Sector Reform and Utility Commercialization (SRUC) Task Order for Papua New Guinea Power Limited (PPL) Support on Data Management, Metering, and Customer Engagement

Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Deloitte Consulting LLP. The SRUC Task Order aims to promote utility commercialization and equitable, effective reforms that will enhance the financial viability and long-term sustainability of developing countries' electricity systems. Papua New Guinea Power Limited (PPL) is a fully integrated, state-owned electric utility serving the entirety of Papua New Guinea. In early 2018, PPL embarked on a journey of reform to address its poor track record of service delivery, focusing on financial sustainability, operational improvement, and improved transparency. PPL's reform is a key component of the Government of Papua New Guinea's (GoPNG's) ongoing PNG National Electrification Roll Out Plan (NEROP), which aims to increase electricity access to 70% of households by 2030. PPL's current Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems are fractured and siloed, supporting independent parts of its core business, including its commercial functions. The commercial functions utilize three different systems that are not integrated and do not communicate. These include the Suprima prepayment vending system, the Gentrack business application, and a Help Desk Ticketing system for customer service. PPL requires a wide range of sustained assistance to improve and better utilize existing systems, and there are several areas in which near-term assistance can generate impact, improve financial viability, and set the foundation for longer-term growth. The SRUC Task Order proposes a Work Assignment with four components to assist PPL's Retail Division as it works to improve its financial position and better serve its customers. The objectives of the Work Assignment include helping PPL to better engage and maintain relationships with its 7,800 largest customers, who represent 77% of PPL's current revenue. The assistance outlined above will require a significant and consistent commitment from PPL's Retail Division, both from senior management as well as from various operational teams within the division. The Work Assignment includes activities that aim to help expand and strengthen PPL's capacity to manage customer information, strengthen business processes related to the collection and management of customer data, and improve how PPL utilizes that customer information for billing and collections. A critical result of this work will be a tailored approach to propose more consistent engagement with these large commercial and industrial customers. The SRUC team will directly assist PPL Retail Division staff and coordinate with the international donor Project Management Unit (PMU) established by the Australian High Commission. The SRUC team will work from the PPL headquarters in Port Moresby to analyze databases, identify data patterns and information inconsistencies, and better understand the gaps in the current processes for data collection and management. The assistance outlined above will require a significant and consistent commitment from PPL's Retail Division, both from senior management as well as from various operational teams within the division. The activities listed above are aligned to support the utility's reform agenda and will require sponsorship from the company's leadership as they will require a deviation from the utility's current state and a disruption of the status quo. The SRUC team will conduct a review of the 8,000 industrial and commercial clients in PPL's Gentrack post-paid customer database, which makeup approximately 80 percent of its revenues. The review will focus on identifying gaps and inconsistencies in the current database and the extent to which the following information is included and accurate for customers: name of the customer, alignment to specific feeders, location, meter specifications and location on property, customer classification, and alignment with correct tariff according to customer type.