USAID Sector Reform and Utility Commercialization (SRUC) Task Order Papua New Guinea Power Limited (PPL) Support on Data Management, Metering, and Customer Engagement – Component 4: Large Customer Engagement Strategy (LCES)

The task order was implemented by Deloitte, which transitioned its support to RTI in August 2021. The survey progress and current state were discussed during a close-out presentation on June 8, 2021. The presentation highlighted the status of the survey, lessons learned, and next steps for PPL. The survey focused on industrial and general service customers, with a total of 2,808 installations recorded. Industrial customers accounted for 53 installations, emanating from 47 unique customers. However, only 24 customer information forms were received to date, and the forms did not have all required attachments. The technical information section revealed that 67 IND installations were recorded, with 53 currently active installations surveyed. The GIS information section showed that all 53 installations had their GIS information recorded, including pole numbers, transformer numbers, sub-feeders, and GPS coordinates. General service customers accounted for 200 installations, emanating from 134 unique customers. However, only 13 forms were received to date for the priority installations, and the forms did not have all required attachments. The technical information section revealed that 2,755 GS installations were recorded, with 1,886 customers currently on the PPL survey list. The GIS information section showed that all 200 installations had their GIS information recorded, including pole numbers, transformer numbers, sub-feeders, and GPS coordinates. Lessons learned from the survey highlighted the need for a robust data management system for future surveys. PPL must have a central, updated customer directory before conducting customer information surveys. The company should also engage with its relationship team to do physical follow-up with customers and dedicate personnel to go through archives for required attachments. Technical information lessons learned emphasized the importance of maximizing productivity through proper delegation of forms to technical teams. Consistent meetings between teams are necessary to track progress, and all fields on the form should be captured on the Excel database to identify potential anomalies. Systematic indexing of physical forms and digital copies is also essential for future retrieval. The survey dashboard presented an overview of the survey progress, highlighting the need for reconciliation of all installations in the Excel database against the initial survey list to identify meters potentially not registered on the system. Data discrepancies and areas of revenue loss were identified, including issues with industrial customers, such as proper collection and check of kVA rating, and general supply customers, such as discovery of currently active but unregistered meters and multiple meters with broken or loose seals. Next steps for PPL include conducting a loss analysis to identify target accounts for further engagement and a short report on back billing best practices and how to apply them at PPL. The company should also take forward the status of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) procurement and billing software upgrades and expand the LPU survey to other centers.