Is it Irresponsible for an Electric Utility Not to Have an Outage Management System?
Automated outage management systems are not only widely available, but have been proven to be effective in shortening outage times and improving customer service. At what point will having an automated outage management system be considered “prudent utility practice” and no longer an option?
Hundreds of electric utilities, large and small, in the US and abroad, have some form of automated outage management systems (OMS). It can be argued that OMS is no longer pushing the envelope and instead is a mature, proven solution. Many credible vendors offer OMS and have been doing so for several years. It has been demonstrated over and over that OMS can significantly shorten service outages, improve worker and public safety, and provide consumers with better information and service. So, how much longer will electric utilities be able to elect not to deploy OMS?
While not inexpensive to purchase, deploy and maintain, an OMS is far more economical than the investment that would be required in conventional generation, transmission and distribution facilities to achieve comparable improvement in outage resolution time, employee and public safety and customer service. In fact, many electric utilities have said, “Our OMS investment paid for itself in our first major outage event.”
The electric utility industry is in the midst of what would appear to be a profound restructuring toward a smarter grid. Yet, much of the hardware and software being considered, from smart meters to smart grid operations platforms are in the very early stages of development and deployment. The acquisition and application of OMS is well developed and widely proven. Can an electric utility credibly engage in major Smart Grid investment and activity in Smart Grid if it neglects to take advantage of OMS?
Written by Steve Collier | Oct 07, 2009