Saluting Our Customers: How Utilities and Cities are Responding to COVID-19 – Part Three

Around the globe, our customers are keeping the lights on, the water running and gas services safely connected in a time of crisis, all while giving back. In this blog series, we recognize the honorable actions utilities are taking to support their communities during this exceptional time.

Elektro:
Elektro is among the largest electricity distributors in Brazil, serving 228 cities in São Paulo and Grosso do Sul. Amidst COVID-19, Elektro is collecting donations for Transforma Brasil, a non-governmental organization that gathers volunteer initiatives. The donations will be used to assemble 125,000 baskets of goods and hygiene kits to deliver to families in need during this challenging time. To further support the campaign, the company signed a commitment to triple the amount collected internally. Elektro also joined five other companies in the power sector to raise funds for the production and acquisition of diagnostic test kits for COVID-19.

Enedis:
Enedis is the manager of the public electricity distribution network for 95% of mainland France. Recognized by public authorities, Enedis is among the “10 large exemplary companies which have set up accelerated payment for their suppliers.” The company has reduced payment times for small and medium-sized businesses to support their cash flow. To help healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, Enedis has utilized the company’s 3D printing machines to make protective visors for caregivers. Enedis employees have also volunteered their time by participating in the “Red Cross at Home” initiative. They help at the Red Cross call center by facilitating orders (food, medicine, etc.) from individuals unable to leave their homes.

Singapore Power Group:
Singapore Power Group (SP) is a leading energy utilities company in Asia Pacific, owning and operating electricity and gas transmission and distribution businesses in Singapore and Australia. To support its staff and the community, SP will make a special, one-time payment of $1,500 to more than 400 of its frontline officers. SP is also encouraging employees to contribute to the SP Heartware Fund, which supports programs for senior citizens. The company will match dollar-for-dollar for all employee donations. As electricity consumption increases from more people staying at home to stop the spread of COVID-19, SP launched its newly enhanced carbon footprint calculator, called My Carbon Footprint. The tool enables individuals to be more aware of the environmental impact of their daily actions and adopt behaviors that save energy and money.

Stay tuned as we share additional inspiring stories of how our utility customers are promoting health, safety and hope during this challenging time. Read the previous blogs in this series, including part one and There is a client who has a reporting issue problem. Let’s call him Ray. His annual sales are to be split into summer and winter sales, but on a seasonal, not calendar basis. In Ray’s world, winter begins in November and ends in April spanning two calendar years. While Ray sounded calm when he called me, I could feel the tear of frustration welling up in his eyes. How can we summarize annual winter sales in MetrixND when the sales fall in two calendar years?



Let’s be more specific. The picture to the right shows the monthly sales. Ray wants to call November 1995 through April 1996 the Winter 1995 sales.

Typically, the MetrixND’s SumAcross function is used to convert monthly data to annual total. The process takes two steps. First, the monthly sales are split into calendar summer and winter sales in a monthly transformation table. Second, the annual sums are calculated using the SumAcross function in an annual transformation table. The steps, transformations, and results are show below.



But, this is not what Ray wants to do. To use MetrixND’s data transformation capabilities, Ray needs to move the January 1996 through April 1996 values into the January 1995 through April 1995 positions as show below. If Ray can do this, then the annual transformation technique works.



The good news is that Ray called and I have a solution.

Using the following transform, I can move January to April sales using the Lead function.



Once I move the data, I can use the SumAcross function, just like before, to summarize annual summer and winter sales leaving Ray very happy.