectively, while providing its customers with detailed, energy usage data that will help them drive down peak energy consumption and reduce their electric bills.
BGE also expects that the deployment of Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management will help it to reduce pressure on wholesale market prices during peak periods, streamline customer issue resolution and facilitate revenue collection.
In the future, BGE plans to integrate Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management with their existing Oracle Utilities Network Management System to help improve outage management processes with near real-time outage reporting - allowing the utility to view power outages and helping to reduce the need for customers to call BGE's Customer Contact Center.
BGE's AMI pilot is part of the utility's overall effort to transform and expand customer options for reducing energy costs and managing energy usage. Announced in January 2007, BGE's Smart Energy Savers ProgramSM initiatives include: PeakRewards , a demand response program which uses next generation "smart" thermostats and load control switches to cycle customers' A/C units during high-demand, high-price periods; the AMI pilot which will enable dynamic pricing and peak demand reductions; a Smart Energy Pricing (SEP) pilot to encourage customers to shift or reduce usage during peak times; and energy efficiency/conservation programs.
