[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Thanks for sharing, @David.  What a great idea!  

Let’s keep the thread going. Does anyone else have a favorite website that is you visit often?  

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 11-16-2023 16:04
From: David Pope
Subject: Useful and free analytic research/learning websites – following up a UA Week hallway conversation

One of several interesting conversations that occurred in the hallways during UA Week in Orlando sparked the sharing of these reference sites that I have found very useful over my analytic/programming career across various roles.   

1. http://www.lexjansen.com – type in any key word(s) and this site searches over 37,000+ user written papers from SAS user conferences from all over the world. This site is great at helping you find specific examples of how SAS users conquered similar or the same type of analytic/techology problem you are looking to solve.
2.  http://robslink.com/SAS/Home.htm – provides l00’s of examples of producing all sorts of different type of graphs/reports/dashboards to display information and typically provides you with the code and the data used to produce end result.

For deeper SAS specific references and resources these are my top three:

1. https://www.youtube.com/user/SASsoftware – All sorts of videos about SAS, SAS events, teaching basics of SAS programming and analytics, highlighting SAS customer stories and more…
2. https://github.com/sassoftware – open source from SAS software. Two of the best contributions IMO is the Jupyter kernel for SAS and the SAS Scripting Wrapper for Analytics Transfer (SWAT).
3. http://support.sas.com – official SAS documentation, SAS communities, SAS Technical Support, free SAS Training, SAS Certification, SAS books. One of the subsections I find quite useful is the Focus Areas and the Free SAS Tutorials.

 I hope this information proves useful and encourage others to share their favorite analytics related reference/learning sites in the comments section.

David

——————————
David Pope
Senior Manager, US Energy
SAS
9192713197
——————————

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Thanks Kevin.  Great quote.  Gotta love the wisdom of Charles Schultz!

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 10-18-2023 17:34
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Inspiration to Get You Through the Week

Hello UAI Members,

I want to once again end your Wednesday with some #wisdom in the form of a simple (but all too important) quote from everyone’s favorite childhood hero, Charlie Brown! I want to shout out my colleague @Sandi as well for turning me on to the “It’s The Great Pumpkin” movie which I’m embarssed to say I did not watch until last week … great film Sandi! 

Without further ado here’s an important lesson we can all take from Charlie and the Peanuts gang. If you have a piece of wisdom you would like to share (or maybe just another great Peanuts quote) we’d love to hear from you below!

“What if today we were just grateful for everything?”

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

Original Message:
Sent: 06-28-2023 14:30
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Inspiration to Get You Through the Week

Hello UAI Members,

It’s hump day which means we wanted to start another fun #WisdomWednesday thread! Often times with a long weekend coming up, I find myself getting a little more stressed than usual trying to accomplish and get everything done but have found the following quote useful in keeping me relaxed and grounded. There’s no reason why we can’t be relaxed and still accomplish everything on our lists, in fact staying relaxed will only benefit us in the long-run!

“Let go the idea that gentle, relaxed people can’t be superachievers”

UAI Members – If you have a quote or piece of wisdom you would like to share, let us know in the comments section below!

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

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

I just got flashes from the movie Money Ball.

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 10-05-2023 08:45
From: Michael Fourman
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Inspiration to Get You Through the Week

Fall also means its football season and I for one can attest to how my interest in the sport led me to analyzing data and learning some advanced analytical techniques to gain new insights into the game.  For example, did you know that through regression analysis, you can accurately predict an athletes weight at the NFL combine based on their speed and agility drill results?  Is that extremely useful?  No.  But it does show the power of analytics to someone who might not be familiar with the concept but loves football.  Think Uncle Bob who doesn’t understand what you do no matter how many times you’ve explained it to him.  Just be careful though, his new appreciation for your abilities might lead him to ask you for help with his fantasy football team.

