Overview

Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Cloud Service (or Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Management when implemented on-premises) provides the core functionality for utilities to create, run, and maintain demand response and distributed energy resource programs as part of a larger distributed energy resource management system (DERMS).

Demand response programs are programs in which customers agree to let their utility service provider temporarily alter the settings of specific devices in their homes (referred to as controllable devices or controllable assets) in response to periods of high demand. For instance, customers might enroll in a program that allows their utility to temporarily adjust their thermostat during a heat wave, or disable an electric vehicle charger during a period a of peak energy usage in the area. Instances such as these are known as "program events".

Customer information, including service agreements, service locations, and contact information, can be received from a customer information system, such as Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service or Oracle Utilities Customer to Meter, and be used when enrolling customers in demand response programs.

Customer program eligibility criteria can include specific types of controllable devices, current utility rates, past and present program participation, customer opt-out history, heating/cooling technology, and specific customer questions (such as "Does your house have an internet connection?").

Customer enrollment involves identifying a specific customer that is eligible for a particular program. Some programs also involve and one or more controllable devices installed at a specific device location that are applicable to a specific program, but not all programs involve devices. Devices can include those that the customer purchases and installs themselves, those that the utility provides to the customer to install, and those that the utility provides and installs at the customer's location, and can include "smart" thermostats, electric vehicle chargers, storage batteries, and other types of devices. Programs that don't involve devices include home energy assessment programs, critical peak pricing, programs, among others.

As devices are installed and registered during the enrollment process, device information is provided to an advanced distribution management system (ADMS) such as Oracle Utilities Network Management System, a distributed energy resource management system, or a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. These systems are sometimes referred to as "control systems" and are used to manage communication with and control of individual controllable devices during program events.

Device control scores - numerical ratings that help utilities determine if a device should participate in a program event - are calculated on a daily basis and sent to the distributed energy resource management system. When a utility determines that it should run a program event, control system operators use control score information (in addition to other data) to identify a set of devices that should participate in the program event, and the control system sends details of the event to Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Cloud Service. Program event details include the date and time of the event, as well as a list of devices that will participate in the event, and if appropriate, specific dates and times during which each device will participate in the program event. This information is used to create "event participation" records for each device.

After the event has completed, the control system sends a list of devices that participated in the event, and the outcome of each device's participation. Outcomes can include successful participation in the event, cancelation of the event for the device, an "in-flight" override in which the customer overrides the control of the device at its location, or an error. The results of the program event are used to update the event participation records for each device, which are subsequently used in future control score calculations.

Calculation of device control scores is performed through configuration of program rules and score calculation rules that use pre-configured values and customer-defined formulas. Program rule parameters can include the number of times within a specific period (such as a week or month) that an individual device can participate in an event, the frequency of these cyclical periods, the minimum number of days that must transpire between events, and more. Control scores are intended to capture the contract rules the device operates under, both from an operational perspective as well as a financial perspective.

Oracle Utilities Digital Asset Cloud Service also includes other asset management functionality, including inventory, purchasing, financials, work orders and more.