ABSTRACT
Electric utility deregulation, economic pressures forcing downsizing, and the marketplace pressures of potential takeovers have forced utilities to examine their operational and organizational practices. Utilities are realizing that they must shift their focus to customer service. Customer service requirements all point to one key element: information — the right amount of information to the right person or computer within the right amount of time. The flow of information requires data communication over extended networks of systems and users. In fact, utilities are among the largest users of data and are the largest users of real-time information.