——————————
Michael Fourman
Director – Business Intelligence
Georgia Transmission
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2023 15:32
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Inspiration to Get You Through the Week

Hello UAI Members,

I hope all is well! Though it doesn’t feel like it down here in Florida, Fall is officially here and I hope everyone is as excited as I am to dive into some fun/fall activities in the coming weeks. For this week’s #WisdomWednesday thread, I want to keep things light and “Fall-Themed.” For anyone else that has a good Fall related quote, I’d love to hear from you in the replys section below!

“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas, and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.”

(Vincent Van Gogh)

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

Original Message:
Sent: 06-28-2023 14:30
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Inspiration to Get You Through the Week

Hello UAI Members,

It’s hump day which means we wanted to start another fun #WisdomWednesday thread! Often times with a long weekend coming up, I find myself getting a little more stressed than usual trying to accomplish and get everything done but have found the following quote useful in keeping me relaxed and grounded. There’s no reason why we can’t be relaxed and still accomplish everything on our lists, in fact staying relaxed will only benefit us in the long-run!

“Let go the idea that gentle, relaxed people can’t be superachievers”

UAI Members – If you have a quote or piece of wisdom you would like to share, let us know in the comments section below!

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

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Hi Richard,

I attached my slide deck for the meeting:  UAI Real-Talk Roundtables – Collaborative Exploration of EV Detection and Prediction Slide Deck.

Please note that it is just the slides I put up to have the topics in view.  Roundtables are much more of a discussion than a presentation.  

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 08-15-2023 11:28
From: richard kinai
Subject: Recording Available: UAI Real-Talk Roundtables: Collaborative Exploration of EV Detection and Prediction

Internal Use Only

Thank you for the presentation!

Do we have the slide deck available?

 

Richard

 

Original Message:
Sent: 8/15/2023 10:48:00 AM
From: Sandi Joralemon
Subject: Recording Available: UAI Real-Talk Roundtables: Collaborative Exploration of EV Detection and Prediction

A great big thank you to our discussion leaders Ben Carls and Villiappan Muthukaruppan from Exelon and Andrew Barrington from Avista and to all of our members who participated in the roundtable discussion on Wednesday, August 9, 2023.  You all made it a fantastic interactive conversation with participation from multiple member utilities centered around the following questions:

·        How do utilities identify customers who currently have an electric vehicle?

·        What is being done to extrapolate the model to then predict where future EV stations are needed, keeping an equitable distribution across socio-economic neighborhoods.

·        How are utilities training models so they are relevant to a large region?

·        What categories of data are utilities obtaining or purchasing from third parties and what are they doing to test the accuracy of the data, including the validity of survey responses?

The meeting video is attached.

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Hi Mike,

I’m not sure if you saw this UAI News post.  We are having a 3-part roundtable discussion about generative AI. Here’s a link to all of them and a description of the one coming up on Monday, 7/31. These are discussions, not presentations, so feel free to ask about who is doing what.

UAI Real-Talk Roundtables: Let’s “Chat” About Generative AI | UAI News (utilityanalytics.com)

UAI invites members to join us for a three-part series of roundtable discussions on Generative AI.  We will delve into the world of Generative AI, exploring its intricacies, available options, and practical implementation strategies. As a member organization dedicated to fostering innovation through analytics, UAI is excited to host this discussion series.

 

Part 1: Generative AI: What it IS and what it IS NOT

Monday, July 31^st 9am PT / 10am MT / 11am CT / 12pm ET

During this segment of our roundtable discussions, we will unravel the inner workings of AI, furthering our understanding of its mechanisms. We will explore the specialized nature of various Generative AI products and debate its significance as a distinct field of study within the AI domain. Our aim is to collectively clarify misconceptions and lay a solid foundation for deeper exploration and knowledge sharing.

Join our enlightening discussion series where we will connect the dots between Generative AI and utility analytics. Let’s embark on this transformative journey together and unlock the untapped potential of Generative AI in the utilities industry.

