Hamilton Hydro Meets The Challenges Of Deregulation
By Will Moore and Jason Reid
Many utilities are facing increasing competition as a result of the global move towards deregulation. Hamilton Hydro is no exception.
Hamilton Hydro is an electric utility located about 80 kilometres from Toronto, on the shores of Lake Ontario. It serves about 150,000 customers and is responsible for the installation, distribution, and maintenance of electric power, encompassing a service territory of 100 square kilometres.
Like many utilities in Canada, Hamilton Hydro is facing the challenge of competing in a deregulated environment. The MacDonald Report has created "A Framework for Competition" which will provide larger utilities and other companies with more freedom to offer competitive services and rates.
In response to deregulation, Hamilton Hydro, is going through process re-engineering. Traditionally, utility companies have used many manual and legacy systems to manage their support processes. These systems have led to infrastructures bogged down by islands of data and inefficient processes. As a result, reduced productivity, inaccurate information, and poor customer service have become the norm. This would not be acceptable in a deregulated environment. It is clear, then, that an integrated information systems (IS) infrastructure consisting of customer management, automated mapping/facilities management (AM/FM) systems, network management, invoicing, and workforce management is essential for competition in this environment.
Utilities need to capitalise on existing technology immediately. With this in mind, operators are taking a closer look at the overall role network planning, design, and management play in the operation of the business. Electric utilities are examining their AM/FM systems and looking to expand their use beyond traditional network mapping. The "islands" of information within a utility must be quickly remodelled and integrated within the enterprise. Accurate information will be available faster, with the elimination of duplicate data and processes. It is no longer enough for this network information to exist simply as AM/FM data -- now, it must be elevated to become a strategic corporate asset.
At Hamilton Hydro, we are currently converting our service territory and moving closer to a business model that will accommodate the integration of our AM/FM system. The network data currently being collected will not only be used in its traditional engineering role, but will also be made available to the organisation to help in daily decision-making and long term business planning.
Today's AM/FM Environment
The vendor that we have chosen for our AM/FM system is Enghouse Systems Limited, headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Hamilton Hydro will be using Enghouse's CableCad product, a PC-based/workstation AM/FM system that integrates spatial and alphanumeric data into a single seamless database platform. CableCad was chosen because of its flexibility, performance, and scalability.
Our initial plans may include the use of a view-only package by both engineers and SCADA operators. Plans for the future include view-only capability for the construction department, superintendents, and cable locators. Hamilton Hydro's AM/FM environment consists mainly of Pentium PCs with some 486 workstations which should be able to support such a package.
The digital landbase has been purchased from a regional government. Hamilton Hydro hired an outside conversion contractor and began converting data in July 1996. This conversion consists of:
AM/FM Rationales and Business Integration
Capturing network information is a team effort. One of the most important aspects of any AM/FM system is the creation of a data model that is open enough to address other business systems. The invoicing, engineering, operations, and dispatch departments of a utility all play important roles. At Hamilton Hydro, as part of our current data conversion project, we reviewed types of data being captured, and the subsequent use of such data by our different business units. The network data collected is information about real entities that have relationships to other network data and processes. As a result, we have developed a data model that will reduce the capture of duplicate data by different areas within the organisation.
In some utilities, the rationale for moving to a digital mapping system is to simply replace the tedious, expensive, and slow methods of paper/mylar mapping. In many cases, these cost benefits alone can justify the move to an AM/FM system. Both time and money are saved when paper prints and mylar sheets are eliminated. Unfortunately, this fails to take full advantage of the many other uses for AM/FM data. CableCad provides Hamilton Hydro with more functionality than just automated mapping., and, we plan to make maximum use of this capability.
Another step towards creating a truly integrated AM/FM system is capturing information about the individual facilities that constitute the network. With this, a utility can move towards completing the facility lifecycle. By capturing the different states of network facilities, such as new, existing, and proposed, an AM/FM system can be used to track the status of design and construction. Tracking this data, which includes the automatic posting of data from one state to another, can help clear the backlog of updates on the network that often arise in a manual setting. As a result, the information available is more accurate.
Another important aspect of data capture that Hamilton Hydro is paying close attention to is the fact that the network is more than just a collection of facilities-it is also a collection of connectivity relationships. By capturing these data relationships, we have yet another level of information that can be used throughout the utility. By establishing how one facility is connected to another, traces or route analysis can be applied to the network, providing important information for outages and dispatching. By following the normal business rules inherent in connecting facilities , we will be able to validate the network as we design it.
Many utilities across Canada implemented AM/FM systems that began with visions similar to those of Hamilton Hydro. Unfortunately, many of these systems did not advance past the initial stages; they simply replaced a paper system. Reasons for this vary. One of the most common is the creation of "mega" projects that are not scaled to show savings or benefits until the entire project is complete. Hamilton Hydro has taken special care to examine the various rationales in choosing our AM/FM system-not only in terms of hard dollars, but also in terms of improved customer response and better informed departments.
Do all of these benefits start the day you turn on your AM/FM system? In a word -- no. Hamilton Hydro, like many other utilities, has had to deal with the reality of project management. By starting with small, attainable projects, we are receiving approval for the different stages, as we move from a traditional paper system to a fully integrated IS infrastructure.
A New Look at Network Data
Hamilton Hydro has already made a significant investment in our AM/FM data. Because this is network asset information, it can be leveraged by other parts of our organisation. There is the need for design, planning, and maintenance of the network, but not all access requires the ability to "update" or change information. This intensive engineering use of data only accounts for a small number of users. Most areas of the organisation only need access to data in a "view-only" mode. By using view-only licenses, we intend to provide the corporate decision-makers with access to this information. Executives can now get an up-to-date view of the network from their desktops. As well, they can quickly query and report on network assets and deliver this information to regulatory bodies or governing boards. Our sales and marketing departments can also use this information to facilitate faster responses to customer inquiries regarding the availability of services.
Summary
With the advent of deregulation, an integrated IS infrastructure is paramount for utilities to be competitive. There is a need to optimise the use of technology and to leverage assets to improve upon productivity, and utilities are taking a closer look at how the network planning, design, and management processes can be integrated into their existing systems.
By reducing duplicate data and processes, and creating better access to network information, Hamilton Hydro is becoming more competitive. Infor-mation and technology are being used in more ways, by more people, to make better decisions faster.
Will Moore is LAN Manager at Hamilton Hydro and Jason Reid is Technical Product Marketing Manager at Enghouse Systems Ltd.