[Mo Movassat]

Response from OPG Senior Manager, Water Resources :

OPG is currently in the process of developing systems to help with this process, but there are many nuances and discussions we have been having internally. This also depends on what you mean and intend to use the ‘automated flood warning systems’ for. In our jurisdiction we do not have the authority to produce flood warnings (it is a gov’t responsibility) and so are very careful about the terminology. We do have some internal guidance or thresholds beyond which we expect flooding could happen that is used for decision making and in some cases we use historic percentiles. We report water level and flow publicly but do not provide any interpretation on it (i.e. potential for flooding) or even publish the current level as a historic quantile. You may have more flexibility with a fully internally facing system. We are building what you are referring to as two distinct systems. We have chosen the KISTERS WISKI product to be a database of historic data. This would be where we determine the current + historic flow, elevation, etc. Also, where we calculate historic quantiles (i.e. 95^th percentile, etc.). We have enjoyed working with this vendor but I know there are other good products/vendors out there. This system does provided automated flagging and notification if a water level/flow violates a set threshold. This is not a forecast though but real-time intelligence.

 

 We are working with Deltares to produce a flow forecasting (not flood warning) system and currently work with 4DM as well. Again this system meets our needs, but DHI, HEC and others have products, models or business models that may be better suited to you. Some vendors take more of a service or ‘plug and play’ type of approach and others will require more local involvement. Our approach is to have more in-house involvement. This system will have an automated workflow but will not issue an automated forecast. So an initial forecast will be automatically produced, but a human will evaluate the output prior to issuing an official forecast. I am skeptical of a fully automated system, especially to issue warnings, because a model sometimes fails. 

——————————
Mo Mavassat
Analytics Section Manager
OPG
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2020 16:10
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Flood Management/Prediction

Anyone have experience/ insight into automated flood warning systems or wet infrastructure business analytics.

 Deltares, DHI, Innovyze are the few market players in the specific area. We are looking to hear about experience in this market space.

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

[Martin Richardson]

Hi,

 

at FortisBC we have done a little for our electric assets.  knight Piesold.  I don’t have any direct contact to this project but can dig something up if it will help.

 

Thanks,

Martin

 

---

This email was sent to you by FortisBC*. The contact information to reach an authorized representative of FortisBC is 16705 Fraser Highway, Surrey, British Columbia, V4N 0E8, Attention: Communications Department. You can unsubscribe from receiving further emails from FortisBC by emailing unsubscribe@fortisbc.com.

*”FortisBC” refers to the FortisBC group of companies which includes FortisBC Holdings. Inc., FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisBC Inc., FortisBC Alternative Energy Services Inc. and Fortis Generation Inc.

This e-mail is the property of FortisBC and may contain confidential material for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). Any review, use, distribution or disclosure by others is strictly prohibited. FortisBC does not accept liability for any errors or omissions which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender immediately and delete all copies of the message including removal from your hard drive. Thank you.

——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 6/15/2020 8:24:00 AM
From: Mo Mavassat
Subject: RE: Flood Management/Prediction

Response from OPG Senior Manager, Water Resources :

OPG is currently in the process of developing systems to help with this process, but there are many nuances and discussions we have been having internally. This also depends on what you mean and intend to use the ‘automated flood warning systems’ for. In our jurisdiction we do not have the authority to produce flood warnings (it is a gov’t responsibility) and so are very careful about the terminology. We do have some internal guidance or thresholds beyond which we expect flooding could happen that is used for decision making and in some cases we use historic percentiles. We report water level and flow publicly but do not provide any interpretation on it (i.e. potential for flooding) or even publish the current level as a historic quantile. You may have more flexibility with a fully internally facing system. We are building what you are referring to as two distinct systems. We have chosen the KISTERS WISKI product to be a database of historic data. This would be where we determine the current + historic flow, elevation, etc. Also, where we calculate historic quantiles (i.e. 95^th percentile, etc.). We have enjoyed working with this vendor but I know there are other good products/vendors out there. This system does provided automated flagging and notification if a water level/flow violates a set threshold. This is not a forecast though but real-time intelligence.

