Utilities are turning to modern digital technology as they face growing pressure to maintain grid reliability, improve customer service, and balance decarbonization goals. The annual Oracle Energy and Water Awards recognize some of the most progressive utilities in the world tackling these and other challenges. The 2024 winners include Exelon, JXN Water, and Portland General Electric.
“As the water and energy landscapes and customer needs rapidly evolve, it is paramount for utilities to implement solutions that effectively help them meet their ambitious goals,” said Creighton Oyler, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Energy and Water. “This year’s award recipients showcase utilities that delivered on market-leading projects to improve quality of service and lower costs during a high-inflation period. Oracle is very proud to partner with these excellent companies.”
Innovation Winner – Exelon
Serving more than 10 million customers through six fully regulated transmission and distribution utilities, Exelon has long collaborated with Oracle Opower to create innovative solutions that help its customers navigate the energy transition. Last year, Exelon deployed a creative mechanism called “enhancement services” to readily propose and approve custom programs for Exelon’s operating companies. This professional services agreement allows Exelon and Opower to react quickly to customer needs, test new ideas, and scale the ones with the greatest potential. Each idea is championed by a program manager at an Exelon operating company, giving both a voice and a solution path for the utility’s toughest and timeliest issues.
One successful outcome of this initiative was aimed at providing affordable energy to Exelon’s customers. Tailored videos informing low-to-moderate income (LMI) customers about available energy efficiency and financial assistance programs using the Opower Affordability Solution were initiated at Exelon’s Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) as a pilot project. Now, the program is being rolled out across Exelon’s multi-state enterprise. Another BGE pilot drives customers to a utility webpage with educational tools and information about BGE’s EV programs, positioning the utility as a trusted resource for EV shopping.
Initiative of the Year Winner – JXN Water
JXN Water needed to migrate 65,000 customers to an entirely new system. Within an eight-month timeframe, JXN sought to quickly deploy a reliable, flexible, and cloud-based open platform to elevate the customer experience after a history of systemic problems, documented metering challenges, and a backlog of unmet repairs.
In coordination with BOSS Utility Solutions and aligned with a new Advanced Meter Infrastructure rollout, JXN implemented Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service and Oracle Utilities Advanced Meter Service as its meter-to-cash platform. In tandem, Oracle Utilities solutions now provide an online customer portal and Oracle Customer Experience (CX) for Utilities manages call center service requests. As a result, JXN has improved the revenue leakage and increased its fiscal bottom-line by sending more bills and offering customers a better digital experience for bill presentation, communications, and payment options. JXN can monitor customer-facing activities on a single platform to act and respond to meter alerts and field and service requests with more precision and with faster response times.
Strategic Vision Winner – Portland General Electric (PGE)
Serving 935,000 customers and a territory of more than two million residents in the Portland, Oregon region, PGE is focused on modernizing its core IT solutions with Oracle to drive continued customer-centric outcomes, proactive employee execution, efficient asset utilization, and data-based insights. Consistently ranked in the Top 5 nationally for customer experience and satisfaction, PGE is focused on modernizing its core IT solutions with Oracle to drive continued customer-centric outcomes, proactive employee execution, efficient asset utilization, and provide data-based insights.
PGE has implemented Oracle Opower solutions to help support its aggressive clean energy commitments, including a 2040 net zero goal. The companies are collaborating to expand programs ranging from behavioral load shaping to solar bill management and high-bill alerts for residential and small-medium businesses. These programs are aligned to responsibly balance grid load while helping customers manage their electricity usage and bills. PGE is also working with Opower to engage and empower business customers with easy ways to self-serve energy insights while reducing operational costs.
Along with Opower, PGE is also using Oracle Utilities Customer to Meter and Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications—all running on the security and high-performance of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)—as pillars of its transformation.
The Oracle Energy and Water Awards were presented in late March during the Oracle Energy and Water Customer Edge conference in Austin, Texas. This annual event provides a unique opportunity for utility professionals to connect and share lessons learned, best practices, and forecasts about the future of the global energy and water industries.
Learn more other successful projects at Oracle Energy and Water, join the discussion on LinkedIn, and visit us at Booth #1101 during CS Week.
