Case Study - Genesis Power Limited

Genesis Power Ltd’s meter reading is carried out by a company whose meter readers depend on well-defined walkout areas.  These walkout areas are dependant on a number of criteria, most importantly the number and density of meters to be read.

Prior to the project, the majority of walkout areas included too many meters for the meter readers to read as frequently as Genesis wanted.

This caused problems for Genesis as they couldn’t accurately bill their customers as often as they needed, thus affecting cash flow.  In turn, customers couldn’t get accurate accounts as often as they wanted. 

Terralink International Ltd was approached to provide spatial analysis of walkout areas and to get buy in from the meter reading company and their meter readers for more efficient walkout areas.

The overall objective was to improve the frequency that readers could get around their areas thus providing more accurate information for billing.  The flow-on effect was an improvement in customer relations.

The solution was a three-stage project.

Stage One

Stage 1 consisted of validating and geo-coding all Genesis customers, in excess of 600,000.   To do this, all Genesis client addresses were put through the Terralink International address validation and geo-coding engine, using TIL’s national address dataset.  This dataset is the market leader, providing the most comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date address information available.

The validation and geo-coding process drew attention to invalid addresses eg ‘pumphouse on the corner’, and provided the basis of an information loop between Genesis and TIL.  This loop provided additional address information from Genesis and additional analysis by TIL, ensuring that the validation and geo-referencing process returned a near 100% match.

Stage Two

Stage 2 required the identification and separation of Genesis clients into those who use only one type of energy, e.g gas or electricity, and those who use dual types of energy, both gas and electricity.  This identification is important so both meters can be read at one visit.  Without this information, two visits to the property are required and the cost for Genesis increases.

Stage Three

Stage 3 covers the ongoing updating of new customer addresses and the validation and geo-coding of these.   Using the current meter readers, the current methodology and criteria, we are recalculating all walkout areas.  Taranaki and Kapiti have already been completed, using criteria relating to the number of addresses for each walkout area and geographical details that are particularly important in rural areas.

The success of this project has ensured a more efficient and timely meter reading process for Genesis, resulting in fewer estimated power accounts.  The benefits of improving customer service and cashflow are being met.