 

 We are working with Deltares to produce a flow forecasting (not flood warning) system and currently work with 4DM as well. Again this system meets our needs, but DHI, HEC and others have products, models or business models that may be better suited to you. Some vendors take more of a service or ‘plug and play’ type of approach and others will require more local involvement. Our approach is to have more in-house involvement. This system will have an automated workflow but will not issue an automated forecast. So an initial forecast will be automatically produced, but a human will evaluate the output prior to issuing an official forecast. I am skeptical of a fully automated system, especially to issue warnings, because a model sometimes fails. 

——————————
Mo Mavassat
Analytics Section Manager
OPG
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2020 16:10
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Flood Management/Prediction

Anyone have experience/ insight into automated flood warning systems or wet infrastructure business analytics.

 Deltares, DHI, Innovyze are the few market players in the specific area. We are looking to hear about experience in this market space.

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

[Ron Capute]

We evaluated a few different of these cameras and RealWear was the best choice for our safety needs.  I did some experimentation and testing with one and it worked pretty well.  However, we had a hard time coming up with a good use case to pursue.

——————————
Ron Capute
Sr Project Manager
Florida Power & Light
Jupiter FL
5619043273
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 06-02-2020 12:43
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Hard Hat Video Cameras

Thank you very much for the information. Much appreciated.​

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 06-02-2020 11:57
From: Chrissy Carr
Subject: Hard Hat Video Cameras

Hi Ben,
We use Realwear at Burns & McDonnell. It has been a reliable tool that is growing in project use in our company. If you would like more information you are welcome to contact me. My E-mail address is ccarr@burnsmcd,com.

Chrissy

——————————
Chrissy Carr
Experienced Telecommunications Project Manager + Electrical Engineer
Burns and McDonnell

Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2020 12:57
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Hard Hat Video Cameras

​Any recommendations on Hard Hat attached video cameras?

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

[Ben Ettlinger]

Thank you for this. IT is very helpful. Deltares and DHI seem to be the solutions of choice. We will let you know if  we need more information.

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 06-15-2020 08:24
From: Mo Mavassat
Subject: Flood Management/Prediction

Response from OPG Senior Manager, Water Resources :

OPG is currently in the process of developing systems to help with this process, but there are many nuances and discussions we have been having internally. This also depends on what you mean and intend to use the ‘automated flood warning systems’ for. In our jurisdiction we do not have the authority to produce flood warnings (it is a gov’t responsibility) and so are very careful about the terminology. We do have some internal guidance or thresholds beyond which we expect flooding could happen that is used for decision making and in some cases we use historic percentiles. We report water level and flow publicly but do not provide any interpretation on it (i.e. potential for flooding) or even publish the current level as a historic quantile. You may have more flexibility with a fully internally facing system. We are building what you are referring to as two distinct systems. We have chosen the KISTERS WISKI product to be a database of historic data. This would be where we determine the current + historic flow, elevation, etc. Also, where we calculate historic quantiles (i.e. 95^th percentile, etc.). We have enjoyed working with this vendor but I know there are other good products/vendors out there. This system does provided automated flagging and notification if a water level/flow violates a set threshold. This is not a forecast though but real-time intelligence.

 

 We are working with Deltares to produce a flow forecasting (not flood warning) system and currently work with 4DM as well. Again this system meets our needs, but DHI, HEC and others have products, models or business models that may be better suited to you. Some vendors take more of a service or ‘plug and play’ type of approach and others will require more local involvement. Our approach is to have more in-house involvement. This system will have an automated workflow but will not issue an automated forecast. So an initial forecast will be automatically produced, but a human will evaluate the output prior to issuing an official forecast. I am skeptical of a fully automated system, especially to issue warnings, because a model sometimes fails. 

——————————
Mo Mavassat
Analytics Section Manager
OPG
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2020 16:10
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Flood Management/Prediction

Anyone have experience/ insight into automated flood warning systems or wet infrastructure business analytics.

 Deltares, DHI, Innovyze are the few market players in the specific area. We are looking to hear about experience in this market space.

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

[Claude Godin]

Hi All

 

Hope everyone is well and staying safe.

 

DNV GL has been working for quite some years with flood risk management and  preparedness. Most of our tools and toolboxes are based on hydrologic and hydraulic processes which have been embedded in the C-GEAR platform. Some processes that have been modelled in the past are:

• droughts and erosion based on hydrologic balances;
• storm surges and overland flooding; and
• we have also modelled hydraulic process such as channelized sedimented flows.

