Canada eager for power
expertise
10.08.1999 - By Adam Gifford
Hamilton-based WEL Technology is anticipating strong
sales of its PV2 time-of-use power billing system and other products as the
Canadian electricity market deregulates.
Chief executive John O'Hara said WEL Technology had
formed a joint venture, Utility Settlement Ontario (USO) with local software
developer and contract meter reading company Proson Solutions and Ontario's
Municipal Electricity Association, which represents the 270 power
distribution companies in the province.
The company will use a product called Settlement One,
[www.utilitysettlement.com] a modified
version on PV2, to settle up accounts between power distribution companies
after Ontario deregulates its electricity supply industry in October.
"About 90 per cent is PV2 and 10 per cent is intellectual property
developed by USO. We have technical staff up there," Mr O'Hara said.
WEL Technology also expects at least 100 of the 270
Ontario energy companies will buy PV2, at a base price of $C350,000
($437,000) plus implementation costs.
"We have a number of customers in pilot sites,
where the software is being installed and operated on a trial basis,"
he said.
The company will then switch its focus to Alberta,
the next province due to deregulate.
"There are opportunities out there for New
Zealand because we deregulated early. That's seen as an advantage. This
month we expect to do double the business we did in the whole of last
year."
Mr O'Hara said companies making meters and call
centre software for electricity companies were also doing good export
business.
In New Zealand PV2 is used by Contact Energy, Natural
Gas Corporation and a number of smaller customers, as well as by
TransAlta-owned Power New Zealand and Southpower. There is also interest
from lines companies, who want to use PV2's network analysis capabilities.
WEL Technology has formed a strategic alliance with
SAP to integrate PV2 and SAP R/3 for the Australian and New Zealand
marketplace, where SAP is doing well with sales to the larger utilities.
Mr O'Hara said that in a typical utility PV2 was used
for less than 5 per cent of the customer base, "but those customers
account for 30 to 40 per cent of revenue".
In New Zealand those customers are billed by the half
hour. In North America it is in 15-minute blocks, which Mr O'Hara said
generated "a phenomenal amount of data." On an Oracle database,
about 5Mb of billing data are produced a year for each customer.
Mr O'Hara said WEL Technology was also forming
partnerships with Canadian companies offering billing systems for retail
customers.
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