The electric utility industry is undergoing a major transformation driven by new sources of energy generation (solar and wind power), consumer demand for faster and more affordable services, cybersecurity, and big data. Gathering data to harvest insights and forecast more accurately offers significant potential to optimize the way utilities operate. Emerging modern grids demand accurate data and as-operated network information to function optimally. Given these business imperatives, utilities must overcome current constraints and limitations to enable essential operational data quality.
Good quality data enables a utility to understand network and asset behavior, operating conditions, and its impact on customer service. Electric networks change routinely, and operations reflect a dynamic condition. Therefore, quality data must be regularly assessed based on its context of use. The utility network must enable accurate measurements of network behavior to assure accurate observations and the ability to optimize measures in response to current and accurate data. The ability to assure correct inputs from system and operations data enables the utility to substantially improve the quality and cost efficiency of its operations.