 

All of this has been implemented in a GIS environment in order to avoid the cumbersome handling of inputs that other well-known model providers have (i.e. Delft of Deltares and Mike from DHI) . We have also put special emphasis on calibrating the models to obtain intensity parameters which can be used directly into a Risk Assessment. Last but not least, we have a probabilistic toolbox that allows us to run Monte Carlo simulations of some of those processes.

 

The attached presentation is the Sandy Super Storm Case Study we did some years ago. It is one of the cases that has some of the integrated solutions that we have developed (downscaling from storm surge to Electrical substation flooding cost-benefit risk assessment). Else, typically cases are just focused on one type of process (i.e. flood). 

 

This is a lot of information to digest…hope this is useful to you. Happy to connect you with our team to chat further, if you’d like to discuss this in detail.

 

——————————
Claude Godin
Principal Consutant
DNV GL
Raleigh NC
919 539 3231
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 06-17-2020 11:53
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Flood Management/Prediction

All of which we already have anyway. I’ll suggest to our team.

 

Thanks

 

Ben

 

Ben Ettlinger

Emerging Technology

New York Power Authority

123 Main St.

White Plains NY 10601

 

Original Message:
Sent: 6/17/2020 11:30:00 AM
From: Dave Brett
Subject: RE: Flood Management/Prediction

At PECO Energy, we created a real-time dashboard with alerts to identify “at risk” assets (substations, buildings, and gas facilities). We accomplished this by creating a geospatial model that associated our assets to the closest National Weather Service Stream Gauge monitor within a given watershed. We used the Esri ArcGIS Platform  to perform the spatial analysis and Esri GeoEvent Server for the real-time monitoring.

——————————
Dave Brett
Sr. Business Analyst
Exelon
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2020 16:10
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Flood Management/Prediction

Anyone have experience/ insight into automated flood warning systems or wet infrastructure business analytics.

 Deltares, DHI, Innovyze are the few market players in the specific area. We are looking to hear about experience in this market space.

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

[Kevin Praet (Adm)]

This week’s “Ask Your Network” poll is here! Please visit the Ask Your Network homepage here to complete. 

We look forward to your input.

Thanks!

——————————
Kevin Praet
Membership Coordinator
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Boulder CO
315-440-3033
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 05-20-2020 18:30
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: The UAI Ask Your Network Poll is Here!

Hello UAI Members,

We have a brand new poll live on the “Ask your Network” homepage here. We look forward to your input!

——————————
Kevin Praet
Membership Coordinator
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Boulder CO
315-440-3033
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 05-13-2020 18:58
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: The UAI Ask Your Network Poll is Here!

Hello UAI members,

I hope all is well! It’s been a few weeks since the launch of our latest website update and we couldn’t be more pleased with the feedback. For everyone that’s taken time to reach out to us directly, we thank you and encourage others to continue giving us their feedback as well.

One new feature we’re launching in this community is the Ask Your Network Poll which, as you can see on the community homepage here, is a fun/friendly poll to help us stay connected and positive. We’ll be updating each week with a new question so we encourage you visit back periodically and get involved. If you have any questions or are having trouble seeing the poll please reach out to myself and I’ll be happy to help.

Also if you have a fun polling question idea, we’re all ears!

Thanks everyone and we look forward to your input.

——————————
Kevin Praet
Membership Coordinator
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Boulder CO
315-440-3033
——————————

[Leslie Cook (Adm)]

Hello UAI Members,

I am excited to feature one of the UAI Excellence Awards. The UAI Excellence Awards program is a way to honor the professionals, teams, and organizations within the utility analytics profession, recognizing those that have achieved and maintained the highest standards of excellence through innovation. 

Each week, between now and our awards submission deadline of July 15, 2020, I will reply to this post in UAI Connect to feature one of our awards.

First up, the BEST UTILITY ANALYTICS PROFESSIONAL!  You should download the nomination form for this award in PDF format, review it thoroughly, answer all the questions, and then submit your answers via the online submission form. 

———————————————————————————————————————————————————

PRO TIP:  Print and share the application questions with your team. Work collaboratively and allow yourself plenty of time.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————

I think it is important to remember that the act of nominating someone for an award is extremely powerful. Nominating an individual or a team for an award is a true act of recognizing that person’s or team’s efforts and hard work, and a wonderful way to celebrate achievement. So, get out there and nominate someone today for the BEST UTILITY ANALYTICS PROFESSIONAL!

