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• Case Study 1

Realigning of Client’s Demand Response Program

Summary of Problem:

A customer’s control software was incorrectly set up and hardware installation was delayed. Therefore, the successful execution of customer’s demand response program was impeded.

This particular client (we’ll call them Strategy Utility) has a residential a/c cycling demand response program. The fairly complex program includes integration among many systems. These include: utility customer information management systems, utility call center systems, support vendor routing and maintenance systems, and control software. Some of these interfaces, by way of original design and insufficiently planned enhancements over the years, were broken and introducing defective data into the environment.

The situation resulted in the following:

• Customers were not being correctly signed up on the program
• Customers’ control software was incorrectly set up
• Hardware installation at customer locations was delayed by months
• Overall dashboard metrics and management reporting errors prohibited utility program management from successfully executing their demand response program

Strategy Utility’s program management contacted Calico Energy for technology and process design consultation and support to assist in the realignment of the program back to a successful, operationally efficient state.

Our Solution:

• Calico Energy's specialized technology experts began with knowledge gathering. They looked into the client’s systemic environment and the process documentation of the organizational interactions. Doing so provided a first-time holistic view of the environment that could be quickly analyzed for potential technical failure points and operational gaps. At this point manual stop gaps were immediately put into place to stabilize the environment and not introduce further discrepancies and negative customer interactions.
  
   
• Calico Energy's team performed failure mode assessments to effectively document the potential failure points, their associated risk attributes if a failure did occur, and the likelihood of occurrence.
  
   
• Leveraging Calico Energy’s failure mode scoring process, Strategy Utility and Calico Energy were able to quickly prioritize areas of technical and process concerns, and begin to define resolution timelines accordingly. Over time, these items were addressed and resolved by collaborating with internal interfacing utility organizations, support vendors, and development of software solutions when appropriate.

Results:

The success experienced in the realignment of Strategy Utility’s demand response program can be attributed to Strategy Utility’s strategic foresight of engaging specialized technology and process design experts. Calico Energy was also able to properly assess the client’s current demand response environment, define appropriately prioritized systemic and process solutions, and promote collaborative change across multiple internal and external organizations. Lastly, Calico Energy completed the work in a timely, effective manner.

If you need assistance in realigning your company’s Demand Response program, call Calico Energy today at (206) 612-1006.