Energy Management Software For Utilities

Ikeja Electricity distribution Company, addresses power theft challenges and increases revenue through qubesense enterprise applications metering solutions

qubesense provides custom energy management software solutions for utility companies that improve billing and collection efficiency and lowers ATC&C loss.

“Since our engagement with qubesense, we have seen an increase in our billing efficiencies to over 82% while collections efficiency is currently at 74% while ATC&C (Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collections) loss is down by 42% “

Mr. Trust Ahworegba Head Revenue Monitoring, Mobilization and Assurance, Ikeja Electric

Background

The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) is Nigeria’s largest power distribution company, owning and operating the country’s largest electricity distribution network. It is based in Lagos and offers electricity and power to over 1 million consumers in various households and industries.

Initially, the utility firm was administered as a government service, and it relied significantly on manual operations.

The customer wanted seamless, cost-effective energy management software solutions for utilities that could be deployed rapidly.

Challenge

Because of the difficulties in monitoring a large field staff, it was virtually impossible to hold employees accountable. Also a lack of real-time visibility made it impossible for them to connect with customers and offer excellent service.

Meter readers visited homes, workplaces, and factories to take in-person meter readings, which were entered into paper-based forms and subsequently entered into billing accounting software to create payment invoices. Moreover, due to energy theft, the company did not receive full payment, and as a result, the company suffered a significant loss each year.

Due to a lack of automated energy management software solutions for uilities, the company could not measure, monitor, or control its aggregate technical and commercial losses. Customers were facing significant challenges due to manual paper-based processes.

Staff

The manual process of data collection and data entry was tedious, error prone, and time-consuming
Field officers lacked immediate access to customer files and records, which was essential for job performance
The paper-intensive workload required office trips to submit records
Since all the work was done on paper, submitting a work report without GPS or photograph evidence was challenging
There was no access to real-time notifications about job scheduling and modifications
Consumer records were non-existent or sparse outside the billing application
Request coordination was a slow process with book records and physical presence needed for approval

Management

A longer billing cycle impacted revenues
Lack of real-time visibility in field activities, task progress, and completion, negatively affected the business and profitability
Paper-based job forms were error-prone, time-consuming, costly, and impacted productivity and efficiency
Inability to schedule and dispatch jobs quickly and easily resulted in missing and recurring appointments
Due to a lack of real-time reports, it was not easy to make data-driven decisions
Employee performance and KPIs were difficult to track
Associated costs of managing paper-based records were high

Consumer

Appointments were not always met on time, due to a lag between complaint registered and implementation
There was a delay in getting the complaint resolved due to various manual channels of approvals
Maintaining accurate paper-based user profiles and records was difficult and time-consuming
Human mistake would result in incorrect billing, with the consumer being overpaid or undercharged

Approach

The company did have an application from another company that converted paper forms into a digital format, but that’s where it stopped. The question of what to do with the data collected was a crucial question that needed a solution..

qubesense provided a perfect energy and utilities digital transformation solution to Ikeja’s What’s Next? Ikeja got precisely what they wanted along with the ability to connect to any third-party API and effortlessly automate business processes.

The most difficult components of developing such a large and enterprise-wide system are timely execution, asset management, scalability, and stability.

qubesense team’s extensive knowledge and understanding of utility operations, along with its project management abilities and expertise, and the sheer power and customizability of the qubesense digital transformation platform, enabled Ikeja to exceed customer expectations.

Solution

The solution team analyzed the existing manual process of meter reading system and found several irregularities. The customer’s team and qubesense created a customized modular utility management solution that was just right for Ikeja’s unique business need.

The qubesense team collaborated closely with the Ikeja team to deploy various modules as per the schedule and assist the employees in coming up to speed. All modules of the meter data management system were developed and deployed within six weeks.

Key Highlights

Nigeria's largest electricity distribution network
3,500 Employees
Over 1 Million Customers
Up to 1,350 qubesense users (combined Mobile and Web users)
3 Million Data entries
16.7k Completed tasks
105 Mobile Apps
More than 300 different reports and modules running concurrently

Benefits

qubesense empowered the electricity distribution network with a more effective home energy audit and monitoring system to reduce power theft, increase efficiency in billing, and strengthen its vision of providing a 24×7 electricity supply.

The business value that qubesense enterprise applications solutions for utilities delivered is much higher. According to Ikeja, qubesense utility solution’s key USP is its “ability to execute the seemingly impossible.”

Staff

Makes appointments more quickly
Gets accurate and real-time job notifications
Field officers have access to consumer's usage records from any device
There is no longer a need for paper-based job forms
Field personnel can communicate with the backend office while on the move
Meter readings are now accurate
Job completion happens promptly
Field officers have updated and real-time data on their devices, which helps in taking preventive measures
Field personnel can use mobile forms to capture video, audio, and images to prove any theft and illegal work
Field teams can now cover larger areas and plan visits due to the GPS-based route planning feature

Management

Spot billing application addressed power theft problem and directly contributed to bottom-line
Transparency across all operations simplified workflows and improved productivity
Operational costs have been reduced across the board
The compliance data tracking system is more efficient
Billing/collections cycle time has reduced
Resources are more effectively utilized
Utility management solutions by qubesense enabled to collect data, centralize it, and then analyze it into meaningful representations
Role-based access to reporting portal ensured data protection
Cloud based system enabled 24x7 access to all evidence and collateral in one place
The company achieved a high return on investment

Consumer

There is a significant improvement in customer service, and a massive reduction in complaints
The automated bill payment system is accurately scheduled
Consumer has the convenience of making online bill payments effortlessly
Consumers can now get their monthly bills on their mobile devices
New connections, disconnections, and the tracking of service changes and complaints are done through mobile apps
The approval process is now online saving precious time resulting in quick actions
The services are now fast and seamless, with minimal touchpoints
Cost efficiency benefits attained by the company is transferred to the end-user
The time it takes for complaints to be resolved has dropped from weeks to a few hours

Results

“High-Efficiency Solutions” is the tag name awarded to qubesense by Ikeja. qubesense utility metering solutions have made the company’s processes more efficient, resulting in Ikeja bagging many operational excellence awards and certifications.

Ikeja has received three new ISO certifications for its successful execution of workplace safety and health, environmental management, and quality management processes: ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001: 2015, ISO 45001: 2018
AfriSAFE Merit Award 2020
Nigeria Risk Awards 2020: Runners-up for the most responsive organization for the COVID-19

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Energy Management Software For Utilities

Ikeja Electricity distribution Company, addresses power theft challenges and increases revenue through qubesense enterprise applications metering solutions

Background

Challenge

Staff

Management

Consumer

Approach

Solution

Key Highlights

Benefits

Staff

Management

Consumer

Results

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