The awards, being given at the Metering, Billing/CIS America in Miami, Florida recognize industry leaders who between 2000 and 2009 made outstanding contributions to the utilities-metering sector in North America with programs, projects, and services.
Two Aclara customers will receive the prestigious awards, PPL Electric Utilities for its innovative implementation of customer-service programs and the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan for use of advanced metering technologies by a water utility.
Aclara Software ENERGYprism, the application used by PPL Electric Utilities, allows customer-service representatives to quickly analyze information related to billing inquiries, reducing the length of calls and providing customers with quick answers to their questions. The application also provides commercial, residential, and industrial customers a way to view monthly bills as well as hourly and daily energy usage online. They then can use the information to make better decisions on energy consumption.
As a leader in the industry, PPL Electric Utilities is the first electric utility to provide all its customers with hourly consumption information. About 200,000 customers of PPL Electric Utilities have completed online profiles that give them access to the information provided by AclaraÂ’s billing and customer-service software.
“We're giving our customers new tools and information that help them take greater control over their electric use,” said Tom Stathos, Director of Customer Strategy for PPL Electric Utilities. “The key to making the best decisions about electricity use is having good information. Today, we’re able to deliver that information like never before.”
AclaraÂ’s advanced customer-service applications have positioned PPL Electric Utilities to offer a time-of-use (TOU) rate structure to all residential customers in 2010. TOU rates charge differing rates for power based on the time of day that electricity is used.