 

 

________________________________________________________________________________

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 223 796 324 432
Passcode: 6NfooR

________________________________________________________________________________

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 07-17-2023 15:28
From: Michael Fourman
Subject: Generative AI solution behind corporate firewall

Thank you, Jenika.  Has Salt River Project implemented either of these two options?

——————————
Michael Fourman
Director – Business Intelligence
Georgia Transmission
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 07-17-2023 14:05
From: Jenika Raub
Subject: Generative AI solution behind corporate firewall

There are a few good options!

First, (if you’re a Microsoft customer), you could create a power app with necessary security to call the openAI API

Second, here’s an experiment done with several LLMs that can be run locally and how they perform. These can be installed like any python library. They may not perform quite as well as the openAI options, but they’re quite good and don’t require an API to run – so no need to even access the internet at all to work!

——————————
Jenika Raub
Enterprise Architect
Salt River Project
Phoenix AZ
6022365746

Original Message:
Sent: 07-14-2023 15:26
From: Michael Fourman
Subject: Generative AI solution behind corporate firewall

Hello,

I am hoping to connect with someone who’s organization has or is implementing a generative ai solution behind their firewall.

Thank you.

——————————
Michael Fourman
Director – Business Intelligence
Georgia Transmission
——————————

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Hi Steve,

Keep an eye out for a UAI News post coming out soon.  We are putting together a series on that very topic!  

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 06-22-2023 07:56
From: Steve Wagner
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – What’s One Topic/Area You’re Most Interested in Exploring?

LOVE this forum :-)

Thrilled to understand the possibilities of generative AI for coding provably error free applications via specification languages.

——————————
Steve Wagner
Enterprise Architecture Data Architect
Consumers Energy
Jackson MI
517-768-3374
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 06-21-2023 13:56
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – What’s One Topic/Area You’re Most Interested in Exploring?

Hello UAI Members,

I just wanted to circle back with you on last week’s #WisdomWednesday post and hopefully get some additional feedback/responses. Unlike some of our past Wisdom Wednesday threads, we’re hoping you can reply below and let us know one topic or area you would like to explore more of with UAI. By posting here, you won’t only be helping our team with future program planning but also start good conversation with other members who may be interested in the same area or experts who would be willing to share their thoughts and lessons learned. This will be a great way to get to know everyone a little better and their interests in #UtilityAnalytics 

All responses are appreciated, don’t be shy! 

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

Original Message:
Sent: 06-14-2023 15:50
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – What’s One Topic/Area You’re Most Interested in Exploring?

Hello UAI Members,

We’ve made it half way through the week! Being Wednesday, I wanted to share another #WisdomWednesday thread. I really look forward to everyone’s input on this.

In the past weeks, I’ve asked folks to share an interesting project/use case they’re working on internally but today I want to put a different spin on it. What’s one project/area you would like to explore more of within UAI? Maybe this is a specific project/use case or simply “more data science resources.” Your responses won’t only help our team develop relevant sessions and content but may also spark the attention of another member who would be willing to connect directly. You never know who may have the same interests as you or expertese in an area you’re looking to learn more about!

Don’t be shy! What’s one topic/area you’re especially interested in and would like to explore even more of within UAI?

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

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Sometimes you think you have the link right, but you don’t.  I have corrected the link.  Enjoy!

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 06-06-2023 09:14
From: Sandi Joralemon
Subject: Discover How Ameren and SAS Leveraged 8 Critical Data Sources to Develop a Use Case to Monitor the Health of Distribution Transformers

Hi everyone!  I published an article with a fantastic whitepaper about monitoring the health of distribution transformers written by our own Prasenjit Shil from Ameren and Tom Anderson from SAS Institute, Inc.  If you are looking for ideas on how to get started on this type of project, I encourage you to give it a read. Read the Article

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Well said, Haley!  There is much wisdom in your words.

