Utility Financials Accelerator

Situation

In today’s more demanding regulatory environment, utilities running SAP ECC need functionalized cost data that is more transparent, defensible, and timely than the 25-year-old “FERC module” alone can provide.

Challenges

The SAP FERC module was created by some of our very own team members in the mid-1990s, when utility regulation was anticipated to be phased out. Since then, of course, the industry has gone the opposite direction, and utilities need even more granular cost data.

Because the FERC module was never designed to perform at that level, utilities running it today often experience challenges around cost transparency, reconciliation, and allocation complexity.

Solution Overview

Utegration Utility Financials Accelerator (UFA) enables utilities running the FERC module to get immediate, material benefits on SAP ECC and to simplify the future path to SAP S/4HANA. The solution is part of the Utegration Finance4U Portfolio.

Value Drivers

One Version of Truth

Unlike the standard FERC solution, UFA supports regulatory account balances with both primary (FI) and secondary (CO) costs. This eliminates reconciling differences so that analysts see the same results no matter if they’re looking at the business from a natural or regulatory view.

Faster FERC Processing

UFA’s advanced algorithm runs up to 50% faster than the standard FERC trace. It also eliminates trace errors that can disrupt period-end FERC reporting by accounting for every dollar in the regulatory range.

Rapid Implementation and Payback

UFA is typically installed, configured and tested within 4-6 months by a small team of experts with decades of utility industry experience. It’s been in production since 2008 and was most recently implemented in 2019.

Regulatory Risk Mitigation

UFA includes interactive tools that drill down from Net Income to individual transactions and supporting documents. Responding to regulatory interrogatories and preparing for rate cases is more accurate and timely while on SAP ECC.

Process Innovation

• Error-free trace and 50% faster FERC processing at period-end
• More efficient and accurate generation of regulatory accounts and indicators
• Faster and more precise assignment of regulatory indicators and translation rules
• Easy versioning and “what if” scenarios directly in SAP ECC that facilitate rate case preparation
• Streamlined processes for multi-jurisdictional utilities filing regular and frequent rate cases

Technology Innovation

• Written in ABAP and extends FERC module’s capabilities
• FERC account balances supported by both primary (FI) and secondary (CO) costs, eliminating reconciliation issues
• Click-through P&L to drill down from Net Income to individual transactions directly in SAP ECC
• Allocation tools for splitting costs across multiple lines of business and companies while maintaining compliance standards

Real World Results

Utilities gaining benefits from UFA include Salt River Project, FirstEnergy, Rochester Public Utilities, Pepco, NTUA, AEPCO, and Trans Bay Cable. It has been certified by SAP as a NetWeaver solution in 2009 and 2015.

What’s next?