Oracle Releases Tool to Help Utilities Manage Diverse, Distributed Energy Resources

Energy distribution is no longer linear. New energy and data sources continue to grow, and utilities must take a more holistic approach to better understand and manage resources and engage increasingly active customers at the edge of the grid. The recently announced expanded Oracle Utilities Network Management System (NMS) is designed to address this with a new Distributed Energy Resource Management (DERM) module that reportedly enables utilities to monitor situations in real-time and proactively optimize their broader network in concert with this explosion of emerging energy resources, including solar, wind, electric vehicles and more.

By eliminating data and application silos and giving operators real-time visibility and control across all grid and pipeline assets in a single platform, operators can leverage the most comprehensive, real-time model to ensure a more resilient and efficient grid. For example, applying built-in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to a growing library of data, including Advanced Metering infrastructure (AMI), weather forecasts, SCADA and IoT device interaction, NMS enables grid operators to reliably predict future storms and alter supply and demand. Coupled with enhanced mobile tools, field crews can quickly garner the insights they need to limit the impact of outages for customers and speed restoration efforts.

“Utilities today are facing a perfect storm of evolving distributed energy resources across their networks, a barrage of data, and ever-savvy customers who are looking to their utility to be a trusted advisor in changing energy journey,” said Dan Byrnes, SVP, product development, Oracle Utilities. “As such, resources can no longer be managed in isolation. With the latest innovations in NMS, utilities can improve long-term business planning around infrastructure investments and maintenance schedules, launch new revenue-generating customer-focused energy services, and proactively optimize operational performance.”

End-to-End Visibility and Control Across Resources

With the new enhancements to Oracle Utilities Network Management System, utilities reap the benefits of:

• Automated Grid Optimization: Offers complete visibility and control from distribution to the connected customer including distributed energy resource management, D-SCADA functionality, and IoT device interactions. This allows utilities to balance supply and demand all in one place, in both real-time and continuously looking ahead to proactively mitigate grid constraints before they happen.
• Deep Insights for Automated Decision Making: By ingesting data from a variety of sources and harnessing the power of AI and analytics, utilities can understand past weather patterns and predict future outages for automated decision making. 
• Extended Field Crew Access: Leveraging existing mobile device capabilities, field crews can now pull up outage maps, trend data and performance analysis, even in offline mode for faster, more efficient outage resolution.
• Improved User Experience: Intuitive order-based workflows, simplified tab-based windows, and the ability to have multiple events open simultaneously deliver an enriched user experience with no compromise to safety, reliability and performance.