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 06-05-2023 08:01
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: June (2023) Member Spotlight: Haley Saul (Tacoma Public Utilities)

@Haley 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. Haley is the Data Services Program Manager at Tacoma Public Utilities.

Kevin: How did you get into the utility analytics industry?

Haley: Now those are two different things (the utility industry and the analytics industry). 😊 I first entered the utility industry in December of 2014 when I was about 6 months pregnant with my son. I had just left the hospitality industry (hotel management) working long hours and weeks and needed something more stable for my family. An administrative assistant position was open in Tacoma Power’s Rates & Planning division, so I applied! It wasn’t until about two years later when I became Tacoma Power Budget & Strategic Planning Analyst that I started diving into analytics. We needed a software that could capture budget information from managers throughout the utility and a way to combine that data with our ERP and report on it. That was the start of my journey and it just continued from there!

Kevin: What project have you enjoyed working on most in your career?

Haley: The projects I love most are the ones where my entire team gets involved and is super passionate about the outcome! Recently, our advance meter data pipeline (for analytical purposes), kept breaking – just about every day. We couldn’t keep the data up to date, analysts and managers were frustrated, and it was about to start costing us some real money. Every single team member played a part, from communication to stakeholders, to managing the effort to upgrade the pipeline, all the way to saving us over $10,000+ per month – with a more efficient and resilient pipeline. We put our heads together, assigned roles and responsibilities, and ran as fast as we could for an AMAZING outcome for our internal customers.

Kevin: What has been your biggest professional challenge and how did you work through it?

Haley: My biggest professional challenge has been trusting myself; that what I have to offer, and what I know, provides value to my organization. So many times, I have chosen not to speak up in a technical conversation because I didn’t think I was the smartest person in the room. BUT what I’ve learned is posing an idea or asking a question from a non-technical perspective can sometimes spark great ideas and great conversations. I wasn’t able to do this (and still sometimes don’t 😊) until I gave myself permission to get something wrong or to “not look smart”.

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?

Haley: Don’t go back and give yourself advice. 😊 I am where I am today because of the wonderful mistakes I’ve made and because of the wins I’ve been able to celebrate. I’ve had amazing people in my corner, lifting me up, answering numerous (seemingly) dumb questions and I’ve also had people doubt me and my abilities. I wouldn’t be the leader I am today, in the industry I’m in, without any of those things.

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?

Haley: The space I typically operate in is the program and project management space, rather than the technical space. I would love to see how other utilities are incorporating change management, continuous improvement, project management, and communication best practices into their processes and systems. I enjoy pulling from all of these disciplines and discovering the best way to serve each customer individually.

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?

Haley: For a long time, I let fear get in the way of trying something bold and something new. If you have an idea, go for it! One of my favorite quotes by Tony Robbins is, “Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and instead think about what could go right.” It’s the only way we do better!

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

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

There are two types of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 05-10-2023 11:00
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Help us by Sharing an Inspirational Quote

Good Morning UAI Members,

Happy Wednesday! I was scrolling through Pinterest the other day when I discovered a great new idea for our #WisdomWednesday trend. The idea this week is to share an inspirational quote, either a quote you just saw or something you’ve had in your back pocket for awhile. Simply share your quote in the discussion thread below or (extra brownie points) if you have a graphic of your quote you would like to include. The goal in doing this is to create a thread we can refer back to when times get tough and we need an extra pick-me-up!

I’ll get us started with a great quote I found the other day. I look forward to seeing what you all have as well!

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

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Chuck,
You are a wealth of wisdom.  It takes different perspectives and skillsets to bring creative solutions into successful production – much of which is gaining acceptance for change.  You are right.  These creative solutions are complex products with their own lifecycle.  Thank you for being such an engaged member of the UAI community.  It is a pleasure getting to know you better.

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 05-08-2023 12:01
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: May (2023) Member Spotlight: Chuck Hahm (San Diego Gas & Electric)

@Chuck 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 him in the UAI Member Spotlight. Chuck is a Data Scientist with an electrical engineering and software development background. He takes an entrepreneurial approach to data science and has worked in a range of industries for both large companies and start-ups.

