Award Acknowledges Innovation in Technologies Supporting PG&E Distribution Control Centers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- IDG's CIO today announced Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) as a recipient of the 2016 CIO 100 award. The 29th annual award program recognizes organizations around the world that exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence in information technology (IT). PG&E was recognized for its innovative use of technologies that support the company’s industry-leading, high-tech Electric Distribution Control Centers.

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PG&E’s IT infrastructure helps manage more than 140,000 miles of electric power distribution lines that serve nearly 16 million Californians. The three new distribution control centers – one in Fresno opened in late 2014, one in Concord opened in 2015 and another opened in Rocklin earlier this year – are revolutionizing the way operators monitor and control PG&E’s grid.

“We’re thrilled to be recognized by CIO magazine for two years running – last year for our emergency base camp technologies and this year for our Electric Distribution Control Centers. The cutting-edge technologies at these centers give our operators unprecedented visibility into our electric system, allowing them to pinpoint the exact locations of outages and quickly restore service. This is just one way we’re leveraging the latest technology innovations to deliver safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy to our customers,” said Karen Austin, PG&E Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

The facilities are built to a higher reliability standard by incorporating the use of:

• Leading-edge Voice over IP and Radio over IP (VOIP/ROIP) technology,
• a new Distributed Management System (DMS) that incorporates advanced electronic mapping and SmartMeter™ data to help operators pinpoint the exact location of an outage, sometimes even before customers can report an outage;
• and Geographic Information System (GIS) integration with DMS.

Additionally, critical systems are constructed with redundant data feeds, including dual server rooms, dual communication networks and dual power trains, so if any one facility needs to go offline in case of an emergency or natural disaster, the remaining two facilities are configured to support operations across PG&E’s full service territory. And the use of advanced communication technology allows the seamless integration of traditional phone and radio platforms into an easy-to-use touch screen control platform.

“Delivering innovation and business value are top priorities for CIOs everywhere, and our CIO 100 awards program celebrates the leading IT organizations that excel at both,” said Maryfran Johnson, Editor in Chief of CIO Events. “Our 2016 winners are raising the bar even higher this year with their outstanding work in digital transformation, customer focus and IT-business collaboration.”

Executives from the winning companies will be recognized at The CIO 100 Symposium & Awards Ceremony, to be held Tuesday evening, August 16th, at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

About the CIO 100

Recipients of this year's CIO 100 Award were selected through a three-step process. First, companies filled out an online application form detailing their innovative IT and business initiatives. Next, a team of external judges (many of them former CIOs) reviewed the applications in depth, looking for leading-edge IT practices and measurable results. Finally, CIO editors reviewed the judges' evaluations and selected the final 100.

Coverage of the 2016 CIO 100 Awards will be available online at CIO.com on August 1, 2016 and in the August issue of CIO's digital magazine.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 23,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.

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About CIO

CIO is the premier content and community resource for information technology executives and leaders thriving and prospering in this fast-paced era of IT transformation in the enterprise. The award-winning CIO portfolio—CIO.com, CIO executive programs, CIO Strategic Marketing Services, CIO Forum on LinkedIn, CIO Executive Council and CIO primary research—provides business technology leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of IT’s role in achieving business goals. Additionally, CIO provides opportunities for IT solution providers to reach this executive IT audience. The CIO Executive Council is a professional organization of CIOs created to serve as an unbiased and trusted peer advisory group. CIO is published by IDG Enterprise, a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world’s leading media, events, and research company. Company information is available at http://www.idgenterprise.com/.

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Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company