Exceleron and Ocala Receive 2014 Elster EnergyAxis Award for Best Collaboration
Denver, Colorado – October 8, 2014 – Elster Solutions has awarded its 2014 Elster EnergyAxis Award for Best Collaboration to Ocala Utility Services and Exceleron Software at the Elster Connect Training and User Conference, as announced on Twitter: “Hat’s off to Ocala Utilities @OUSinfo and @Exceleron for winning this year’s “Best Collaboration” award for your Elster project….”
The “Best Collaboration” Award recognizes for the most effective collaboration and partnership among or between the utility, Elster and/or an Elster partner.
Since 2011, Ocala Utility Services (OUS) of Florida has been using Exceleron’s MyUsage suite of applications in conjunction with the Elster EnergyAxis advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to offer prepay accounts to customers. Prepay accounts give consumers freedom to select the amount and frequency of their payments by purchasing electricity, water, and internet service before they use it, thereby avoiding deposits, late fees, and disconnect/reconnect fees. As of July 2014, more than 5,000 customers had signed up to participate in Ocala’s prepay program, branded Pay As You Go (powered by MyUsage), with 91% customer satisfaction.
In June 2012, OUS became an early adopter and beta tester of Exceleron’s MyUsage Meter Data Management (MDM). “Ocala provided tremendously valuable feedback on the overall design of MyUsage MDM and its reporting capabilities,” said Jeff Severs, COO of Dallas-based Exceleron Software. “We’re very pleased that Elster is recognizing the value of this collaboration that builds on the Elster AMI infrastructure.”
More than 90 utilities have selected MyUsage to launch and manage their prepaid account offerings. MyUsage MDM is hosted solution and a value-added component available for free to all utilities using MyUsage Prepay.
The analytical power of MyUsage MDM allows utilities to collect, store, and analyze vast quantities of consumption data received automatically from individual meters in 60-, 30-, 15- or even 5-minute intervals. Utilities harness the power of MyUsage MDM to analyze interval meter reads for many purposes. For example, MyUsage MDM allows utilities to implement time-of-use billing, because it provides a way to calculate usage charges at peak and off-peak rates. MyUsage MDM also assists with basic load forecasting, because it uses historical data to anticipate future consumption for individual meters and in the aggregate.
“We’ve been working hand in hand with Exceleron to develop an MDM platform that truly meets utilities needs,” said Joe Noel, Chief Technology Officer for the City of Ocala. “It is very rewarding to have Elster recognize the value of our continuing collaboration.”
OUS is using MyUsage Meter Data Management (MDM) to empower customers, identify instances of line loss and possible theft, improve service reliability, and identify and address engineering problems and safety issues. During the 18 months between July 2012 and January 2014, analysis of the MyUsage MDM reports alerted Ocala to 49 blown fuses, 29 instances of bad wiring on current transformers, 12 instances of meters installed in the wrong socket, eight malfunctioning meters, an overloaded transformer, and more.
Fourteen utility service providers are currently using Exceleron’s MyUsage platform in conjunction with the Elster EnergyAxis AMI. One of them, Midstate Electric Cooperative of La Pine, Oregon, received the 2011 Elster Award for Best Customer Service in recognition of its exceptional use of MyUsage Prepay.
About Ocala Utility Services
Ocala Utility Services (OUS) provides electricity, internet, and water and sewer services to the residents of Ocala, Florida and the surrounding area. Today the municipality serves more than 76,000 meters. As a local government agency, OUS focuses on embracing a business philosophy and restructuring operations to provide exceptional customer service and low-cost utility services. For more information, visit http://www.ocalafl.org.
About Exceleron Software
Exceleron Software is the preeminent provider of prepayment and financial technology solutions for North American utilities, having served more than 100 utility customers and 500,000 prepay consumers. Electric, water, and gas utilities are using Exceleron’s MyUsage solution to recover more than $20 million in bad debt and process more than $500 million in payments while helping consumers practice energy conservation and avoid nearly $1 billion in service connection and late fees. Consumers have more access to detailed consumption information and greater control over the amount, frequency, and method of payments. This increases customer choice, improves customer satisfaction, and significantly lowers financial risk for utilities. For more information about MyUsage, visit www.exceleron.com.
Exceleron Software
Bob Finley
Director of Sales
972.852.2711
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