Kevin: How did you get into the utility analytics industry?

Chuck:

Both by chance and by design. I have worked for tech providers during most of my career. I wanted to gain an understanding of technology adoption from the inside, so I accepted a data science role at San Diego Gas and Electric. The utilities industry continues to interest me because it has global impact and a range of active technology needs. 

Kevin: What project have you enjoyed working on most in your career?

Chuck:

My favorite projects have been ones that have called for the greatest creativity in the realm of data science.  I am presently working on the problem of meter failure prediction, which I find to be fascinating because it combines time series analysis, machine-learning and failure mode analysis. From a data science perspective, utility meters are sensors that live in a gigantic network and failure modes are behaviors to be detected. The tools and skills to solve this class of problems can be transferred to solve distinct, yet similar challenges. That’s what I love about data science!      

Kevin: What has been your biggest professional challenge and how did you work through it?

Chuck:

My biggest professional challenge is to understand the dynamics of successful product development.  Data scientists are attracted to the field because it offers so many opportunities to devise creative solutions to interesting problems.  However, placing that solution into a real business operation is an even more daunting challenge. Success involves a keen understanding of hard-to-see factors such as human motivations and organizational factors. 

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?

Chuck:

Reach out to colleagues within the industry more.  That why I love UAI!

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?

I would like to connect colleagues on the topic of data science intrapreneurship – being entrepreneurial within our utilities.  I believe that data science product development deserves its own conversation space because it poses challenges that are distinct from traditional product development.   

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?

Chuck:

My final thought is that I appreciate the work that has done to bring our UAI community members together. I have been impressed by the level of enthusiasm and energy that I have witnessed from utility analytics colleagues at UAI events.  I would not likely have made these connections without UAI.

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

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Thanks Nolan!
That’s exactly what we were hoping you would do with it. 

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 05-05-2023 13:02
From: Nolan Steiner
Subject: The 2022 AMA Executive Summary has arrived!

Sandi, Leslie, Kevin, Gina:  nice job on this report….impressive (and thanks for sharing).  I’m def going to circulate this within our company (& sphere of influence) for awareness and review.

 

 

 

Nolan Steiner
Data Science

(at Mission Campus on Tuesdays, or as planned)

1411 E MISSION AVE  |  SPOKANE, WA 99202
PHONE 509-495-4479  |  CELL 509-279-5190  
http://www.myavista.com

 

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or an agent of the intended recipient, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments.

Original Message:
Sent: 5/5/2023 9:01:00 AM
From: Sandi Joralemon
Subject: The 2022 AMA Executive Summary has arrived!

Head’s up – click here to go directly to the 2022 AMA Executive Summary. 

We’ve provided talking points, including recommendations, for you in a shortened format, easy to share and discuss with senior leadership and stakeholders across the business units.     

The full report is still to come and will include a summary of responses to each question.  We’ll send out a notice like this one when it is published.

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Great conversation.  In my days with the utility, our use cases also ran anywhere from a day to several months depending on the scope of the project.  We were just getting started with our analytics platform, so the learning curve affected our timeline for larger projects requiring an automated data flow as opposed to an ad hoc analysis. 

I agree with Nolan’s comment that juggling use cases is art.  In our case, even while we tried to work heads down on projects that took extensive time due to their complexity or the size of the scope, it was important to move quickly to keep senior leadership as well as the business unit leadership engaged and active in the process.

We included analytics efforts and value obtained from absorbing new source data into the process as part of the prioritization process, but of course, high level requests outside of that process made their way into the mix.  We also broke the use cases down into phases using two week iterations where we could, which helped us show progress and made it a little easier to pull in stakeholders for that portion of the solution.    

For Laurie’s quick survey, our department was considered a strategic department but reported to the CIO.  

