Business Intelligence Electrifying Energy Market and Consumer

Big Data Analytics - Business Intelligence:

Big data is transforming nearly every modern industry. Every day, we create 2.5
quintillion bytes of data so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been
created in the last two years alone[1].
Big data comes from sources such as
tweets, social media,
telecommunications records, electronic
records, Word documents, PowerPoint
slides, machine-based sensors (such as
used in new cars), to the wave of
sensors around the world that comprise
the so-called Internet of Things.

Figure: Quantity of
Global Data (Exabytes = 10 to the power of 21 bytes)
Analytics consists of complex algorithms run against streams of big data in order to
infer actionable business intelligence at an unprecedented pace, often in real time.

Big Data and Energy Utility Market:

Wikibon predicts Big Data market to top $61B in 2020. [2]

Utility company expenditure on data analytics will grow from $700m in 2012 to
$3.8bn in 2020, with gas, electricity, and water suppliers in all regions of the
world increasing their investment.[3]

Below are top five reasons why we need to apply business intelligence in energy/utility
market and why now:
1. Business Intelligence can help
utility industries to remove
inefficiencies
o Enough energy is lost
annually to power 1/4th of
the world.
o For natural gas-fired power
generation, a 1% fuel
savings would have a
value over 15 years of $66
billion.
Figure:
Energy - Utility Market

o A 2010 McKinsey & Company study concluded that a holistic energyefficiency program could
produce energy savings
worth more than $1.2 trillion,
reducing end-use
consumption in 2020 by 9.1
quadrillion BTUs (British
thermal units) and
eliminating up to 1.1
gigatons of greenhouse gas
every year.
Figure: CO2 Emissions
2. The grid getting older and getting replaced by smart grid
o We will have tons of data available to analyze and take action.
3. Smart meter will become mainstream.
o Smart meter has expanded data footprint. Instead of getting data once
every month, now it will be available once every 15 minutes or 96 times a
day or 3000 times a month
o If smart meters were incorporated across the U.S., they would generate
five times the data of the current AT&T network.
4. Energy mix Solar, Wind: Different sources have entered into the traditional
energy market
o Better demand and supply prediction is needed.
o Wind and Solar energy is unpredictable. How can we incorporate data
analytics to predict weather/consumption and thus plan production
o Battery technology/ storage is improving and thus providing tremendous
opportunity to use greener sources for production
5. Consumer now a days wants more insight and control
o Customer wants to know more about consumption and savings.
o Companies can push targeted offering to customer.

How Business Intelligence can Electrify Energy Market:

By improving grid operations

o There will be more information and data to make the grid more efficient:
data about transformers, overhead lines, cables, substations all of this
information can be gathered and used to support decision-making.
o Utility companies will be able to simulate energy demand.
o Utility companies will be able to anticipate outage.
o Design weather modelling and power-grid management system to
optimize the supply of wind and solar power
By effectively utilizing smart meter data
o Business intelligence will turn smart meter data into actionable items.
o Customer will be able to save money with more insight into consumption.

o Utility companies will be able to analyze utilization/demand throughout the

day for better pricing. Customer can choose whether to do laundry/dishes
in the morning or at night when price is low.
o If there is a problem in an area, it will be easy to quickly identify/pinpoint
and resolve the issue.
By optimizing asset management Utility industries will be able to
o Use analytics to perform predictive maintenance and avoid an outage.
o Schedule assets to optimize production.
o Predict and monitor asset performance for better utilization.

Bibliography:
1: IBM website: Bringing big data to the enterprise; downloaded on July 2nd
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/bigdata/what-is-big-data.html
2: SiliconANGLE An independent media company; News article named Wikibon
predicts Big Data market to top $61B in 2020 ; downloaded on July7th
http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/04/02/wikibon-predicts-big-data-market-to-top-61b-in2020/
3: Engineering and Technology Magazine; Volume 9 - Issue 1; Article on How

utilities are profiting from Big Data analytics

http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2014/01/data-on-demand.cfm
4: Wharton University website; Knowledge@Wharton; Article on Big Data and Energy:
A Clear Synergy; downloaded on 7th July
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-big-data-and-energy-synergy/