20150916AVU to Staff 115.doc

AVISTA CORPORATION
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

JURISDICTION: IDAHO DATE PREPARED: 09/11/2015
CASE NO.: AVU-E-15-05/AVU-G-15-01 WITNESS: Jim Kensok
REQUESTER: IPUC RESPONDER: Larry La Bolle
TYPE: Production Request DEPARTMENT: State & Federal Regulation
REQUEST NO.: Staff - 115 TELEPHONE: [phone]

REQUEST:

Please explain in detail the problems with Project Compass implementation that led to the six-month interruption of Home Energy Reports.

RESPONSE:

Avista’s Demand Side Management (“DSM”) team was one of many Company work groups that participated in the process of implementing the new customer information, work and asset management systems (“Project Compass”). The DSM team was engaged in 2013, helping document the business requirements for the new systems, related to supporting the Home Energy Reports program. In particular, the effort focused on the analysis, design, configuration, and integrating coding required to enable the new systems to provide an accurate “extract file,” as required by Opower to support the program. As the date approached for placing the new systems into service, known as “Go-Live,” the implementation plan called for several service features, including the Home Energy Reports to be temporarily suspended during the Go-Live, and for the first weeks of operation (February 2015). At that point, the Home Energy Reports were planned to resume in March 2015.

Prior to the Go-Live, and as was the case for each of 100-plus other systems that were integrated with the new applications as part of Project Compass, the new computer code supporting the extract file for the Home Energy Reports was evaluated in a “test environment.” The test environment, of which there were many required for the Project, simulates a portion of the operation of the new systems, as a way to test the new code required to perform each function. The code supporting the extract file for Opower passed this test, although there were several defects detected. These defects were determined to be neither “critical” nor “blocking,” to the performance of the code.

As described in the testimony of Company witness Mr. Kensok, the identification of defects up to, and following the Go-Live, is commonplace in the implementation of large application systems. During the course of testing the new applications and working through the process of Code Defect Management, the emphasis is focused on repairing these “critical” and “blocking” defects. These have priority over non-critical or minor defects, because the applications and integrations cannot perform properly until they are removed. While most of the minor defects (those that do not impair the application’s core business performance), are also repaired during the testing phase, it is common for some to be held for releases to production that occur after the Go Live. In addition to these, there are inevitably some new defects that emerge during the early operation of the systems that could not be identified during the application testing phase. Plus, the live operation of the new applications identifies some work process improvements that require modification of the application configurations or code.

Following the successful Go-Live, and during the “Project Stabilization Phase,” the Project Compass teams continued to work on the defects identified in the code supporting the Home Energy Reports program. It was during this defect remediation and testing effort that Avista detected critical defects in the code that prevented it from producing an extract file that met the specifications of Opower. This testing and defect resolution process, also as described in Mr. Kensok’s testimony, is iterative and time consuming. As each defect is identified and repaired and the code is subjected to additional testing, new defects are detected, and the process is repeated. In addition to this complexity, all of the defects being resolved during Project Stabilization are addressed in order of their priority impact on the operation of the new systems, which can add time to the overall defect remediation process for a particular functionality, such as the Home Energy Reports.

After considerable effort, Avista was able to extract data files that succeeded in meeting the Opower specifications. By the end of June, extract files for the past and then-current periods were sent to Opower for analysis and reporting. This process can take up to five weeks after Opower receives the extract files. Accordingly, Opower resumed its reporting on Friday August 14th, 2015.

Avista has been assessing the potential impact to the Home Energy Reports program, associated with the interruption of three scheduled report-outs to customers during the period in question. Overall, the level of customer savings has been stable through this period, and the Company has not seen any discernible increase in the attrition of customers from the treatment group. Avista has not received any complaints from customers associated with the interruption of the reports. The web portal tool has continued to be available during this period, and Avista is planning to extend the study period for the program to include the three Home Energy Reports that were interrupted. Further, Avista has invited a representative from Opower to participate in its technical advisory meetings, to answer relevant questions, help assess any potential impact to the program, and to provide recommendations for the continued implementation of the effort.

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