Deregulation: a great challenge for utilities but only business re-engineering and new tools will guarantee success in a new, dynamic and competitive environment

Electricity markets world-wide are changing at a great pace. The experiences from the UK and Nordic markets have shown that the change from traditional utility to customer-oriented energy supplier affects the most important business processes. The re-engineering of these processes in conjunction with the introduction of new tools in the areas of contract management, marketing and remote data acquisition are decisive in ensuring that the energy supplier is equipped for the future. This paper examines the characteristics and needs of liberalised markets and addresses the role of remote meter reading systems within this environment. The content of this paper is drawn from the supplier´s experience in realising remote meter reading projects for special contract customers in the industrial/commercial sector