Navigant (NYSE:NCI) and TROVE today announced a strategic alliance that will help utilities harness the combined power of predictive data science and an analytics platform to make their data more useful, dramatically improving load forecasting, grid performance, and customer adoption of new products and services.
“This alliance brings together Navigant’s deep industry and process expertise, our modeling capabilities, and our global consulting footprint with TROVE’s world class data science capabilities and their newly launched TROVE Platform,” said Jan Vrins, leader of Navigant’s Energy practice, which has over 600 energy consultants globally. “TROVE’s Platform delivers the open architecture, scale, and data-science acumen needed to transform a utility’s latent data arsenal into a game-changing strategic asset. For example, TROVE’s premise-level forecasting precision combined with Navigant’s demand forecasting and econometric modeling provides utilities a new playbook for meeting demand that effectively integrates distributed energy resources.”
“TROVE is a leader in data science and analytics for utilities, and the TROVE platform is one of the most powerful, open platforms we see available in the market today,” said Jeff Richman, director at Navigant. “We are passionate about providing predictive data solutions to our customers. Our solutions are focused on the most critical issues facing utilities today and, through our alliance with TROVE, they are fully coordinated with tomorrow’s predictive analytics opportunities and requirements.”
The volume of data utilities must manage continues to rise – consider the ramification of moving to 35,000 meter reads per year for a typical smart-meter customer – and energy resources are growing increasingly variable and distributed. Data analytics and predictive data science hold the key to managing the grid and engaging with customers more intelligently. Partnering on this opportunity, Navigant and TROVE are taking the lead in developing solutions that:
- Identify smart meter value beyond traditional cost savings metrics;
- Improve operational efficiency, customer service, and profitability;
- Understand and engage customers to drive adoption of new products and services; and
- Better forecast demand, addressing the variability of distributed energy resources and programs, such as distributed solar, electric vehicles, battery storage, energy efficiency, and demand response.
“We are on the cusp of a data-led transformation in the utility industry fueled by the precision of predictive data science and the exponential processing power of open platform computing,” said Ted Schultz, CEO of TROVE. “Through this alliance with Navigant we have access to a team with the largest proven strategic, operational, and technical energy consulting experience in the industry. We see tremendous opportunities for utilities to balance supply and demand more precisely, delivering higher service levels and customer satisfaction, while doing so at less cost. Together with Navigant, we will provide clients a new blueprint for turning data into more agile networks and more engaged customers.”