Utilismart's Big Data Analytics Joins Hands With Green Button Alliance
Energy data holds intrinsic value. But the value of the data does not come automatically. First, the data needs to be accessed, analyzed, and processed; then ultimately, manipulated into something that makes sense. The effective system creates value when it converts data into an actionable decision. Today, utilities process millions of data points per day. Energy consumers want standardized, digital access to this data needed by various business applications and services to unlock data-driven critical insights. These data-driven insights help them to make better, more informed decisions and present them with opportunities to save costs in addition to other benefits.
Utilismart Corporation is a Canadian meter data management and utility analytics software company enabling digital utility transformation for more than two decades. The company strives to solve its customers' problems: the ones they have today and the ones that they will experience tomorrow. Utilismart achieves this by managing and processing large quantities of complex information by converting raw meter data into actionable decisions. As a leading utility data-management and analytics solutions provider, Utilismart inherently understands the value of standards-based energy data. In support of the industry's standardization and digital grid-modernization, Utilismart has joined the Green Button Alliance (GBA) to support its efforts to make energy data interoperable.
The Green Button Connect My Data (CMD) secure energy-data access and sharing method enables utilities to provide digital access to reliable, standards-based energy data while protecting customer privacy. It allows utility customers to authorize third-party apps and services to securely obtain their data and provide powerful insights into energy and water usage, enabling consumers to make informed energy-management decisions and save money.
The Green Button Alliance fosters the development, compliance, and widespread adoption of the Green Button solutions. The alliance members include utilities, governmental departments and agencies, solution providers, and affiliate organizations that collaborate to advance the Green Button initiative to enable consumers to access and share their energy, water, and natural gas usage data, with the goal of better managing their consumption. The GBA educates the market on the broad benefits of Green Button solutions, encourages standards-based application development, and administers the Green Button Testing and Certification Program to accelerate the delivery of standardized Green Button technologies to consumers.
"As more Canadian utilities provide customer usage data in the standardized Green Button format, the market for applications that help commercial, residential, industrial, and municipal users understand their resource consumption greatly expands," said Jeremy J. Roberts, executive director, Green Button Alliance. "The GBA is proud to welcome Utilismart as a participating member, and we applaud their vision and commitment to helping utilities make these data available to their customers."
By providing commercial, residential, industrial, and municipal users with access to their meter data, users can derive a host of benefits, including:
- Key Insights: Through interactive online dashboards, users can analyze daily, monthly and yearly usage data – providing them with actionable insights for saving energy and money.
- Increased Customer Participation: Home and building owners can control their energy consumption and become more active participants within the energy sector.
- Cost Savings: Users can quickly identify cost savings by changing consumer behavior, utilizing renewable energy resources and battery storage, or switching rate plans based on their historical usage patterns.
- Energy Efficiency Programs: Property investors can pre-screen homes and buildings to determine the potential energy savings.
"Data-driven decisions are what fuels our business and product roadmaps. For years, our goal has been to provide these insights to utilities through solutions like SmartMAP, Energy Manager and Rate Analysis Manager. Now, by leveraging the Green Button energy data interchange standard, we will be able to go a step further in helping utilities provide their customers with the ability to take a deep dive into their consumption footprint: allowing consumers to make informed decisions about their energy and water usage through the use of a standardized ecosystem of Green Button compatible applications." said Miro Karlicic, Utilismart's vice-president of business development and innovation.
Utility customers can better understand and control their energy consumption behaviour and related costs thanks to data-driven decisions. Standards-enabled energy data fuels innovation and enables new energy efficiency possibilities and opportunities. The Green Button Alliance has already made considerable strides in giving consumers digital, secure access to energy data through the Green Button energy data interchange standard. "It is an honour to be part of this industry movement, contribute to the adoption of the standard, and we're certainly looking forward to what lies ahead and how we can further support our utility customers," concluded Karlicic.