This award recognizes the utility analytics industry’s top professional who possess the knowledge, skills, experience, passion, and business acumen required to provide consistent, quality, and innovative effort that is directly relevant to the utility analytics industry. The ideal candidates have a positive attitude, demonstrate a commitment to excellence, and consistently exceed performance objectives. The best utility analytics professional need not be code jockeys nor ninja warriors (though they may be both) but must be highly skilled at critical thinking and have extremely good intuition. Candidates can be managers, team leaders, data scientists, or analysts, as well as analytics champions for the utility industry. Nominees will be judged on key qualities and characteristics, including:

• Possessing the knowledge, skills, experience, passion, and business acumen required to provide consistent, quality, and innovative effort that is directly relevant to the utility analytics industry
• Problem-solving, critical-thinking skills
• Consistency and quality for innovative efforts and exceeding performance objectives

NOMINATION QUESTIONS (review official questions in the nomination form):

1. Describe the nominee’s role in your organization, including how long they’ve been with the organization.
2. Explain why you’re nominating this individual. 
3. Provide either an example of excellent innovation provided by the nominee as it relates to utility analytics OR an example of how the nominee solved business problems using analytics.
4. Provide examples of the nominee’s drive or motivation to perform at a high level.
5. Provide examples of the critical thinking skills and intuition aptitude the nominee brings to your team.
6. Supporting Documentation: Upload any documentation (metrics, testimonials, etc.) that you feel would support this nomination. (not required)

We can’t wait to see who is nominated for this award!

Learn more, submit your nominations, and browse our award pages at utilityanalytics.com/awards.

Thanks!

     Leslie

——————————
Leslie Cook
Membership & Digital Engagement Manager
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
719-203-8650, lcook@endeavorb2b.com
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 06-11-2020 19:45
From: Leslie Cook
Subject: Exciting News! UAI Launches Excellence Awards

Hello UAI Members,

Just over one week ago UAI launched our Excellence Awards. We could not be more excited to host this program as a way to honor the professionals, teams, and organizations within the utility analytics profession, recognizing those that have achieved and maintained the highest standards of excellence through innovation. 

Each week, between now and our awards submission deadline of July 15, 2020, I will reply to this post in UAI Connect to either feature one of our awards, or share information to help you understand why entering the awards is valuable, as well as tips and tricks for your submissions. 

WHY ENTER? 

• Raise your profile. Across all sizes and types of organizations, award winners and finalists benefit from industry exposure through a coordinated PR campaign and exposure to some of the most influential people in the profession. Our program offers unique PR and marketing collateral through articles and interviews and featured in our newsletter and on UAI Connect.
• Measure your performance. By entering, you will be able to gauge how your organization, utility analytics team, and professionals compare against the very best.
• Acknowledge your team’s efforts. In the new energy economy of utility analytics, achievements are easy to overlook. The process of completing the entry form allows you to pause and consider what (and who) contributed to your success and where you can go from here. Bonus: finalists are strongly encouraged to attend the awards ceremony and celebrate success with their team!
• Impress your leadership. Your leadership wants to leverage and promote a winning team and company, and reputation is often a factor in gaining approval for new and exciting projects. Show your leadership that you are part of a winning team, one that has won an award for excellence in innovation.
• Retain existing employees. Winning awards can improve employee morale, too. When employees are proud of their team, organization, or company’s achievements, they have an excuse to brag to their friends and family.
• Attract new employees. Awards can help you attract the best new employees. People are drawn to award-winning businesses because they want to work for successful companies. In today’s experience economy, potential employees are looking at awards and company rankings to make career decisions.
• Celebrate your achievements as a team. Celebrate your team’s success by attending the awards ceremony at UA Week. Each finalist receives one complimentary pass for the event and a discount code to help you bring even more team members!

Ready to get started?  When you’re ready to submit your entry, head to our awards portal to download your nomination form and enter.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

PRO TIP:  Print and share the application questions with your team. Work collaboratively and allow yourself plenty of time. 

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Do you have any questions? Reply to this post with your questions, visit the UAI awards portal online at http://www.UtilityAnalytics.com/Awards, or contact me directly at lcook@endeavorb2b.com.

