Here are a few governance best practices utilities can follow for smart meter data:

1.     Access policies - The information governance program needs to establish a number of policies around which departments and functions can access smart meter data. There are reams of real-time interval data from smart meters that are brought into utility data warehouses. They can then leverage this data to understand customer usage patterns. The customers need to access this data from the web to understand how their electricity usage affects their monthly bills.

2. Establish database monitoring policies - Establishing database monitoring policies determines who within the utility is actually assessing the meter data. As smart meters become more mainstream, regulators such as state public utility commissions in the United States will become more assertive about protecting consumers’ privacy rights. As a result, the information governance programs at utilities need to be prepared to address these regulations.

3. Archiving policies - Policies need to be set by the information governance program around data archiving in order to avoid rising storage costs from smart meter data. For example, a utility can set a time period for how long they maintain meter interval data before it is moved to secondary storage to reduce costs.

4.  Metadata - Electric power utilities use reliability indicators such as the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) and the System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI). Local authorities generally require some form of service level agreement regarding SAIDI and SAIFI in order to calculate usage consistently for measurement and pricing purposes.

In 2011, nearly 36 million smart meters were installed by utilities in the U.S. As these meters come online in 2012, and the smart grids they comprise begin generating and sharing data across millions of endpoints, utilities will once again set information governance best practices that other industries can follow.

Sunil Soares is the Director of Information Governance within IBM Software Group. Sunil has worked with more than a hundred clients across multiple industries including banking, insurance, life sciences, energy and utilities, retail, telecommunications, manufacturing, healthcare and government. Sunil helps clients assess their Information Governance Maturity and determine the appropriate processes and tools to move forward. Kevin Monagle, Associate Partner, Energy & Utilities, IBM Global Business Services, also contributed to this article.

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