AWARDS FINALIST: PowerNet – Innovating ICP billing management - compliance made easy
The ARC software platform developed by PowerNet and Digital Stock is simplifying Installation Control Point (ICP) management and reducing compliance risks for the handful of other electricity distributors already using the system.
PowerNet initially faced significant challenges in managing compliance around ICP billing.
Issues included handling connections, disconnections, accessing historical demand information from the Electricity Authority registry/hub and calculating line charges and billing for customers across multiple bespoke databases.
Recognising both the risk and the opportunity, PowerNet worked with Invercargill-based technology firm Digital Stock to create a software system that could streamline those processes and ensure regulatory compliance.
PowerNet Connect, as it was then called, significantly improved the efficiency and accuracy of managing new connections, retail billing and fault management within PowerNet.
That success demonstrated the potential for broader application, leading to a complete redesign and the development of ARC – the Advanced Registry Communicator platform – as a scalable software-as-a-service solution for the wider New Zealand distribution sector.
Rights
PowerNet holds the intellectual property rights for the software and has a master licence agreement with Digital Stock to market it.
ARC integrates multiple systems and data sources into a seamless solution, PowerNet says. It simplifies and standardises the process of managing new connections, retail billing and fault management, creating significant efficiency gains for its users.
Automatic updates also ensure compliance with new standards and regulations, making it a future-proof solution, ready to adapt to the evolving needs of the energy sector, including real-time pricing, distributed generation connections and smart-grid applications, the company says.
ARC has been designed with a modern, flexible, and extensible integration layer, including a range of out-of-the-box connectors that allow customers to connect with various software and hardware solutions, such as existing accounting, asset management or geographical information systems, PowerNet says.
This means that as new innovations, products and services are developed, the ARC platform can be quickly updated to incorporate them, providing immediate benefits to users.
PowerNet says the relationship with Digital Stock has demonstrated the value of collaboration with it and with other users, and the value of a focus on the continuous innovation of ARC to keep up with the sector’s requirements.
It says ARC has set a new standard in the industry through its use of intelligent tools for rapid deployment and migration. This means that an electricity distributor’s network data can be ready and tested in weeks, rather than months, providing a faster and more efficient solution.
Future
The ARC partners programme includes a space for users and designers to collaborate and prepare for future enhancements.
It has also shown standardisation can be achieved across the industry and demonstrates how important that will be as the sector evolves.
As at March, a further five networks are either implementing the system or have committed to do so.
ARC has become “a platform designed for the industry, by the industry,” PowerNet says.
The Innovation in Energy Award is sponsored by Ara Ake.