Cheers,

     Leslie

——————————
Leslie Cook
Membership & Digital Engagement Manager
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
719-203-8650, lcook@endeavorb2b.com
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 06-03-2020 13:16
From: Leslie Cook
Subject: Exciting News! UAI Launches Excellence Awards

Hello UAI Members,

We are excited to announce the UAI Excellence Awards!

UAI will honor the very best in the utility analytics profession, recognizing the individuals, teams, and organizations that have achieved and maintained the highest standards of excellence through innovation.

Do you and/or your team have what it takes to be a winner? Download the UAI Excellence Awards Toolkit to review things you need to know about nominating a peer, your team, or yourself for one of our awards, as well as important dates and deadlines, award categories and criteria, tips and tricks for a successful entry, and more.

2020 IMPORTANT DATES & DEADLINES 

• Call for Entries Open: June 1, 2020
• Call for Entries Closes: July 15, 2020
• Finalists Announced: August 31, 2020
• Finalist Interviews (virtual): September 7-18, 2020
• Winners Announced during UA Week: September 30 – October 2, 2020

UAI EXCELLENCE AWARDS CATEGORIES

• Best Utility Analytics Professional
• Best Utility Analytics Leader 
• Best Innovative Utility Analytics Team 
• Analytics Ambassador Award
• Top 25 Thought Leaders in Utility Analytics*
• Community Engagement Award** 
  • Most Engaged Professional
  • Most Engaged Utility Company

*UAI membership not required to be nominated for the Top 25 Thought Leaders in Utility Analytics.

**Nominations not required to qualify for the UAI Community Engagement Award. UAI will select our winners from a combination of engagement activity, including engagement score on UAI Connect, UAI Community Conversation participation and leadership, and volunteerism with UAI.

Validation feels pretty good, and acknowledgement and celebration go a long way toward keeping employees satisfied, teams performing at a high level, and leadership engaged. Get the recognition you deserve with a UAI Excellence Award.

Start the process now to get ahead of the July 15 deadline date — SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATION(S) TODAY!

Still have questions?
Learn more, submit your nominations online, and browse our award portal at http://www.utilityanalytics.com/Awards!
You can also reply to this post or contact the UAI team with questions at Info@UtilityAnalytics.com.

Best of luck to all nominees!

——————————
Leslie Cook
Membership & Digital Engagement Manager
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
719-203-8650, lcook@endeavorb2b.com
——————————

[Ben Ettlinger]

Thanks Ron; we don’t have a use case per day as well, hOwever in the post Covid environment with greatly limited travel restrictions, we are anticipating the need for HQ engineers to participate in field work virtually.

——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 6/16/2020 4:57:00 PM
From: Ron Capute
Subject: RE: Hard Hat Video Cameras

We evaluated a few different of these cameras and RealWear was the best choice for our safety needs.  I did some experimentation and testing with one and it worked pretty well.  However, we had a hard time coming up with a good use case to pursue.

——————————
Ron Capute
Sr Project Manager
Florida Power & Light
Jupiter FL
5619043273
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 06-02-2020 12:43
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Hard Hat Video Cameras

Thank you very much for the information. Much appreciated.​

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 06-02-2020 11:57
From: Chrissy Carr
Subject: Hard Hat Video Cameras

Hi Ben,
We use Realwear at Burns & McDonnell. It has been a reliable tool that is growing in project use in our company. If you would like more information you are welcome to contact me. My E-mail address is ccarr@burnsmcd,com.

Chrissy

——————————
Chrissy Carr
Experienced Telecommunications Project Manager + Electrical Engineer
Burns and McDonnell

Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2020 12:57
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Hard Hat Video Cameras

​Any recommendations on Hard Hat attached video cameras?

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

[Ben Ettlinger]

Martin, thanks for you reply. No need to do any digging. Mo’s reply confirms which players appear to be the leaders in this market space. I appreciate everyone’s participation here.

——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 6/16/2020 4:47:00 PM
From: Martin Richardson
Subject: RE: Flood Management/Prediction

Hi,

 

at FortisBC we have done a little for our electric assets.  knight Piesold.  I don’t have any direct contact to this project but can dig something up if it will help.

