Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Helps Enable The Delivery Of Full Retail Electricity Competition In Australia
28 January 2002
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Australia Pty Ltd. has completed a multi-million dollar project with National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO) enabling Full Retail Competition (FRC) in Australia’s electricity market. Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Australia is a subsidiary of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, one of the largest management and IT consulting firms in the world.
The project involved developing a Market Settlement and Transfer Solution (MSATS) for the national electricity market administered by NEMMCO and affects about eight million domestic electricity consumers who can now join larger commercial consumers in being able to choose their electricity retailer. In NSW, this change occurred on 1 January 2002 and Victorians obtained the right to choose on 13 January 2002. The FRC process is part of a national program to deregulate and reform the nation’s electricity supply industry by increased competition in the areas of infrastructure, energy supply and associated services.
“We chose Cap Gemini Ernst & Young because of their breadth of industry experience, capacity to deploy innovative technology and the firm’s global capability to ensure our requirements were met,” said Paul Price, NEMMCO Manager Corporate Affairs. “The Cap Gemini Ernst & Young team has been energetic, enthusiastic and innovative, and allowed no obstacle to prevent the system being up and running by the required date. The time frame was ambitious from the start, and despite a significant scope increase in the middle of the project, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young was able to bring the project in on time and budget. NEMMCO could not have picked a better partner” said Mr Price.John Igoe, CEO Cap Gemini Ernst & Young in Australia and New Zealand, said successfully delivering the project on time has been a very significant achievement for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, particularly as it involves a very public domain, where 100 separate organisations and 1000 users are currently connected to the System.
“The solution is considered leading edge from a market’s perspective because it handles levels of complexity and volumes which have not yet been catered for in similar implementations elsewhere in the world” said Mr Igoe.
More than a hundred clients and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young staff from Australia, US and New Zealand were involved in the 14-month delivery of the MSATS solution. The project was delivered across three client locations, two countries and involved the use of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young’s worldwide Advanced Development Centres employing the very latest, ground-breaking technology from various IT vendors in order to develop the solution.
About Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young is one of the largest management and IT consulting firms in the world. The company offers management and IT consulting services, systems integration, and technology development, design and outsourcing capabilities on a global scale to help businesses continue to implement growth strategies and leverage technology in the new economy. The organisation employs about 57,000 people worldwide and reports global revenues of more than 8.5 billion euros (2000 pro forma).
More information about individual service lines, offices and research is available at www.cgey.com
About NEMMCO
Founded in 1996 by the governments of the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, the National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO) Limited is responsible for the administration and operation of the largest wholesale national electricity market in the world. With offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, NEMMCO’s aim is to provide an effective infrastructure for the efficient operation of the wholesale national electricity market. They also maintain the security of the power system and coordinate power system planning and transmission.
