This section describes new features and functionality included in this release of Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management including the following:

This section describes new and enhanced product usability features introduced in this release, including:

Effectively grouping controllable devices is a core function for managing and optimizing them. This new feature introduces an automated way to do that, using a new entity group object based on one or more criteria. You can assign devices to such groups either automatically, based on pre-defined rules or manually, by a user.

To organize these groups, each one is assigned to a group category. This category helps classify groups that share the same criteria and retrieval method. A single device can belong to multiple groups, as long as each group is from a different category.

The criteria source within the group category allows you to define the rules that determine which devices are eligible for a specific group. These rules include:

Entities like Service Points and Devices can now be assigned to entity groups. Each group assignment has an effective date and can be expired when the group no longer applies. The system will also perform an eligibility check to ensure the group assignment is valid.

A new user interface makes it easy to manage entity groups. It's designed with two distinct zones: one to help you find and select eligible devices, and a second to show you which devices are already in the group you're working on. To further enhance control, we've also added a new zone to the device interface where you can see all the groups a device is a part of and manage its group assignments directly.

This empowers users to create dynamic entity groups for controllable devices. Instead of static lists, these groups are built automatically using configurable criteria. By leveraging these criteria, the application transforms device grouping into an automated, policy-driven system. This leads to greater efficiency, enhanced program participation, and ultimately, optimized energy usage.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

To configure this feature, refer to Understanding Entity Groups and Defining Entity Groups in the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Administrative User Guide.

Currently, you are restricted to using default, hard-coded labels for the External ID and Status fields. This prevents you from aligning the application's interface with your organization's specific terminology. This feature lets you rename the Status and External ID fields. For example, you can change External ID to a more intuitive label like Customer Account ID or CRM ID to match your team's internal language. You can now tailor the application's interface to better align with your organization's business processes.

This enhances user experience, reduces potential confusion, and improves data accuracy by making the application's terminology directly relevant to the user's role and the organization's unique operational language.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Custom field names for business object status and external IDs are defined by populated the Override Label parameter on the Field object.

You can now configure program types that allow customers to preemptively opt out of events. You can also set a cut-off time after which opt-outs are no longer permitted.

When a customer receives an advanced notification that their device is reserved for an upcoming event, they can contact the utility's contact center to opt-out via phone or email. A new Opt Out button will appear on the Customer Enrollment Insight zone in the Customer Program Summary portal, but only when a device is reserved for an upcoming event. Clicking this button takes you to the Program Subscription portal, where the new Event Participation zone shows all outstanding device reservations for that customer, making it easier to manage their participation.

Opting out a device automatically sends a notification to external systems (like Oracle Edge DERMS). This updates the systems to ensure the opted-out device is not included in the event, and the event's viability can be re-evaluated.

This feature includes a new master configuration setting used to define the outbound message type to enable sending the notification about customer opting out of an event to external systems, such as Edge DERMS. This message will instruct them to cancel the device reservation for the upcoming event.

This allows you to easily process event opt-out requests, ensuring that external systems (like Oracle Edge DERMS) are updated in real-time. This capability helps ensure compliance with customer contracts, delivers a smooth customer experience, and supports the successful execution of your planned events.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

To configure this feature, refer to Understanding Program Types in the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Business User Guide.

Currently the application can be configured to only process a single, cumulative settlement at the conclusion of a program season (for example, at the end of a summer) for customers enrolled on to commercial demand response programs. This feature introduces the capability to configure end-of-event settlements for commercial customers. It enhances how commercial settlements are managed within demand response (DR) programs by introducing support for demand-based reduction calculations on a per-event basis.

Given that commercial settlements are typically calculated based on the demand (kW) reduction achieved during an event, this feature modifies the existing program settlement rule to support this approach immediately following an event. The program settlement transaction, which represents the credit to be applied to a customer's bill, is now enriched with more detailed data. It will now capture and display the following key metrics for each event:

You can now perform "end-of-event" settlements, providing a clear, rapid, and transparent view of performance and earnings for commercial customers participating in demand response (DR) programs. This allows you to measure, verify, and settle a commercial customer's performance immediately after each individual DR event. By providing timely financial feedback, you can improve program transparency and customer engagement. This encourages commercial customers to actively participate and optimize their energy reduction strategies for future events, leading to more predictable and reliable load shedding.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

To configure this feature, refer to About Program Event Settlement Transactions in the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Business User Guide.

You can now calculate the actual load reduction and measure an event's impact by accessing interval meter reads for all participating customers. This new feature enables the application to store interval meter readings by replicating objects and processes from Oracle Utilities Customer to Meter or Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management.