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 05-01-2023 13:08
From: Laurie Shrauger
Subject: What is your lead time for use case delivery?

Hi Michael, 
I have to agree that not all use cases are created equal.  We have taken several months for some and have also turned several around in days/weeks.  Factors include where the directive is coming from, what our existing backlog is and the priority of the use case, how ready the data is (in a database, manually documented, accurate, etc.), and how committed the business area is to supporting the effort.  Our time differs for each use case.

——————————
Laurie Shrauger
Data & Analytics Manager
Fayetteville Public Works Commission
Fayetteville, NC 28301
laurie.shrauger@faypwc.com
http://www.faypwc.com
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 04-15-2023 10:30
From: Michael Fourman
Subject: What is your lead time for use case delivery?

Not all use cases are created equal.  I realize the answer to my question is probabl, “it depends” but I’d like to understand, roughly, how long does it take you to get from idea to delivery?

——————————
Michael Fourman
Director – Business Intelligence
Georgia Transmission
——————————

[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Hello Aaron and Evan,
Thank you for connecting and sharing ideas and experiences.  I encourage you to share those experiences with the community; I would love to publish your stories and lessons learned (separately or as a collaboration.)  That sentiment applies to all members.  Please reach out to me for content guidelines or discussion.  

——————————
Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2023 15:46
From: Evan Saltzberg
Subject: AMI- Power BI Workspace Structure

Hello Aaron,

I’m a Senior Data Scientist at Pepco Holdings (PHI) a subsidiary of Exelon. I’m not aware of any dashboards designed specifically for AMI data here at PHI. However, I have designed, built, and deployed pipelines and dashboards in Power BI for our AMI deployment in ACE (Atlantic City Electric) which is currently taking place. Also, a Remote Connect/Disconnect dashboard to track and monitor the success rate of remote operations and a Work Managment System (WMS) to monitor and prioritize AMI billing data exceptions that failed the VEE process. I have also deployed a model/dashboard that provides a 360 degree view of our installed meter population at PHI (AMI and Non-AMI). I’m actually presenting on this use case for the UAI data science community on May 16th. These models were deployed on a workspace specific to Field & Meter Services however access was made available to groups across PHI to remove departmental silos and promote cross functional collaboration. I’d be happy to chat about any of your specific use cases and provide any feedback I can.

Take Care,

Evan Saltzberg

Senior Data Scientist
Pepco Holdings (Exelon)

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Evan Saltzberg
Sr Data Scientist
Exelon
NJ
6099703845
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-21-2023 13:22
From: Aaron Arzaga
Subject: AMI- Power BI Workspace Structure

Happy Friday!!!

We are going to be developing several dashboards in the next month for our initial use-cases for AMI (deployment starting soon). We’ve had a lengthy discussion regarding how to set up workspaces for these use-cases as well as trying to accommodate use-cases going forward. Currently, we have landed on creating workspaces by business function (ie: AMI Ops, Billing/Collections, Energy Efficiency, etc…) and grouping them together as “AMI Non-PII”  as well as creating another grouping of workspaces for use-cases that may contain PII data.

We are wondering if any of our peers are using PowerBI for AMI visualizations and how you may have structured your workspaces, or what lessons you may have learned from this process. Let us know!

Thank you all in advance and have a great weekend!

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Aaron Arzaga
Sr. Data Scientist
El Paso Electric
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[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Hello Aaron,
You have to set up a strong foundation before you can build a house that can be expanded upon.  It seems tedious and time consuming, but these are the conversations that will set you up for success.  It’s wonderful that you recognize it and share it with others because these types of issues may feel like a roadblock to someone else.  

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Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-20-2023 10:53
From: Aaron Arzaga
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Working on an Exciting Project? We Want to Hear From You Below!

