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Data Development and Evolution
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Data for DMS/OMS - How much is enough and where to get it
Mark C. Hatfield, Hahn Tram
Convergent Group, 6399 South Fiddler's Green Circle, Suite 600
Englewood, CO 80111
Introduction
Improving and differentiating customer service and reducing operational costs have been part of
utilities' strategies to stay competitive in the deregulated environment (Juhl, 1998). Outage
Management Systems (OMS) have been proven to improve customer services by helping utilities
reduce outage duration and by facilitating communication internally within utility operations and
externally with customers and the public, particularly during storm outages. Distribution
Management Systems (DMS), in addition, is a proven technology that helps utilities reduce
operational costs of distribution by coordinating automated network and manual crew operations
and by facilitating communication in the control room and operation centers (Tram, 1999; Tram,
Engelken, Gay, 1999). Yet, data has probably been the most often cited reason for delays in
deploying DMS/OMS, either because it is inaccurate, incomplete, or not up to date. This paper
addresses: what data is needed, how much is enough, how to get it, and how much it costs. To set
the framework for the discussion on data, the following is a brief review of the DMS/OMS
functionality and its business benefits.
The major DMS/OMS applications include:
- Trouble call management - Trouble calls entry, classification, and prioritization; restoration callback; automated trouble ticket closing and archive; etc.
- Outage prediction, analysis and reporting - Automatic grouping and regrouping of outage calls into possible outage locations; automatic calculation of outage areas and customers, either confirming or restoring outages caused by network connectivity changes.
- Trouble crew dispatch and management - Automated prioritization of outage tickets, decision support for selecting investigators and crews, and tracking of crew activities.
- Outage restoration tracking, logging and reporting - Logging and reporting of restoration progress and outage closing information, e.g., outage cause, work performed, etc.; historical data archive, analysis and reporting.
- Switching control and safety tagging - Decision support for emergency switching, planned switch order development and management, and switching and operation logs and reports.
The primary business drivers for implementing DMS/OMS vary among utilities, but the benefits of DMS/OMS generally include:
- Reduced operating costs by providing decision support for dispatchers and system operators and by improving utilization of investigation and repair crews.
- Improved customer service by automating on-line feedback of outage status to customers and service restoration confirmation, as well as a variety of differentiated customer services such as proactive customer communication of changes to the estimated restoration time and follow-up work status, wire warranty programs, etc.
- Meeting regulatory requirements by providing information for outage reporting to the public and government, for timely status updates during storm outages, and for customer litigation research, etc.
- Supporting asset management and planning by providing accurate data for reliability trending analysis, reliability improvement planning, reliability centered maintenance, and valued-based planning.
DMS/OMS Data Requirements and Impact on Functionality The DMS/OMS data and data modeling requirements are described in "Implementation of a Unified Data Model for Distribution Management Systems" (Tram, et al, 1999). Basically, the input data requirements include these four major data categories:
- The as-built and as-operated connectivity and facility model of the electric distribution network
- The landbase for displaying geographic background information and for locating network equipment and customer services based on street addresses or street intersection
- Crew data for maintaining investigation and repair crew, vehicle types, as well as tracking crew availability and field activities
- Customer Information, including customer name, premises address and phone number, electrical location (e.g., meter or transformer location), priority indication, etc.
Out of these four input data categories, the first two, the network model and the associated landbase information, represent the biggest data issues facing utilities that plan to implement DMS/OMS. Developing and properly maintaining this data will make or break the deployment of DMS/OMS at the utility. Therefore, the following discussions will focus on the network and associated landbase data.
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