Six tips to maximise operational efficiency for utilities through improved data quality

Data is one of the most valuable asset for utilities companies. Data quality and data governance play a pivotal role in driving operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance. With increased regulatory, environmental, and stakeholder pressure, it’s more important than ever to have enhanced energy management measures^[2] in place as well as breaking down data silos is equally important.

We’ve compiled a comprehensive tipsheet to help you harness the power of data for sustainable growth and competitive advantage, enabling those in utilities to overcome these challenges, enhance customer experiences, and achieve a competitive edge in the market.

1. Invest in data quality tools and solutions

The utilities sector faces unique challenges. From managing vast infrastructure networks to navigating complex regulatory frameworks, data integrity is paramount. Inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to billing errors, misallocated resources, and compromised customer experiences.

By leveraging advanced data quality tools, utilities companies can address these challenges head-on. Our advanced data cleansing, validation, and enrichment capabilities ensure that customer information, asset data, and operational records are accurate, consistent, and up-to-date. This not only improves decision-making processes, but also enhances regulatory reporting and compliance efforts.

Our data quality and governance solutions empower utilities companies to streamline your operations, optimise resource allocation, and deliver superior customer service. With accurate data you can proactively identify and resolve issues, minimising disruptions and improving overall customer satisfaction. Strategic investments in data quality solutions, allows organisations to unlock the full potential of your data assets, driving innovation, customer satisfaction, and sustainable growth.

2. Establish a data governance framework

The utilities industries handles sensitive customer information and critical operational data, making data governance an essential component of your operations. Establishing a robust data governance framework is paramount for operational excellence and regulatory compliance. This begins with defining clear roles and responsibilities for data management across departments, ensuring accountability and transparency throughout the data lifecycle. Developing comprehensive policies and procedures for data collection, storage, and usage is essential to maintain data integrity and protect sensitive customer information.

By implementing structured guidelines, utilities companies can mitigate risks associated with data breaches and regulatory penalties while fostering a culture of data stewardship and accountability and serve to protect consumers. Regular audits serve as a cornerstone of this framework, providing insights into data quality and compliance levels while facilitating continuous improvement efforts. Through proactive measures and a strategic approach to governance, businesses can harness the full potential of your data assets to drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainable growth.

Tips for utilities companies:

Proactive governance allows businesses to harness the full potential of your data assets, driving innovation, efficiency, and sustainable growth. Aperture Governance Studio is a uniquely user-friendly platform that delivers a wide range of data governance capabilities through a simple user interface. You can set definitions for your data items, assign ownership, create policies, identify the impact of data on business processes, create and manage data automations and track progress through live dashboards to support senior management progress conversations and much more with this flexible solution designed to help utilities companies govern your data.

Data governance has been a game changer for our organisation. Partnering with Experian to increase our data governance efforts has improved the ownership of our data whilst creating a more data focused culture at Wessex Water. It has also enabled improved business outcomes and allowed us to implement more efficient processes.

Jon Weeks, Head of Performance and Information Management at Wessex Water.

3. Prioritise data security and compliance

Utilities sector handles sensitive customer information and operational data, making data protection a paramount concern. Implementing stringent data security protocols is paramount to protect against unauthorised access, data breaches, and cyber threats. Experian’s data quality solutions offer a comprehensive approach to data security and compliance. Our advanced data governance frameworks ensure that data is collected, stored, and processed in compliance with relevant regulations and unique criteria that is relevant to your business priorities or department.

Furthermore, staying in line with industry regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is crucial to ensure compliance, avoid costly penalties reputational damage, and erosion of customer trust. Utilities companies can also prioritise the safety of vulnerable customers and those at risk of falling into debt. Having inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to billing errors, service disruptions, and inadequate support for those in need, exacerbating your vulnerable situations.

Our data quality tools enable utilities companies to maintain accurate and up-to-date records, minimising the risk of non-compliance due to outdated or inaccurate data. By prioritising data security and compliance initiatives, businesses can uphold customer trust, mitigate reputational risks, and foster a culture of responsible data stewardship.

4. Foster a culture of data literacy

Fostering a culture of data literacy is essential for driving innovation, efficiency, and sustainable growth. This begins with providing ongoing training and education to employees on data management best practices, empowering them with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively utilise data assets. There’s an opportunity to encourage cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing and enhances data quality and insights by bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise. Promoting a mindset of data-driven decision-making at all levels of the of the organisation can empower employees to make informed decisions based on data-driven insights. We’re passionate about fostering a culture of data literacy and know that utilities companies can unlock the full potential of your data assets, driving competitive advantage and delivering exceptional value to customers.

