LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California
Gas Co. (SoCalGas) announced today that its data analytics work has
been recognized as the most innovative among over 150 utilities
across the U.S. and the world by the Utility Analytics Institute
(UAI). The UAI praised SoCalGas' use of data analytics to
increase safety, save money for its customers, improve customer
service, help conserve energy, and cut greenhouse gas
emissions.
"We are honored to have been recognized for this award," said
Gillian Wright, senior vice
president and chief customer officer at SoCalGas. "The work our
data analytics team does is innovative, progressive,
forward-thinking and leads to solving the company's most complex
business challenges. All of this is in support of SoCalGas' mission
to become the cleanest, safest and most innovative energy company
in America."
"SoCalGas has made impressive contributions to data analytics
within the utility industry," said Gina
Weber, managing director at UAI. "Each winner of the UAI
Excellence Awards was selected from a pool of talented individuals,
teams and organizations and we congratulation them on this
well-deserved recognition."
Increased energy conservation is among the many benefits of
SoCalGas' data analytics work. For example, the utility's data
analytics team developed a way to identify customers who were less
likely to conserve energy during a winter cold snap, allowing the
company to target those households with reminders of the tools and
information available to help them manage their natural gas use.
This initiative is now saving these targeted customers over 300,000
therms of energy every year, reducing the bills of as many as
100,000 customers and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. These
reductions are among the more than 36.5 million therms SoCalGas
helped natural gas users conserve through energy efficiency last
year—saving customers more than $64
million and reducing carbon emissions linked to climate
change by nearly 193,000 metric tons, the equivalent of taking
42,000 cars off the road for a year.
SoCalGas is also using data analytics to increase the safety of
its employees and customers, and the new safety challenges created
by the Covid-19 pandemic provide one example: Since the pandemic
began, data analytics have allowed pinpoint accuracy in predicting
the number and location of customer service orders, allowing for
highly effective inventory management of Personal Protective
Equipment as well as appropriate staffing at the 75 facilities
across SoCalGas' 24,000 square mile service territory.
The data analytics team is also working to keep employees safe
by providing customer service technicians with data to help them
avoid hazards. Each technician will soon be provided with notice of
hazardous driving routes prone to accidents, Covid-19 case rates in
various geographic areas, and reminders of special safety
precautions and gear required for certain types of service
calls.
Preventing damage to gas pipelines is another way SoCalGas is
using data analytics to increase safety. The company gathers
construction permit data to gauge increased potential of gas line
damage due to excavation. Areas where more construction permits are
issued now receive additional reminders to have gas pipeline areas
marked prior to any construction digging, along with other gas
safety information.
In another example, data analytics is allowing SoCalGas to
drastically reduce vehicle trips to inspect gas meters, which both
increases employee safety and reduces greenhouse gas emissions
associated with driving. In-depth analysis of data from the
company's Advance Meter technology can now accurately identify
faulty meters without physical inspections. Every year, almost
50,000 inspection trips are avoided, leading to about 370,000 fewer
miles driven, and saving 180 metric tons in carbon dioxide
emissions per year.
The UAI is a global consortium of over 160 member utilities and
provides support to the industry with the goal of advancing utility
transformation through analytics and digital innovation. To win the
award, SoCalGas' Performance Management and Operational Strategy
(PMOS) team underwent panel interviews and provided case studies to
demonstrate the many innovative ways they have tackled complex
business processes and problems across SoCalGas.
Recently, SoCalGas announced its mission to build the cleanest,
safest, and most innovative energy company in North America. More information on SoCalGas'
mission and strategic priorities can be found at
socalgas.com/mission.
About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los
Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest gas distribution
utility in the United
States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and
increasingly renewable gas service to 21.8 million customers
across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern
California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas
for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Gas
delivered through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in
providing electricity to Californians— about 45 percent of
electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired
power plants.
SoCalGas' mission is to build the cleanest, safest and most
innovative energy company in America, delivering affordable and
increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In support of that
mission, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20 percent of its
traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by
2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by
dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is
also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure
while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2015 through
2019, the company invested nearly $7 billion to upgrade
and modernize its pipeline system to enhance safety and
reliability. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra
Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based
in San Diego. For more information
visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas
on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas)
and Facebook.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company