Utility Management Association
Houston, TX (PRWEB) March 6, 2008 -- Texas electricity customers looking to switch to a renewable energy plan can now shop and compare green power at ElectricityTexas.com (http://www.electricitytexas.com/). Texas' top electricity companies offer several options to purchase clean, pollution-free power derived from 100 percent renewable resources--giving Texans the advantage of going green with environmentally-friendly options at competitive prices.
ElectricityTexas lists the following benefits of switching to renewable energy today:
? Clean energy (http://www.electricitytexas.com/green/) generated from renewable resources such as wind, water, solar and more
? Texas is a leader in the production and development of renewable energy
? Renewable energy prices are affordable, allowing Texans to enjoy the environmental benefits of green energy without breaking the bank
Texas electricity customers (http://www.electricitytexas.com/green/) looking to make the switch to renewable energy can enter their address at ElectricityTexas and research the companies and renewable energy plans that best fit their individual needs. A green logo will appear next to the companies with available green energy plans and products, and the fast and free online ordering system allows customers to make the switch in just a few minutes.
For customers in areas that do not offer renewable energy plans, the option to purchase Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) is now available. RECs represent one megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable electricity generated and delivered on the grid. ElectricityTexas customers can offset all or a portion of their energy usage by purchasing RECs. Consumers will get the opportunity to purchase RECs and offset their energy consumption after ordering service from a non-renewable electricity provider through ElectricityTexas.
About ElectricityTexas
ElectricityTexas is a leading site in the state of Texas for comparing, ordering and connecting electricity service. The deregulated Texas electricity market allows Texans to shop for service by comparing incentives and special offers, prices, energy source options and the background and reputation that each energy company offers. ElectricityTexas customers have options to not only lower their monthly bills, but also the option to purchase renewable or alternative energy as well. ElectricityTexas is a member of the WhiteFence network.
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Huntsville, AL (Vocus) February 21, 2008 -- Intergraph Corp. is bringing the benefits of its proven utility outage management, workforce management and geospatial information system (GIS) (http://www.intergraph.com/rifm/default.asp?source=sma_utilities) technology to rural and small utilities and electric cooperatives (co-ops) through packaged solutions that are cost-effective for the smaller utility market.
By adding new packaged offerings for smaller organizations to its portfolio, Intergraph is now able to provide utilities of all sizes -- from the smallest to the largest -- with end-to-end solutions for the design and operations of the utility distribution network.
Intergraph sets itself apart in the industry by offering customized vertical solutions for the utilities market. Intergraph assists utilities with a full line of best practice solutions tailored for specific sectors - electric, gas, pipelines, water/wastewater and communications. In addition to providing technologies for automating and better managing outage response and day-to-day work management, Intergraph also supports the planning, engineering analysis, work order design, mapping and asset and maintenance records for a utility's infrastructure.
"As energy and customer service demands continue to rise, smaller utilities and co-ops are faced with the same issues that challenge larger providers," said Jay Stinson, vice president of Intergraph Utilities & Communications. "Just as large utilities require intuitive technologies to automate the management of their workforce, assets, infrastructure and outage/dispatch procedures, small providers also demand these solutions to increase efficiency, improve service and cut costs. Intergraph has been helping utilities achieve these goals for decades, and we are now well-positioned to extend our solutions to fit the needs of smaller-sized organizations."
"To better serve our customers, Cobb EMC has implemented a comprehensive solution of outage management, workforce management, mobile and GIS technologies from Intergraph," said Sam Newman, Manager, Geospatial Resource Management at Cobb Electric Membership Corporation (Cobb EMC), an electric membership cooperative in Georgia. "By integrating these technologies, we have been able to significantly streamline work processes and enhance service efficiency."
"By working with Intergraph, Franklin PUD has created a fully digitized system for managing district facilities and our electrical grid that is every bit as sophisticated and powerful as systems used by much larger utilities," said Zan Strausz, GIS Lead of the Franklin County Public Utility District (PUD), a non-profit electric utility serving about 26,000 accounts in the state of Washington. "The system has greatly simplified the way our various departments access, share and analyze critical information, leading to better decision-making and service while saving time and money."
Intergraph's outage and workforce management technology and full line of GIS solutions customized for the utilities industry are complemented by an integrated mobile application that combines engineering tools, workforce management and field force automation technology to provide a common, wireless platform for all types of utility field work. The mobile application can be leveraged across various functions including but not limited to outage management, damage assessment, meter reading, field design, critical infrastructure protection, maintenance and repair, inspection and compliance.
Alongside these key technologies, Intergraph's web portal application provides utilities employees, customers and the public real-time, online access to geospatial data from disparate sources. By aggregating key data in one place, the Intergraph portal enables better, more informed decision-making. Intergraph's portal capabilities also extend organizations' traditional business intelligence efforts by providing the capability to view, manage and analyze data in a geospatial context.
