By Eugene Hamrick, Director of Enterprise Analytics and Innovation & Adam Elrod, Data Strategy and Innovation Architect
Navigating the currents of today’s energy landscape (pun intended), requires making quick, informed decisions. Real-time data analytics, while not truly instantaneous, can provide near-real-time insights to cooperative leaders. By leveraging predictive and prescriptive analytics, co-ops can optimize operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.
First, let’s clarify a common misconception. Nothing is ever real-time. That would insinuate that insights are produced as they're happening, which is virtually impossible. In this case, we’ll be discussing near-real-time analytics, which provides insights within a few seconds, minutes or hours. Close enough, right?
Where Real-Time Analytics Fits In
Using Gartner’s Analytics Maturity Model, data analytics falls into four general categories:
- Descriptive: uses historical data to tell us what happened.
- Diagnostic: analyzes historical data, explaining why something happened.
- Predictive: combines historical data and artificial intelligence (AI), to predict what will happen.
- Prescriptive: provides foresight, suggesting what we can do moving forward. This relies heavily on generative AI.
Near-real-time analytics falls into the Predictive and Prescriptive buckets, leveraging AI through machine learning to project trends and optimize future decisions.
The Major Outage Dashboard: Supporting Operational Efficiency
Near-real-time analytics are not necessary in most cases, but they have their place. Consider a major outage event. Data is needed quickly and accurately to make informed decisions. A product we built for these critical moments is our Major Outage Dashboard. Updating every hour, this BrilliT tool summarizes need-to-know information like average response time, average outage duration, cause of outages, and so on.
Armed with this information, leaders can make timely decisions. For example, if the average outage response time is high, leaders can access this data at their fingertips, enabling swift decision-making like requesting mutual aid. Similarly, if leaders know the cause of outages early on, they can proactively address equipment and material needs. If the dashboard were to indicate that downed poles are the culprit of an outage, an inventory check could be conducted to ensure the resources are available to restore power.
While true real-time analytics may be elusive, near-real-time insights can be a powerful and practical tool to improve clarity, identify issues quickly, and support prompt problem-solving. When time is of the essence, access to information allows cooperative leaders to make strategic decisions quickly. Through the power of data, co-ops can transform their operational efficiency, delivering better service at a lower cost.
About the Authors
With over 10 years in the cooperative industry, Eugene Hamrick brings years of data science, business intelligence, and member insights experience to BrilliT. How knowledge and expertise help promote data enhanced decision-making and analytic solutions, ensuring cooperatives receive maximum benefits from the use of data.
Adam Elrod is BrilliT's Data Strategy & Analytics Architect. He is an expert in turning data into stories and actionable items. He has worked for electric cooperatives for over seven years, applying his talents in public relations, member engagement, and data analytics to BrilliT.