Waterbridge Consulting

Improved decision support is a cornerstone to realize the vision of the Intelligent Utility. Utilities require more information, more frequently – integrated from the field to the back office. Across the industry, utilities, vendors and systems integrators are working together to build the information ecosystem. From SCADA-based sensors in the substation and on the feeder providing dynamic, time-series telemetry such as oscillography and power quality to smart meters measuring power demand in real-time and making the customer relationship a two-way conversation. Asset location, network topology, socioeconomics, demographics, weather, climate and land usage all play a role to transform analysis into action. Erik Shepard specializes in engineering information management, data quality and data maintenance processes, data warehouse and data-centric solutions, and real-time ambient data acquisition via sensor platforms. He offers services as Principal of Waterbridge Consulting to provide consulting, strategy, project and program management and subject matter expertise to help utilities to plan and execute transformational investments that enable them to realize their Smart Grid vision.

Dr. Shepard is currently contracted to Hydro One to support the Advanced Distribution System (ADS) project, which is focused on enabling integration of distributed generation and renewables and improving efficiency, reliability and planning through implementation of a DMS, DA and SA. He is leading the team focused on developing data maintenance processes, turnaround time service levels, and exception management tools as well as transition and resource plans for sustainment of data for the DMS, from sources including the network model, protection and controls settings, SCADA and ICCP gateway configurations, and customer load profiles. Dr. Shepard is also leading the team tasked with acquiring and consolidating data, systems and processes for the network model from field collected assets, designs, operations/outage data, smart meters and substation schematics as a key data source for ADS. Dr. Shepard developed the data acquisition and consolidation business case with a positive 5-year payback as well as the regulatory filings that secured capital funding, and is currently leading this effort through its final phases with benefits being realized and tracked ahead of expectations. He also provides subject matter expertise to support ongoing initiatives including AMI, EAM, Mobile Platform and BI. Among his accomplishments with Hydro One, Dr. Shepard audited existing field data scrubbing methods to yield a 60% reduction in costs while at the same time realizing a 300% increase in productivity.

Dr. Shepard has provided support to SSP Innovations, LLC with project management and consulting for GIS, graphic work design, outage management, distribution planning, and mobile dispatch for clients including SHECO, GP&L and MLGW. He has also provided subject matter expertise on utility systems integration to EPIC Engineering & Consulting Group to assist them in securing an NSF ITR Small Business grant that has provided seed money for product development.

Experience

Dr. Shepard has more than 20 years of experience with information systems on architectures ranging from then-state-of-the-art mainframes and workstations to current web-based cloud computing models. He has worked with more than 30 utilities in North America ranging from small rural utilities and cooperatives to large investor owned utilities. He has experience across the lifecycle of the enterprise from business case development to implementation and project management. Dr. Shepard is familiar with both transmission and distribution sides of the utility operation, as well as generation and capacity markets. Dr. Shepard has been published and spoken numerous times, and is the author of the GeoWorld column "Dynamic Decision Points", which focuses on dynamic data characteristics and challenges, and the Informed Infrastructure column "Sensor Sensibility", which focuses on sensor platforms and applications.

Outside of utilities, Dr. Shepard has experience in various domains including transportation, natural resources, planning and location based services. His work has been used by organizations including the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Geological Survey and the United States Census Bureau. He has previously held tenure with Enspiria Solutions (now a part of Black & Veatch) and with Telvent Miner & Miner. Dr. Shepard also established and led a self-sustaining practice focused on developing web-based data warehousing and analytics solutions as a core competency for the University of Georgia Office of Information Technology Services.

Knowledge

Dr. Shepard holds a PhD and Master of Science in Geography from the University of Georgia. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Science, also from the University of Georgia, and is currently completing a Graduate Certificate in Digital Signal Processing from the University of California San Diego. Dr. Shepard is a member of IEEE (Geoscience & Remote Sensing and Society, Signal Processing Society, Power & Energy Society) and is a Certified MultiSpeak Integrator.