According to the Bird & Bird Energy Outlook 2024^[3], “The energy industry is changing in profound and permanent ways as digital transformation provides enormous opportunities and challenges. Digitalisation will further accelerate and intensify change in an industry that has already been transformed. The UK Energy Digitalisation Strategy also seeks to make the energy system more visible and system data more shareable. Using connected devices, smart meters, and other digitally enabled devices within the energy sector continues to grow at a rapid pace.” This highlights the importance of data literacy and data-driven decision-making for utilities companies to navigate the digital transformation and stay competitive in the evolving energy industry.

5. Embrace data management

As utilities sector operate across vast networks and handle huge volumes of data, making effective data management an essential component of your operations. Embracing data management is essential for unlocking valuable insights and optimising operational efficiency. The utilities sector faces unique challenges, including aging infrastructure, regulatory compliance, and customer service demands. Efficient data management is crucial for addressing these challenges and driving operational excellence. Inaccurate or siloed data can lead to inefficiencies, regulatory non-compliance, and poor customer experiences.

By integrating data silos, organisations can break down barriers between disparate datasets and create a clear understanding of each individual – a single customer view. Having a single customer view enables utilities companies to offer personalised services to your customers, ensuring higher satisfaction and retention levels. Implementing robust data management solutions is crucial to establish a single source of truth for critical data elements, ensuring consistency and reliability across the organisation. Many utilities companies will have customer data from different sources, key data sources in the utilities sector include customer data, asset data, operational data, regulatory data, geospatial data, and weather/environmental data. Enabling real-time data integration, facilitating seamless communication and collaboration between systems and applications, empowering decision-makers with up-to-date information for timely actions. Data management enhances operational efficiency but also drives innovation and enables organisations to stay agile and centre around the consumer.

Experian’s data quality solutions empower utilities companies to embrace comprehensive data management strategies, ensuring that data from various sources is seamlessly merged, providing a single, accurate view of operations, assets, and customer information. Utilities companies can optimise your operations, improve asset management, and deliver superior customer service. Accurate and well-managed data is the foundation for operational excellence, regulatory compliance, and customer satisfaction in this critical sector and continues to focus on bringing ‘data standards’ to a new level that can be trusted and harnessed with confidence.

Data quality solutions enable a unified view

Similar to financial institutions, utilities companies must adhere to various regulations and perform due diligence on your customers. By consolidating customer data from multiple sources using Aperture Data Studio, utilities can create a comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date single customer view. This enables them to better understand your customer base, identify potential risks, and ensure compliance with relevant guidelines.

As a bank, Shawbrook must adhere to financial crime regulation and perform customer due diligence on its clients with the aim of assessing the potential risks that they pose to the company. Shawbrook set out to find a solution with a matching engine, as finding duplicates in your data was key to success. By consolidating the customer data into Aperture Data Studio, Shawbrook created a single view of your customers to generate a customer profile for financial crime reporting.

The consequence of having a tool like Aperture means that we’ve got the efficiency to understand the customers across all of the franchises that exist within Shawbrook in a single identifier.

Bizzy Saunders, Head of Data Governance, Shawbrook

Read the full case study here

6. Continuously monitor and improve data quality

The utilities sector faces numerous challenges, including aging infrastructure, stringent regulations, and ever-evolving customer expectations. Inaccurate or outdated data can lead to costly errors, service disruptions, and customer dissatisfaction, ultimately impacting the bottom line and reputation of utilities companies. Establishing a culture of continuous monitoring and improvement is vital. By beginning with a set of clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure essential data quality metrics, such as accuracy, completeness, and timeliness.

Experian’s data quality solutions provide a comprehensive approach to continuous data monitoring and improvement. Our advanced data profiling and analysis tools identify data quality issues, such as inconsistencies, duplicates, and missing information, enabling utilities companies to take proactive measures to enhance data integrity. Our data cleansing capabilities ensure that customer information, asset data, and operational records are accurate, consistent, and up-to-date, reducing the risk of errors and non-compliance.

By prioritising continuous monitoring and improvement efforts, utilities companies can maintain a competitive edge, drive operational excellence, and ensure customer satisfaction.

Utilities face complex challenges, including regulatory, financial, and environmental pressures, along with low customer satisfaction. To maximise operational efficiency, they must invest in data quality tools, establish robust data governance frameworks, prioritise compliance, and foster data literacy within your organisations. Implementing these strategies will drive innovation, enhance customer satisfaction, and ensure ongoing expansion.