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NewsroomSouth Africa - the unanswered questions[Nicholas McDiarmid][May, 6 2008]The recent call by the African National Congress’ National Working Committee for an urgent electricity summit is an important move by the party to align itself with a beleaguered and frustrated public and business community, as well indicating a shrewd counterpoint between the often blurred lines of the party and government. Metering, Billing/CRM AfricaNow in its 9th year, Metering, Billing/CRM Africa is firmly established as the essential meeting place for metering, billing and customer management professionals.
Highlights in this track include: Synergies between DSM and tariff design by Vashna Singh, Eskom; the City Power smart metering project by Victor Phasha, City Power; energy-saving strategies at PGWC by Erik Kiderlen, Provincial Government Western Cape; better utility management through AMR/AMI by Richard Sanders, Datamatic, USA; the impact of smart metering on prepaid metering and vending: a utility and customer perspective by Hoosain Essop, City of Cape Town; MDM: business intelligence for utilities by Chris Ing-Simmons, Oracle, UK; and enabling smart grids for the future by Frits Bruggink, Echelon, USA. Prepayment for water DSM workshopA pre-conference workshop on Prepayment for water DSM will be presented ahead of Metering, Billing/CRM Africa 2008.
The workshop, which will be presented by Nico Singh, Etienne Hugo and Enoch Mudau from Johannesburg Water, will discuss prepayment as a solution for water DSM, coupled with recent technology advancements in water prepayment technology. Metering International Excellence Awards 2008 for AfricaNominations open! Deadline for entry submissions: April 21, 2008
Metering International magazine will recognize excellence among African electricity and water utilities and meter suppliers with the Metering International Excellence Awards 2008. Nominations with respect to innovations in metering products, systems and projects will be accepted. This year the judging panel is made up of representatives from utilities, government and universities worldwide. Following the great success of the previous five years’ Prepayment Innovation Awards, the program is being extended in 2008 to cover all facets of metering. Nominations will be accepted in two categories:
Developing a smart industry“Developing a smart industry” is a session not to be missed at the upcoming Metering, Billing/CRM Africa, that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from May 20-23, 2008 as part of African Utility Week.
This session will focus on how utilities can become more efficient with smarter technologies for metering. Edison Makwarela, senior consultant: Prepayment, Eskom, will showcase how smart metering can alleviate the country’s growing energy crisis.
Following his presentation, AMR/AMI for improved utility management will be presented by Richard Sanders, a director at Datamatic in the USA. Hoosain Essop, programme manager: customer services at the City of Cape Town will then conclude the session with a utility and customer perspective on the impact of smart metering on prepaid metering and vending.
For more information about the conference, please contact Nico Loretz:
nicolaas.loretz@spintelligent.com, Phone +27 21 700-3500, or visit www.african-utility-week.com Metering today in Africa“Metering today in Africa” is a session not to be missed at the forthcoming Metering, Billing/CRM Africa that is co-hosted by Metering International.
The event forms part of African Utility Week, which will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from May 20-23, 2008.
Erik Kiderlen, mechanical project engineer at the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, will give an update on energy saving strategies at the Department of Transport and Public Works. Their aim is to save up to 25% of costs to the taxpayer while maintaining adequate service delivery to the public at approximately 600 provincial service delivery points. Smart Metering MBA workshopAs part of Metering, Billing/CRM Africa 2008 a Smart Metering MBA workshop will be offered, presenting a comprehensive look at advanced metering, including the drivers of smart metering and advanced metering technologies as well as an overview of available vendor offerings.
Advanced metering intelligence will also be covered and attendees will get to understand the importance of revenue intelligence in AMI and see how smart meters manage DSM in an effective way by dynamically managing the entire load spectrum. Attendees will also understand how fraud is prevented and how consumer equipment is protected from network anomalies such as high/low voltage.
Metering, Billing/CRM Africa forms part of African Utility Week which will take place from May 20-23, 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa. African Utility Week’s unique training, networking and discussion platforms will demonstrate how utilities can be more efficient and offer cost-effective services through improved infrastructure maintenance, load management, delivery and revenue management choices. Last year, this prestigious event attracted its highest level of delegates — over 1,000 from 47 countries.
For more information about the workshop, please contact Nico Loretz: nicolaas.loretz@spintelligent.com, Phone +27 21 700 3555, or visit www.african-utility-week.com
Smart grid economy workshop at Metering AfricaMetering, Billing/CRM Africa, taking place as part of African Utility Week in Cape Town, South Africa from May 20-23, 2008 will include a workshop “The smart grid economy: Emerging business models and opportunities,” which will be presented by Philip Bane, managing editor of Smart Grid News.
The workshop will review new models that are already apparent including retail electricity, negawatts (demand response), microgrids and grid independence. Trends still on the horizon, including advanced command and control, consumer portals/dashboards and "designer electricity" will also be addressed. All attendees will be provided with a smart grid checklist specially prepared in accordance with EPRI IntelliGrid Architecture Application Guidelines, Southern California Edison’s Technology Capability Maturity Methodology, California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program AMI system capability checklist, and GridWise Architecture Council’s Interoperability Framework and Checklist.
Utility attendees will take away knowledge of solutions that their vendors may not be offering and a list of questions that they need to ask vendors. Vendors will take away the specifications that they need to develop if they wish to remain competitive.
For more information about the workshop, please contact Nico Loretz: nicolaas.loretz@spintelligent.com or phone 27 21 700 3555, or visit www.african-utility-week.com
Metering, Billing/CRM Africa - Towards secure and intelligent meteringMetering, Billing/CRM Africa will take place from May 20–22, 2008, in Cape Town, South Africa as part of African Utility Week, the largest utilities event in Africa.
The three-day international conference and exhibition will feature over 40 international industry-elite experts who will provide a forum for utility professionals to explore all aspects of the customer-end service sector in the region. African utilities have rated the event as one of the best forums where stakeholders can meet, exchange ideas and create new business opportunities.
High-level speakers will be taking part in the conference programme, including: Smart metering - the answer to Africa’s power crisis?Smart metering for residential customers is one of a number of interventions that have been proposed by the government as part of a National Electricity Emergency Program to alleviate the growing power shortage in South Africa.
With the recent spate of outages, the country is in the midst of its worst ever power crisis, and the smart meter technology would be installed in at least 3 million homes.
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