Smart Meters Powering Industry Transformation

Recognized globally as an early adopter of smart meter technology, energy company Powercor Australia and Citipower (PCP) called on a long-time relationship with CSC to assist in the design and deployment.

Transformation challenges

Success of the major Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) initiative depended on integrating existing operational and enterprise systems with new metering infrastructure and communication technologies to capture and monitor power consumption data.

Legacy systems were transformed so that outage, billing, meter management and business functions could make use of large volumes of more descriptive data being captured and processed in 30 minutes, rather than the existing three-month intervals.

Collaboration was key. An AMI program requires coordination of multiple solutions and vendors to deliver a single enterprise-wide solution. PCP's program included smart meter manufacturers Landis+Gyr and PRI Australasia with Silver Spring Networks providing network infrastructure, communications devices and software to connect the smart meters to PCP's core business systems.

It was also vital that PCP maintained the existing high standards of reliability, performance and security essential in the distribution and management of power.

An integrated AMI solution

CSC assisted in managing the technical integration layer, developing architecture design, ensuring security and business continuity standards were met and contributing to the program management and planning functions.

With PCP, we adopted a pragmatic approach to application integration employing integration technology based on an Oracle SOA suite.

Taking the lead in systems integration, PCP pursued a hosting model not previously used for the AMI technology suite and set precedents in deploying the selected technology to Australian industry requirements.

In constructing the AMI system architecture, CSC overcame a number of architectural design challenges to map business functions to the application landscape, define data requirements and carry out performance testing.

PCP drew on our project management experience to assist in the development of program management office governance, reporting and collateral.

Responsible for PCP’s disaster recovery program over several years, CSC performed extensive review and revision of the infrastructure and application disaster recovery strategy to ensure compliance to regulatory standards.

CSC was engaged at an early stage to help assess security risks, develop an ongoing information security management system, and validate the effectiveness of existing security controls, prior to implementing the full suite of its AMI Security Program.

CSC now hosts the AMI solution for PCP and manages all supporting infrastructure.

A technology framework delivered

PCP now has a firm base from which to explore technologies to further optimize their power distribution and management. Their AMI program is testimony to PCP’s reputation as market leader in the application of technology for the power utility industry in Australia.

Related Information

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