Accenture has affirmed that in order to achieve effective result in the area of power using advanced technology is to ensure the usage of smart metering solution.This was the assertion of Managing Director, Resources Operating Group (Energy, Utilities and Natural Resources), Mrs Abayomi Olarinmoye, Accenture Nigeria, at the West African Power Industry Convention in Lagos.She stated that Accenture which engages in systems integration work with other vendors in the technology industry to ensure that the systems deployed work in two way interactive process to help distribution companies in the power sector achieve high performance and also ensure profitability.She said smart metering solution that brings lots of benefits to both consumers and distribution companies, and that the company's solution through its partners delivers integrated technology, resources and processes to support companies to transform to information driven, conservation-conscious, customer-centric smart utility.'Accenture defines smart customer operations as a utility, operating full meter-to-cash customer processes to support functional, two-way smart meter capabilities with advanced communication channels and demand side management pricing and products,' Olarinmoye stated.She affirmed that a recent survey conducted by Accenture has shown that over 400 million smart meters will have been installed globally by 2015, and one billion are expected by 2020, that global deployment status is highly variable and dependent on many social, economical andpolitical factors.The survey showed that North America has deployed 50 million plus smart meters, Latin America about 1 million plus, South Africa about 300,000 plus, Australia 2.2 million, Western Europe 44.9 million pus, South East Asia 171.8 million plus, Italy, 34 million, while theUnited States has deployed 43 million and looking at another 90 million in the near future.According to her, 'smart metering deployment drivers include operating cost reduction, revenue protection and customer service as well as energy usage reduction. While trying to reduce cost of operations, the utilities prolong the life of aging infrastructure/equipment, drive reliability and promote process efficiency (remote disconnect/reconnect, outage communications); and by protecting revenue and customer service, the solution enable the utilities to implement a varied combination of smart metering and demand management products and services to create a differentiated customer experience whilst managing energy theft. On the other hand, it enables the utilities to achieve sustained end consumer consumption reductions.'Furthermore her presentation shows that smart metering is a major driver for service quality and customer satisfaction improvement as it leads to accurate billing process, improved networkmanagement/efficiency, cash flow management, operational efficiency, consumer energy management, and political concerns by facilitating future demand side management initiatives and also eliminates need for separate and research samples.And while commenting on the situation in the country, Olarinmoye said Nigeria is ripe for such innovative metering solution taking into consideration that it's the way to go and the benefits associated with it, stating that the nation ahs to move ahead with modern technology.
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