Western Power Gains Stronger Revenue Control and Improves Customer Relations with Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing

By ORACLE
Tuesday, May 25, 2010

CS Week, Nashville, Tenn. – May 25, 2010

News Facts

Western Power (www.wpcorp.com.au/) , an electricity network corporation owned by the Western Australian Government, implemented Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing (www.oracle.com/us/industries/utilities/046909.html) as an independent billing system to enable the company to manage network charges and bill retailers directly.

Recently, the disaggregation of the Western Australian electricity market separated Western Power into two organizations – a network operator (still called Western Power) and a retail arm (now Synergy). As the network operator, Western Power must produce accurate and auditable consumer billing and retailer reconciliation, detailing how much power – and associated cost – each retailer’s customers have used.
With Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing, Western Power can now take its meter readings and automatically generate and distribute accurate bills to each retailer – helping the organization capture all potential revenue. In addition, the enterprise-class platform enables Western Power to extend billing capabilities to retailers other than Synergy, rather than relying on outdated, customized billing systems for each individual retailer.
Western Power can also determine how much energy its customers are using, check bills that seem atypical, compile reports on the use of green (wind, gas, solar) and black (coal) energy and determine which tariffs are on budget. Further, the Oracle solution handles complex tariff changes, which will support Western Power and retailers in encouraging users to select off-peak consumption at both the network and retail level.
Western Power also leveraged Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing’s customer contact and record management capabilities to build a database of customer information. With more accurate, up-to-date customer data, Western Power’s representatives can access each customer’s history and more quickly address inquiries as they come into the call center.
Western Power licensed Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing in 2008.

Supporting Quotes

“Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing is a highly configurable solution that helps manage all aspects of customer information and billing. With the help of Oracle Consulting, we now have the application we need to improve service delivery across all our distribution units and to help us to compete more effectively,” said Bong Borja, assistant vice president, information services, Power Distribution Group, AboitizPower.
“Around the world, utilities are under pressure to address customer demands, improve environmental quality and comply with regulatory requirements. Oracle Utilities provides a choice of mission-critical applications to deliver tangible business results. Our success in the industry illustrates the solid value we bring to our customers,” said Jo-Anne Ruhl, vice president and general manager APAC, Oracle Utilities.

Supporting Resources

Oracle Utilities (www.oracle.com/industries/utilities/index.html)
Oracle Utilities Blog (blogs.oracle.com/oracleutilities/)
Oracle Utilities on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Oracle-Utilities/113690131739?v=wall)
Oracle Utilities on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=159460&trk=hb_side_g)
Oracle Utilities on Twitter (www.twitter.com/OracleUtilities)
Oracle Utilities YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/oracleutilities)

About Oracle Utilities

Oracle Utilities delivers proven software applications that help utilities of all types and sizes achieve competitive advantage, business performance excellence and a lower total cost of technology ownership. Oracle Utilities integrates industry-specific customer care and billing, network management, work and asset management, mobile workforce management and meter data management applications with the capabilities of Oracle’s industry-leading enterprise applications, business intelligence tools, middleware and database technologies. The software enables customers to adapt more nimbly to market deregulation, meet ever-evolving customer demands and deliver on environmental conservation commitments. Additionally, Oracle Utilities helps utilities prepare for smart metering and smart grid initiatives that enhance efficiency and provide critical intelligence metrics that can help drive more-informed energy and water usage decisions for consumers and businesses. For more information, visit www.oracle.com/goto/utilities.

About Oracle

Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) provides the most complete, open, and integrated business software and hardware systems in the world. For more information about Oracle, visit oracle.com

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Contact Info

Caroline Yu Vespi
Oracle
+1.650.506.8920
caroline.yu@oracle.com (mailto:caroline.yu@oracle.com)

Janice Hazen
O'Keeffe and Company
+1.770.938.4753
jhazen@okco.com (mailto:jhazen@okco.com)