From integrated energy delivery operations to ebusiness transformation cinery ties it all together as a first mover in the new energy economy

The digital utility
The Digital Utility approach is distinctive because, utilizing a variety of eBusiness Applications, customers and business partners communicate directly with Cinergy’s back office and energy delivery systems. Unlike others who mimic Internet transactions by encouraging customers to generate email requests that ultimately must be reentered by Customer Service Representatives (CSRs), Cinergy will connect customers – real time – to operating systems.

Four components create and define Digital Utility functionality: The Energy Portal; eBusiness Applications; Blended Media Contact Center; and a massive Energy Delivery Systems Integration Program (EDSIP). The Energy Portal will serve as Cinergy’s “front door.” Via the Portal, customers using the Internet can enter the regulated utility where eBusiness Applications provide rich information content and the opportunity to schedule services and perform transactions. Alternately, from the same entry point, customers can select from a variety of unregulated products and services. The Blended Media Contact Center integrates, routes, and manages all contacts, no matter what channel the customer chooses. EDSIP supplies the operating data that eBusiness Applications translate into information meaningful to customers.

Fundamentally, EDSIP is the foundation of the Digital Utility. Faced with combining the operations of merged utility companies and preparing for a highly competitive business environment, Cinergy embarked on a project in 1998 to integrate mission-critical information systems. Forty-four previously disparate systems were consolidated. The five resulting systems provide an integrated approach to:

Outage management
Work management
Resource allocation and computer-aided dispatch
Distribution planning
Graphical information, facility data maintenance, energy delivery asset system reporting, design tool, and graphical design

EDSIP, in addition to enabling the underlying data for the eBusiness Applications, provides business benefits related to improved service reliability and delivery, an optimized workforce and reduced operations and maintenance costs.