The existing metered service point entity has been expanded to fully support meter installation and management. This includes new data entities for:

For seamless integration, you can synchronize master data from external systems using the base package's sync request business objects and inbound web services. Meter reads will be uploaded via an XML file-based integration on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule and processed using the Direct Measurement Processing functionality.

To improve navigation, a new Device History zone has been added to the Service Point portal that provides a direct link to all meters associated with that service point, making it easier to view and manage meter information.

This allows you to capture and use interval meter reads directly within the application. This data is essential for two key functions: accurately calculating a customer's baseline usage and measuring the impact of events after they occur. By providing this capability, you can meet critical regulatory and compliance requirements while ensuring customer satisfaction through accurate billing and program incentives. Ultimately, it allows you to precisely measure the effectiveness and efficiency of your demand-side management programs.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

To configure this feature, refer to Devices and Measurements in the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Business User Guide.

This feature introduces a new characteristic type that allows you to designate a program subscription as a Parent or Child. An out-of-the-box algorithm automatically validates any changes to these indicators, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of your data.

The baseline calculation logic uses these indicators, and accounts for child subscriptions and automatically rolls up their measurements into a single, comprehensive calculation. This ensures that when you determine a customer's baseline after a demand response event, the result is based on a holistic view of all their related subscriptions, leading to more accurate and reliable data for both billing and analysis.

This allows you to model complex customer relationships by indicating parent and child program subscriptions for a customer's premise. This feature uses these parent/child indicators to precisely determine the customer's baseline after a demand response event. By understanding the relationships between subscriptions, the system can generate a more accurate and representative baseline. This leads to fairer settlement calculations for the customer and provides more reliable data for your program analysis and optimization efforts.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

To configure feature, refer to About Program Subscriptions in the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Business User Guide.

A customer baseline represents an estimate of the electricity a customer would have consumed if a specific event, associated to a demand response program, had not occurred or if the customer had not participated in the event. This baseline is essential for accurately calculating the actual reduction in electricity consumption a customer achieves during the event. By having this precise measurement of curtailment, you can provide appropriate and fair incentives to the customer for their participation, ensuring a transparent and equitable exchange.

This feature introduces a new usage calculation rule for X of Y baseline methodology, providing users with a high degree of flexibility and control. You can now precisely define several key parameters, including:

Based on this comprehensive configuration, the rule automatically handles the entire process for each customer's event participation. This involves identifying a set of qualifying days from the customer's interval meter reads. These are the days that meet the user-defined criteria and are suitable for baseline evaluation. From those qualifying days, the rule then selects the specific X days out of Y days that will be used to compute the baseline consumption. Finally, it applies any configured adjustments to the computed baseline, resulting in a highly accurate estimate of what the customer's consumption would have been in the absence of the event.

Following the successful calculation of the baseline, the Vector and Service Quantity Math calculation rule can be used to compute the avoided energy or demand. This rule leverages the application's native vector and service quantity math capabilities. It works by directly comparing the actual interval measurements recorded during the event with the calculated baseline consumption for the same period. Based on the specific configuration—whether the program aims to measure avoided energy or avoided demand—this rule will then accurately compute the final value.

The feature also introduces a new usage transaction business object for program event settlement transactions. These transactions are generated by a plug-in monitor process on the Program Subscription after an event is completed. The business object will have a new "Event Settlement" class which will drive the menu, query, and maintenance portals, as well as handle foreign key references and maintenance BPA's. It follows the same pattern as the existing Event Settlement Transaction business object.

This provides you with the flexibility to define and manage program parameters with greater ease. Specifically, you can now associate baseline methods and calculation rules with a program, which then automatically apply to all enrolled participants. This is a significant improvement because these rules can be revised over time to reflect any program modifications. The ability to visualize and modify these parameters ensures complete transparency and verifiability. Ultimately, this guarantees the accuracy of performance-based incentives paid out for event participation, building trust and confidence in the program.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

To configure this feature, refer to the About Program Event Settlement Transactions section of the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Business User Guide.

This new feature introduces an automated process that creates program event settlement transactions as soon as events are completed. It also automatically identifies and recalculates those transactions that are affected by measurement corrections or price changes. This ensures your settlement data remains accurate and up to date, eliminating the need for manual corrections and reducing the risk of billing errors.

You can configure the number of days to wait before creating transactions and specify which program event and participation statuses are eligible. This flexibility allows you to align the automated process with your specific business rules and timelines.

