Creating the Investment’s Business Case

In most cases the return on a smart grid investment relies in equal parts on selecting a solution that meets properly articulated needs and a willingness to incorporate its potential contribution into normal business operations.

A critical first step is to quantify these inputs in an investment business case. Beyond its role as a financial planning tool, the investment’s business case will become the preferred tool to cross-pollinate understanding of the project’s aims and to facilitate organizational support.

PLT utilizes a proven business analysis methodology that provides both the business case and project deployment sequence for every smart grid project. To do this, PLT combines an in depth understanding of utility concerns with a robust facts based planning approach delivers a roadmap for maximizing operational efficiency and making the right technology choice.

In addition, using this analysis, PLT provides the utility with a project plan that maximizes the economic return on the equipment purchased and therefore minimize any need to increase the rates charged.

PLT develops this analysis in two phases:

Fatal Flaw Analysis

The fatal flaw analysis is a critical examination of the existing design to identify the key dependencies ("fatal flaws") that dictate the financial outcome of the project. Using the results of this analysis, the utility will be able to understand what system functionality and project deployment competencies will have the greatest impact on the financial success of the smart grid project. And therefore ensure that they select vendors able to deliver the key performance requirements that will have the most direct effect on meeting the performance goals for the system. This assessment of critical abilities and equipment performance could be used to assess the ability of vendors to successfully execute the system design they submit.

System Design Sensitivity Analysis

The system design sensitivity analysis analyses the contribution and cost of the technology required to mitigate the project execution exposure identified in the fatal flaw analysis into the business case.  In addition, the business case will model the result of prioritizing the sequence each of the projects that comprise the planned smart grid deployment. Finally, the business case looks at the probable outcome of each of the individual projects. E.g. what will be the probable outcome, worst case and best-case result of utility directed load control?

The final outcome will be a project priority list and associated budget for use in the issuance of requests for quotations. 

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