 

Thanks,

Martin

 

---

This email was sent to you by FortisBC*. The contact information to reach an authorized representative of FortisBC is 16705 Fraser Highway, Surrey, British Columbia, V4N 0E8, Attention: Communications Department. You can unsubscribe from receiving further emails from FortisBC by emailing unsubscribe@fortisbc.com.

*”FortisBC” refers to the FortisBC group of companies which includes FortisBC Holdings. Inc., FortisBC Energy Inc., FortisBC Inc., FortisBC Alternative Energy Services Inc. and Fortis Generation Inc.

This e-mail is the property of FortisBC and may contain confidential material for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). Any review, use, distribution or disclosure by others is strictly prohibited. FortisBC does not accept liability for any errors or omissions which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender immediately and delete all copies of the message including removal from your hard drive. Thank you.

——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 6/15/2020 8:24:00 AM
From: Mo Mavassat
Subject: RE: Flood Management/Prediction

Response from OPG Senior Manager, Water Resources :

OPG is currently in the process of developing systems to help with this process, but there are many nuances and discussions we have been having internally. This also depends on what you mean and intend to use the ‘automated flood warning systems’ for. In our jurisdiction we do not have the authority to produce flood warnings (it is a gov’t responsibility) and so are very careful about the terminology. We do have some internal guidance or thresholds beyond which we expect flooding could happen that is used for decision making and in some cases we use historic percentiles. We report water level and flow publicly but do not provide any interpretation on it (i.e. potential for flooding) or even publish the current level as a historic quantile. You may have more flexibility with a fully internally facing system. We are building what you are referring to as two distinct systems. We have chosen the KISTERS WISKI product to be a database of historic data. This would be where we determine the current + historic flow, elevation, etc. Also, where we calculate historic quantiles (i.e. 95^th percentile, etc.). We have enjoyed working with this vendor but I know there are other good products/vendors out there. This system does provided automated flagging and notification if a water level/flow violates a set threshold. This is not a forecast though but real-time intelligence.

 

 We are working with Deltares to produce a flow forecasting (not flood warning) system and currently work with 4DM as well. Again this system meets our needs, but DHI, HEC and others have products, models or business models that may be better suited to you. Some vendors take more of a service or ‘plug and play’ type of approach and others will require more local involvement. Our approach is to have more in-house involvement. This system will have an automated workflow but will not issue an automated forecast. So an initial forecast will be automatically produced, but a human will evaluate the output prior to issuing an official forecast. I am skeptical of a fully automated system, especially to issue warnings, because a model sometimes fails. 

——————————
Mo Mavassat
Analytics Section Manager
OPG
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2020 16:10
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Flood Management/Prediction

Anyone have experience/ insight into automated flood warning systems or wet infrastructure business analytics.

 Deltares, DHI, Innovyze are the few market players in the specific area. We are looking to hear about experience in this market space.

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

[Dave Brett]

At PECO Energy, we created a real-time dashboard with alerts to identify “at risk” assets (substations, buildings, and gas facilities). We accomplished this by creating a geospatial model that associated our assets to the closest National Weather Service Stream Gauge monitor within a given watershed. We used the Esri ArcGIS Platform  to perform the spatial analysis and Esri GeoEvent Server for the real-time monitoring.

——————————
Dave Brett
Sr. Business Analyst
Exelon
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2020 16:10
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Flood Management/Prediction

Anyone have experience/ insight into automated flood warning systems or wet infrastructure business analytics.

 Deltares, DHI, Innovyze are the few market players in the specific area. We are looking to hear about experience in this market space.

——————————
Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
——————————

[Ben Ettlinger]

All of which we already have anyway. I’ll suggest to our team.

 

Thanks

 

Ben

 

Ben Ettlinger

Emerging Technology

New York Power Authority

123 Main St.

White Plains NY 10601

 

——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 6/17/2020 11:30:00 AM
From: Dave Brett
Subject: RE: Flood Management/Prediction

At PECO Energy, we created a real-time dashboard with alerts to identify “at risk” assets (substations, buildings, and gas facilities). We accomplished this by creating a geospatial model that associated our assets to the closest National Weather Service Stream Gauge monitor within a given watershed. We used the Esri ArcGIS Platform  to perform the spatial analysis and Esri GeoEvent Server for the real-time monitoring.

