• White Papers

    Meeting Future Utility Operating Challenges With a Smart Grid

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on January 1, 2008

    The classical school of utility operations prescribes four priorities, ranked in the following descending order: safety, reliability, customer service and profit. Although it’s not hard to engage any … Read Article

    The Smart Grid: A Balanced View

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on January 1, 2008

    Energy systems in both mature and developing economies around the world are undergoing fundamental changes. There are early signs of a physical transition from the current centralized energy … Read Article

    Customer Service in the Brave New World of Today's Utilities

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on January 1, 2008

    A NEW GENERATION OF CUSTOMER Today’s utility customers are energy dependant, information driven, technologically advanced, willing to change and environmentally friendly. Their grandparents prompted utilities to develop and … Read Article

    Software-Based Intelligence: The Missing Link in the SmartGrid Vision

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on January 1, 2008

    Achieving the SmartGrid vision requires more than advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), and advanced networking technologies. While these critical technologies provide the main … Read Article

    Plugging in the Consumer

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on January 1, 2008

    Thanks to new technologies and the spirit of independence and empowerment fostered by the digital age, consumers are taking on broader and more active roles in an increasing … Read Article

    Utility Mergers and Acquisitions: Beating the Odds

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on January 1, 2008

    Merger and acquisition activity in the U.S. electric utility industry has increased following the 2005 repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA). A key question for … Read Article

    The Emergence of the Intelligent Utility: A New View of Service Delivery

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    Utilities encountered a decade of challenges in the 1990s – utility diversification, attempts to adjust to emerging regulatory opportunities and distractions from extended investment strategies. Consequently, in the … Read Article

    INTERVIEW: Alan H. Richardson

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    Energy & Utilities: Let’s start by taking a look at the state of the electric utility industry marketplace as it relates to congressional debates over reducing carbon dioxide … Read Article

    Communication Technology Considerations for the Intelligent Utility Network

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    Most industries have experienced significant transformations over the past few decades, which have resulted in improved business processes and a more efficient operating structure. These transformations, to a … Read Article

    Energy Independence Is Cool(er)?

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    There is growing interest in the U.S. both in achieving some increased degree of energy independence and in reducing CO2 emissions to minimize global climate change. While both … Read Article

    Curbing Theft of Service Starts With Getting to Know Your Customer

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    Theft of service has been discussed more in the boardroom in the last three years than it has in the past 30. Why all the new interest? In … Read Article

    A Long-Term View of Technology’s Value to Utilities

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    The rise of wireless data networks, coupled with the evolution of software solutions, has made advances in field automation, project management and collaboration widely accessible to investor-owned utility … Read Article

    Fast Answers Through Embedded Business Intelligence

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    Utilities have long been on a quest for better ways to handle and make sense of data. Few other industries need control over such huge data volumes simply … Read Article

    Tackling Utility Customer Cost to Serve

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    Utilities in the U.S. stand to save considerable expense by evaluating their customer service operations from a customer cost-to-serve perspective. They spend on average $42.50 per year servicing … Read Article

    AMI = Smart Meter + Smart Customer + Smart Utility

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    The business world seems to be all about “smart” these days. You have smart cars, smart money, even smart mobs. The utility industry is no laggard in this … Read Article

    What Utilities Can Gain From Customer Profitability Analysis

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    Introduction Recent moves toward a more competitive retail environment, as well as increased performance expectations from shareholders, have focused utilities on improving the customer experience and, to some … Read Article

    Application and Design of the Modern Substation Automation Platform

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    This paper describes the application of the modern automation platform in electrical transmission substations. The applications described within are not “bleeding edge” or merely theoretical. Working, proven examples … Read Article

    RAMP: A Unique Solution to Recovering Lost Revenue

    by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book on May 14, 2007

    Revenue losses are a common problem among utilities across the globe and are typically segmented into three categories: Technical – energy/commodity lost during distribution; Administrative – internal operational … Read Article
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