This capability streamlines the customer billing process and ensures that settlement transactions are created without manual intervention. It also ensures that settlement data remains accurate and up-to-date, even if the initial measurements change. By automating this process, you can maintain data integrity and reduce the risk of billing errors.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

To configure the Program Event Transaction Correction feature, refer to About Program Event Settlement Transactions in the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Business User Guide.

This section describes new integration-related enhancements introduced in this release, including:

With additional parameters, you can limit the Asset Periodic Monitor Process (W1-ASSET) batch job run to a specific asset type, maintenance specification (inclusion or exclusion), and condition assessment class (inclusion or exclusion).

This offers more flexibility when filtering assets to monitor.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

A new configuration parameter on the program object will enable users to specify if enrolled customers are allowed to notify of their unavailability to participate in events. Typically, the customers enrolled on a program will call or email a utility's contact center to inform that they will be unavailable for participating in any events for a specific date/time range.

A new Schedule Unavailability button is now available on the Customer Enrollment Insight zone in the Customer Program Summary portal. This button is only visible for programs that allow participants to opt out of events. Clicking this button takes the user to the Device Location portal for the specific metered service point associated with that program. From there, a new zone allows customer representatives to add, edit, or cancel unavailability details for any active device. When creating a new entry, the representative must specify a start and end date and time for the unavailability period, along with a reason for the request.

This feature includes a new master configuration setting for the outbound message type to enable sending the notification about a device's unavailability to external systems, such as Edge DERMS. This message will instruct them to exempt the device from being reserved for any upcoming events during the specified period of unavailability.

You can now address and record a customer's specific needs regarding device availability. By enabling customer representatives to accurately log when a device is unavailable, you can respect customer preferences and build trust. This will improve customer experience and foster greater loyalty. Additionally, it provides significant operational advantage to external systems by making them aware of devices that are temporarily unavailable. Instead of sending commands to devices that won't respond, the system can make smarter, more accurate selections for upcoming energy events. This leads to a higher rate of successful participation, ensuring that your energy usage optimization efforts are more reliable and effective.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

To configure feature, refer to About Programs in the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Business User Guide.

Currently the application is designed to maintain a consistent flow of information with external systems, such as an Edge DERMS triggered by key activities related to a customer's engagement with demand response programs and their associated assets. The application automatically sends customer and asset information to external systems when a customer enrolls to or unenrolls from a program, and also if there are updates made to the customer's contact details, program subscription and controllable device.

The customer asset synchronization request has been updated to include the most current entity group code for a device. This is based on a new master configuration that lets you specify which group code categories should be synchronized with external systems.

This ensures that external systems receive comprehensive and up-to-date information about a device's group affiliations. By embedding this key contextual information directly in the standard outbound message, the feature ensures that all connected systems now have a unified, accurate view of a device's status and its associated groups. These group codes can be leveraged by external systems (like Edge DERMS) to execute targeted events on specific set of customer populations and also to generate precise reports, leading to more intelligent and coordinated device management across the entire ecosystem.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

In previous releases the application was unable to correctly update a controllable device's registration status. This limitation stemmed from the acknowledgment message received from external systems (like Edge DERMS) for the customer asset synchronization request message. As the external system's response lacks a device-specific registration status, the application was unable to correctly update the status for multiple devices included in a single customer asset synchronization request.

Adding a device to a customer's program enrollment requires registering that device with the head-end system. This is true whether it's a new customer enrolling for the first time or an existing customer adding another device to their current subscription. Whenever a customer unenrolls from a program, or a device is replaced, that device must also be deregistered from the head-end system.

This feature introduces an acknowledgment operation on the existing inbound web service. This allows external systems to provide a more comprehensive response to a customer asset synchronization request, including a message-level acknowledgment and the head registration status for each individual device included in the original request. The application processes this information and automatically updates each device's Head End Registration status flag to either 'Registered' or 'De-registered' accordingly.

This automated process is crucial for maintaining data integrity and enabling seamless, end-to-end device management. By capturing updates to a device's head-end registration status directly from an external source, this feature ensures the accuracy of the device's communication status. This capability also provides a significant operational benefit: it gives users the ability to report on any failures that may occur during the registration or deregistration process. If an external system reports a failure for a specific device, this information is automatically logged, allowing users to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues.

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

To configure feature, refer to About Controllable Assets and Devices in the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Business User Guide and Digital Asset Cloud Service / Digital Asset Management Inbound Web Services in the Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management Administrative User Guide.