SAP FERC project updates from customers

We recently heard from two utility companies that HPC has been advising on SAP regulatory reporting enhancements. One will be making HPC Utility Financials Accelerator a regular part of the monthly closing cycle, utilizing UFA's real-time reporting features with December 2012 results. The utility expects that this improved reporting process will free up extra time that the accounting department can use work on other projects.

Another customer just went live with SAP FERC configuration improvements we've made to their classic FERC module, including the implementation of some UFA functionality. Before, this utility only generated regulatory reports once a year, due to complex, time-consuming processes outside of SAP. Now, they can easily run FERC reports monthly, shortly after each month-end close. Everything stays in SAP, and the finance team can drill-down through many levels of each transaction. As part of this project, the utility modified its business process to require that all charges be applied to internal or PM orders, instead of cost centers. In a future blog post, we'll look into the organizational change management that facilitated this significant transition.

What's noteworthy about both of these customers is their shared commitment to getting the most out of the FERC module and legacy General Ledger. Neither is planning an SAP New GL migration at the moment. While we certainly recognize the New GL's benefits (and recently announced a real-time FERC solution for it), HPC strives to be as solution-agnostic as possible. Classic FERC, no FERC, new or old GL, it's all good in our books.

Case Study: HPC Real-Time FERC Solution at We Energies

We Energies (WE) provides electric service to 2.2 million customers in portions of Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and maintains more than 45 thousand miles of electric distribution lines and over 350 substations. In 2012, WE wanted improve its regulatory reporting processes in order to satisfy regulators more easily, and to facilitate its eventual migration to the SAP New General Ledger. WE selected HPC America's Real-Time FERC Solution for the SAP New GL, which enables utilities running the New GL to generate real-time regulatory reporting data without using the "classic" FERC module. Read the complete case study to learn more about the benefits WE gained from HPC's latest groundbreaking FERC solution for utilities on SAP.