Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd. powers up a smarter network
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- Asia
Country
- India
Product
- IBM System x 3950 X5
- IBM System x3650 class servers
- IBM System Storage DS8300
- IBM System Storage TS3500
- mPower Smart Utility Suite
Tech Stack
- IBM DB2
- IBM Tivoli Access Manager
- IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager
- IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files
- IBM Tivoli Identity and Access Management System
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Customer Satisfaction
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Middleware, SDKs & Libraries
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services
Applicable Industries
- Utilities
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
- Maintenance
Use Cases
- Energy Management System
- Predictive Maintenance
- Theft Detection
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd. (UPCL) is a utility company that manages the distribution of electricity in the state of Uttarakhand, India. Established in 2001, the utility delivers power supply to more than 1.59 million consumers across 13 districts. UPCL’s distribution network covers a geographical area of more than 50,000 square kilometers. The company is tasked with the challenge of meeting Uttarakhand’s daily energy demand. UPCL lacked a proper asset management framework, making it difficult to accurately pinpoint faults or weaknesses in the network. The company also wanted to reduce instances of energy theft. UPCL relied on third-party agencies to house power consumption data and manage billing, which led to poor availability of business information. Without proper data and reliable access to customer records, UPCL had no way to track how many customer service requests it received and how many had been addressed.
The Challenge
Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd. (UPCL) manages the distribution of electricity in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The utility delivers power supply to more than 1.59 million consumers across 13 districts. UPCL’s distribution network covers a geographical area of more than 50,000 square kilometers, presenting a significant challenge when it comes to meeting Uttarakhand’s daily energy demand. The utility wanted to gain deeper insight into the performance of its network, so that it could better serve customers, cut costs and guarantee more reliable power supply. Lacking a proper asset management framework, UPCL found it difficult to accurately pinpoint faults or weaknesses in the network. The company also wanted to reduce instances of energy theft. By improving detection of spikes in electricity usage across its network, UPCL would be able to better identify anomalous consumption levels that could point to theft. These issues were compounded by poor availability of business information, as UPCL relied on third-party agencies to house power consumption data and manage billing. Without proper data and reliable access to customer records, UPCL had no way to track how many customer service requests it received and how many had been addressed. This exposed the company to fines and penalties from the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) for failing to meet established service levels in a timely fashion.
The Solution
UPCL turned to IBM Business Partner Phoenix IT Solutions Ltd. for a utility management solution, and selected the mPower Smart Utility Suite: an end-to-end system for handling meter-to-cash and customer care processes, which is supported by powerful IBM technology for optimum performance. The solution provides integration with a geographic information system (GIS), a meter data acquisition system and a billing system. A metrics dashboard allows UPCL to view and manage outages and interruptions, helping to ensure swifter resolution of service issues. The solution identifies where each and every meter is, and locates defective meters and tracks interruptions and outages end-to-end. The system uses statistical data and demand load flow analysis to assess the health of the network, trace energy imbalances across it and determine if it can withstand any additional proposed loads. A broad suite of IBM solutions form a solid backbone for UPCL’s utility management system, ensuring top performance and stability for vital applications, and secure access to company systems and data. IBM DB2 acts as the back-end database for the mPower technology suite and associated applications, providing easy management and top performance for high-volume workloads. UPCL uses IBM Tivoli Identity Manager and IBM Tivoli Access Manager to rationalize access to a variety of applications running on different platforms and technologies, with centralized user management and single sign-on capabilities.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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