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Dave Brett
Sr. Business Analyst
Exelon
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-26-2020 16:10
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Flood Management/Prediction

Anyone have experience/ insight into automated flood warning systems or wet infrastructure business analytics.

 Deltares, DHI, Innovyze are the few market players in the specific area. We are looking to hear about experience in this market space.

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Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
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[Leslie Cook (Adm)]

Happy Wednesday, UAI Members!  

We are extremely excited to feature another UAI Excellence Award this week. Don’t forget the awards submission deadline is July 15, 2020!

The next award we want to feature is the BEST INNOVATIVE UTILITY ANALYTICS TEAM. So many members are deserving of this award! Please download the nomination form for this award in PDF format, review it thoroughly, answer all the questions, and then submit your answers via the online submission form.

Learn everything you need to know about the UAI Excellence Awards at https://utilityanalytics.com/Awards

Still have questions? Call or email me at 646-693-5965 or lcook@utilityanalytics.com. 

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PRO TIP:  Print and share the application questions with your team. Work collaboratively and allow yourself plenty of time.
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BEST INNOVATIVE UTILITY ANALYTICS TEAM
This award recognizes teams that have set and achieved the highest standards of excellence in utility analytics for problem solving in innovative ways and takes the time to instill that culture in their employees. Nominees must demonstrate how their organization best leverages its analytics staff, processes, and technology to drive innovation to accomplish strategic business objectives. They must be able to show how well new processes and/or technology are defined and executed or improved to create innovative solutions/uses cases or innovative approaches to problems. Judging is based on the following elements:
 

• Clear vision, mission, and strategy for the analytics team, and alignment with the business’ goals and strategy, plus a thoughtful and strategic philosophy around analytics
• Examples of new process and technology executions and/or improvements to process and technology that lead to either
  • innovative solution(s)/use case(s) and resulted in a favorable outcome, like a high return on investment (ROI), improved efficiency/reliability/sustainability, increased safety, reduction in risk, etc., or
  • a new/innovative approach to an old or common problem
• Evidence of a strategic methodology for measuring and communicating a successful analytics program to employees, management, and other key stakeholders within the utility
• Evidence of effective coaching, training, and ongoing development of staff for integration of an innovative analytics initiative within the organization
• High employee engagement and satisfaction, and representation of teamwork
• Evidence of a strategic approach to managing cost reduction, reliability, and customer engagement using analytics
• Before-and-after evidence of the business impact of the organization’s innovative analytics initiative

 NOMINATION QUESTIONS:

1. Describe your company, its vision, mission, business goals and strategy. (max 500 words)
2. Describe how your team’s vision, mission, goals and strategy align with the overall business’ goals and strategy and describe your team’s philosophy around analytics. (max 1000 words)
3. Describe how well processes and technology are defined, executed, and/or improved, to either develop innovative solutions/use cases that resulted in a favorable outcome, like high return on investment (ROI), improved efficiency/reliability/sustainability, increased safety, reduction in risk, etc., or created a new and innovative approach to an old or common problem (max 1000 words)
4. Please describe your methodology for measuring and communicating a successful analytics program to employees, management, and other key stakeholders. Explain the process, the measurement, the scoring and the reporting. Include all metrics that are a component of the program. (max 1,000 words)
5. Describe how your organization effectively coaches, trains, and/or provides ongoing development of staff for a successful integration of an analytics initiative within the utility. Describe how you promote and measure employee engagement and share evidence of success. How is teamwork encouraged? How does management show support for your team and its performance? Provide metrics to support your examples. (max 1000 words)
6. How is the measurement of cost reduction, reliability, and customer engagement and/or experience using analytics reported on and communicated to the rest of the organization and to the customers (e.g., via marketing, sales, direct communication, etc.? (max 1000 words)
7. Are you able to provide before-and-after evidence of the business impact of the organization’s analytics initiative(s)? If so, please describe. (max 1,000 words)
8. Supporting Documentation: Upload any documentation (metrics, testimonials, etc.) that you feel would support this nomination. (not required)

Reward and recognition are so important. Don’t miss out on the chance to celebrate achievements within your organization!

Thanks!

     Leslie

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Leslie Cook
Membership & Digital Engagement Manager
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
719-203-8650, lcook@endeavorb2b.com
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