Good Morning– better late than never, right? We are preparing to deploy AMI, and our team is working on some initial use cases to create visuals using Power BI for several teams throughout the company. One thing we’ve learned (which, is probably a repeat lesson) is that it’s not always “just” what you are working on. IE: It’s not just creating visuals with Power BI… There’s also workspace creation, assigning access to workspaces, and assigning reports/dashboards to workspaces (and what if you put a report in one workspace and someone in another area needs to see it), access to data, the creation of dimensions and facts, etc…

Needless to say, we had a lengthy 3-hour discussion on the workspace topic earlier this week. Of course, we are welcome to the challenge because this will only further our knowledge to help us keep progressing forward and helping transfor our energy landscape. 

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

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Aaron Arzaga
Sr. Data Scientist
El Paso Electric
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-19-2023 10:00
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Working on an Exciting Project? We Want to Hear From You Below!

Good Morning UAI Members,

Happy hump day and I hope everyone’s had a great start to their week! Due to UA Summit, it’s been a little while since our last #WisdomWednesday post and I was hoping to get another thread started for us today.

Getting back to our original theme, I want today’s Wisdom Wednesday thread to surround current projects you’re working on at your utility or solution provider company. Think of this as a glorified show and tell! With all of us working on so many interesting projects, I’m hoping you wouldn’t mind replying to this thread below with the following:

1.) Quick (few sentence) description of a project you’re working on

2.) One thing you’ve learned while working on this project that you would like to pass on to others

The goal of Wisdom Wednesday is to create a forum of quick hits/wins that we can all share and learn from. We thank everyone who has taken time to get involved thus far and look forward to your input throughout the day today.

——————————
Kevin Praet
Membership Coordinator
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Boulder CO
315-440-3033
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[Sandi Joralemon (Adm)]

Hello Michael,
I wanted to give a shout out to you and your team for engaging with the business units.  I experienced this same phenomenon as my team and I worked to build awareness of the capabilities we were putting into place.  We often think of analytics as just the advanced model creation, but it starts with the little stuff and builds from there.  You and your team are making a difference in their work environment, and it has a positive effect on the organization as a whole.  You are building relationships and establishing trust in the process improvements you are able to provide.  

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Sincerely,

Sandi Joralemon
Sr. Research Analyst
Utility Analytics Institute
sjoralemon@utilityanalytics.com
830.832.5042
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-20-2023 07:48
From: Michael Fourman
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Working on an Exciting Project? We Want to Hear From You Below!

Hello everyone!  Our lessons at GTC might be general knowledge for those who have mature programs but I would like to share a phenomenon occurring here and suggest its something you think about, if you haven’t already.  The majority of the use cases we’ve developed over the first year of our program have focused on the timeliness of data. We’ve learned just how hungry our staff is for data and putting it in their hands on-demand, versus a weekly or monthly report, and adding visuals that allow them to see the data versus reading it in a spreadsheet, has allowed us to achieve some quick hits and positive momentum for our program.  Providing this also opens the door for discussion around “what else can you do for me” with staff.

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Michael Fourman
Director – Business Intelligence
Georgia Transmission
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-19-2023 10:00
From: Kevin Praet
Subject: Wisdom Wednesday – Working on an Exciting Project? We Want to Hear From You Below!

Good Morning UAI Members,

Happy hump day and I hope everyone’s had a great start to their week! Due to UA Summit, it’s been a little while since our last #WisdomWednesday post and I was hoping to get another thread started for us today.

Getting back to our original theme, I want today’s Wisdom Wednesday thread to surround current projects you’re working on at your utility or solution provider company. Think of this as a glorified show and tell! With all of us working on so many interesting projects, I’m hoping you wouldn’t mind replying to this thread below with the following:

1.) Quick (few sentence) description of a project you’re working on

2.) One thing you’ve learned while working on this project that you would like to pass on to others

The goal of Wisdom Wednesday is to create a forum of quick hits/wins that we can all share and learn from. We thank everyone who has taken time to get involved thus far and look forward to your input throughout the day today.

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