"We've been using the Intergraph product to organize, easily access and disseminate up-to-date spatial information about our electric distribution system," said Michael Holcomb, Assistant General Manager of Distribution & Engineering at the Snohomish County Public Utility District, located north of Seattle. "Today, we have implemented multiple technologies district-wide to empower field personnel, customer service representatives and others throughout the organization to respond more quickly and accurately to customer needs."
"In 2003, Empire turned to Intergraph to help us better manage day-to-day network operations, enhance crew responsiveness and reduce restoration time during power outages," said Rick Wallace, Director of OMS/GMS Operations at The Empire District Electric Company in southwest Missouri. "Through a combination of Intergraph mapping, outage management, mobile workforce management and infrastructure management technologies, we've enabled our entire organization - from engineers, designers, field crews and customer service agents - to perform their jobs more efficiently and effectively. This has resulted in significant cost savings and a marked improvement in the service we provide to our 165,000 electric customers in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas."
About Intergraph:
Intergraph Corp. is the leading global provider of spatial information management (SIM) software. Security organizations, businesses and governments in more than 60 countries rely on the company's spatial technology and services to make better and faster operational decisions. Intergraph's customers organize vast amounts of complex data into understandable visual representations, creating intelligent maps, managing assets, building and operating better plants and ships and protecting critical infrastructure and millions of people around the world. For more information, visit Intergraph.com (http://www.intergraph.com/?source=sma_utilities).
© 2008 Intergraph Corp. All rights reserved. Intergraph and the Intergraph logo are registered trademarks of Intergraph Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
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"The Harvard ManageMentor® Plus program and the selection of SkillSoft courses from MEA's www.energyu.org website are the best I have seen," explains Kris Emaus, Manager of Training and Development for NiSource, parent company to Columbia Gas Companies and Northern Indiana Public Service Company. "Through MEA's buying power we get the entire leadership development online series at substantial savings." EnergyU's leadership training grants 24/7 access for less than $100 per employee. With nearly 1,000 enrollees in the Midwest the package is now being made available to all utilities, pipelines and contractors.
Travis Clark, Project Engineer, Technical Training and Development for Kansas City Power and Light, chose "to install the courses on (KCPL's) own learning management system. Just a few weeks after our launch, we already had over 10 percent of our leaders accessing at least one course. That is great since they have until June of 2008 to complete them."
"Online learning alone isn't enough or it becomes just another extra intellectual task for an already very busy supervisor or manager," advised Emaus. "Yes, online learning can save money and time, but for the learning to sink in and make a real difference in performance, it must be coupled with related experiential learning. For example, we have 75 new leaders who have been assigned specific courses to take. When they finish the coaching module, they actually use the skills in several coaching situations and then go over the experience with their boss."
"We agree," says Clark. "We like the SkillSoft blended learning packages through MEA. They offer face to face, small group activities to complement individual online learning. We also launched our www.energyu.org program simultaneously with a six part, in house classroom series. The two reinforced each other."
"Our leaders are very pleased with the quality of the content in the www.energyu.org online program," continued Emaus. "Adjusting to online learning was never a problem, in fact, our younger, emerging leaders expected that computer based learning should be a natural part of our program. They are used to using the computer as a tool and want to keep their skills sharp."
"MEA's program offers two tracks, each of which is a mixture of SkillSoft courses and MEA energy industry specific courses," explained Don Szambelan, Chief Learning Officer for MEA. "Another popular choice is the Harvard ManageMentor® Plus program. It has 41 Management, Communications, Planning, Strategy and Personal Development topics that can be used as training or quick reference only with 24/7 online access, printable checklists and guides, self-assessments plus optional Harvard Business Publications for additional learning. Some companies empower employees to participate, others offer the program as a career enhancement option. Either way, they are in line with Fortune 500 companies and their push for quality online and blended learning opportunities. The good news is, together we save utilities a lot of money and have a state of the art program."
MEA has served the energy industry for over 100 years. MEA and its members' experience has made EnergyU the most comprehensive e-learning resource for the industry. Delivering effective energy specific multi-media learning furthers MEA's reputation as one of the leading energy service organizations in the nation.
SkillSoft provides comprehensive e-learning content and technology products for business and IT professionals. SkillSoft's multi-modal learning solutions enhance the speed and effectiveness of formal and informal learning and integrate SkillSoft's in-depth courseware, Referenceware®, learning management platform, virtual classroom technology and support services. For more information visit .
Harvard Business School Publishing is the leading resource for management practices, programs and content. They deliver the practical application of groundbreaking management ideas to progressive learning organizations around the world, helping them create strategic programs to achieve their operational goals. Guided by curriculum and technology experts, it draws from their deep well of management programs and content to create customized solutions with measurable impact for their customers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Harvard Business School Publishing is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University.
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