UAI News
Welcome to the UAI News Community! UAI will now be posting all of our member communications to this... View more
Organizers:
- Organized by
-
-
August (2022) Member Spotlight: Debra Henderson (Black & Veatch)
-
August (2022) Member Spotlight: Debra Henderson (Black & Veatch)
@Debra is an active UAI member and provides outstanding influence and contributions to the UAI community through any of our multiple channels, including, but not limited to engagement on UAI Connect, volunteering with UAI, involvement and/or leadership in monthly Community Conversations, and/or speaking at UAI events, plus so much. As thanks, we are featuring her in the UAI Member Spotlight. Debra is an Electrical Engineer and has over 30 years of experience in different sectors of the utility industry mostly in T&D Planning and Operations. In addition, she has significant utility transmission and distribution experience from her 17 years at Pacific Gas & Electric at the beginning of her career.
Kevin: How did you get into the utility analytics industry?
Debra: I guess as an electrical engineer working with utilities you are always technically in the utility analytics industry. I discovered UAI at ABB when we were developing Asset Performance Management (APM) capabilities specifically for T&D. APM was widely used in generation, but APM for T&D required a completely different set of analytics where you didn’t have real-time data. I was fortunate to be involved with the evolution.
Kevin: What project have you enjoyed working on most in your career?
Debra: It is hard to pick a single project. I love working at Black & Veatch helping clients with their APM and Asset Investment Planning (AIP) journeys and helping them realize the benefits of asset analytics. I also enjoyed working on the APM solution that I mentioned and being part of leading edge of T&D analytics.
Kevin: What has been your biggest professional challenge and how did you work through it?
Debra: The biggest challenges with T&D analytics at utilities are historical data quantity, data quality and understanding the benefits of making data-informed decisions. The challenge for me is figuring out the best way to help utilities see the benefits and not get overwhelmed by the enormity of the data problem. Every client is different, but the 2 things that work the best are visualizations where they can see the new information and what it provides them and starting slow with one asset type to work through the data issues in small chunks.
Kevin: If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice before entering the utility analytics industry, what would it be?
Debra: Be patient, pay more attention to the details and make it easier for people to adopt. There are AMI analytics we were working on at Itron in 2006 that utilities still haven’t adopted. Should be easier now with the new analytic tools.
Kevin: What would you like to talk to fellow colleagues and members about in UAI Connect? Or, what issues or topics would you like to see more discussions on in UAI Connect?
Debra: I am always interested in the ways utilities are solving the data problems and figuring out how to assess distribution asset performance. Every asset type is unique, but I think collectively we can figure it out.
Kevin: Thank you so much for sharing with us and for being a highly engaged member of UAI!
Do you have any final thoughts, ideas, or comments you would like to share with your fellow UAI members?
Debra: I appreciate the passion we all have for utility analytics. Passion is what drives progress and change. Big thank to UAI for bringing us together.
——————————
Kevin Praet
Membership Coordinator
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Boulder CO
315-440-3033
—————————— -
1 Reply
-
Hi @Debra, Thanks for allowing UAI to feature you in our August 2022 member spotlight and sharing your story! It is great to get to know you a little more through your spotlight interview. We are glad you are a member of UAI!
Cheers!
Leslie
——————————
Leslie Cook
Membership & Digital Engagement Manager
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
719-203-8650, lcook@utilityanalytics.com
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2022 13:23
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: August (2022) Member Spotlight: Debra Henderson (Black & Veatch)@Debra is an active UAI member and provides outstanding influence and contributions to the UAI community through any of our multiple channels, including, but not limited to engagement on UAI Connect, volunteering with UAI, involvement and/or leadership in monthly Community Conversations, and/or speaking at UAI events, plus so much. As thanks, we are featuring her in the UAI Member Spotlight. Debra is an Electrical Engineer and has over 30 years of experience in different sectors of the utility industry mostly in T&D Planning and Operations. In addition, she has significant utility transmission and distribution experience from her 17 years at Pacific Gas & Electric at the beginning of her career.
Kevin: How did you get into the utility analytics industry?
Debra: I guess as an electrical engineer working with utilities you are always technically in the utility analytics industry. I discovered UAI at ABB when we were developing Asset Performance Management (APM) capabilities specifically for T&D. APM was widely used in generation, but APM for T&D required a completely different set of analytics where you didn’t have real-time data. I was fortunate to be involved with the evolution.
Kevin: What project have you enjoyed working on most in your career?
Debra: It is hard to pick a single project. I love working at Black & Veatch helping clients with their APM and Asset Investment Planning (AIP) journeys and helping them realize the benefits of asset analytics. I also enjoyed working on the APM solution that I mentioned and being part of leading edge of T&D analytics.
Kevin: What has been your biggest professional challenge and how did you work through it?
Debra: The biggest challenges with T&D analytics at utilities are historical data quantity, data quality and understanding the benefits of making data-informed decisions. The challenge for me is figuring out the best way to help utilities see the benefits and not get overwhelmed by the enormity of the data problem. Every client is different, but the 2 things that work the best are visualizations where they can see the new information and what it provides them and starting slow with one asset type to work through the data issues in small chunks.
Kevin: If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice before entering the utility analytics industry, what would it be?
Debra: Be patient, pay more attention to the details and make it easier for people to adopt. There are AMI analytics we were working on at Itron in 2006 that utilities still haven’t adopted. Should be easier now with the new analytic tools.
Kevin: What would you like to talk to fellow colleagues and members about in UAI Connect? Or, what issues or topics would you like to see more discussions on in UAI Connect?
Debra: I am always interested in the ways utilities are solving the data problems and figuring out how to assess distribution asset performance. Every asset type is unique, but I think collectively we can figure it out.
Kevin: Thank you so much for sharing with us and for being a highly engaged member of UAI!
Do you have any final thoughts, ideas, or comments you would like to share with your fellow UAI members?
Debra: I appreciate the passion we all have for utility analytics. Passion is what drives progress and change. Big thank to UAI for bringing us together.
——————————
Kevin Praet
Membership Coordinator
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Boulder CO
315-440-3033
——————————
Log in to reply.