Western Power, an electricity network corporation owned by the Western Australian government, implemented Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing 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platform enables Western Power to extend billing capabilities to retailers other than Synergy, rather than relying on outdated, customized billing systems for each individual retailer.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.
