NMPP Energy in July received a national award for the development of the NMPP Energy Operations application, which was unveiled earlier this year.
CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the information technology industry and workforce, and the Public Technology Institute (PTI) announced the award at its national Tech Talk event in July. NMPP Energy received the award in the Public Safety and Emergency Management, and Community Resiliency (50,000-249,000 population) category.
The award is part of CompTIA’s annual Solutions awards, that recognizes member governments for their use of technology to address community engagement, bolster cyber security and improve government services.
The app, developed in-house by NMPP Energy’s Digital Solutions Group with collaboration from other NMPP/MEAN team members, streamlines communications from participating member electric and natural gas utilities to staff during times when communication is critical.
Through the app, utility participants can submit requests for mutual aid, report utility outages and submit electric generation notifications.
“During a mutual aid event, utilities don’t have much time to look up contact information and call around to find the necessary needed equipment,” said Rich Eymann, NMPP electrical distribution O&M specialist. “Through the app, one click notifies mutual aid coordinators and requesting equipment from nearby utilities is easy.”
The app’s interface is simple to use. The home screen includes options to call for mutual aid (electric and natural gas), submit a mutual aid form, report an outage and submit a generation notification. The mutual aid form includes options to request equipment from a chosen mile-radius from the requesting utility.
Once the request is made through the app, NMPP staff are notified and can start quickly working on coordinating assistance.
The generation notification selection allows utilities that have their own generating units to notify NMPP and necessary personnel of status changes to generating units. The outage notification allows utilities to quickly report it with one-touch of a button. This allows NMPP staff to track events and complete follow-up steps.
The app is available for download in the Google Play Store and the Apple app store. Search for “NMPP Operations” and then download to your cell phone. Once downloaded, users complete a simple registration process to begin using the app. For any questions, contact Rich Eymann at reymann@nmppenergy.org.