BRIDGE Energy Group :(R) 2015 Industry Survey Unveils Key Priority for the 21st Century Utility

MARLBOROUGH, MA--(Marketwired - Jan 20, 2015) - BRIDGE Energy Group, a leading consulting and systems integration company focused on improving utility operational performance, today announced the results from their Utility industry survey on Work and Asset Management.

BRIDGE surveyed over 20,000 utility employees about their views and experiences in asset management. Results show that despite increased investment in mobility products, 55% of all utilities are still relying on paper to issue and collect work results over issuing work orders in electronic format. In addition, of those utilities implementing mobility apps, 71% are not using them to issue electronic work orders or receive the completion and time information electronically.

"The significant advances in mobile data and communications technologies have lowered the costs of implementing fully functioned mobility platforms," said Forrest Small, VP of Grid Optimization at BRIDGE Energy Group. "This offers Utilities one of the most cost-effective ways of improving field crew productivity, reducing back-office costs and enhancing customer satisfaction. Taking advantage of these opportunities should be a key priority for those who wish to compete as a utility of the 21st century."

The survey also showed that 58% of utilities are targeting improvements in overall grid reliability through the adoption of more effective Asset Management approaches with 81% indicating that information from analytics would help alter their maintenance program or approach. However, the gap between assets and analytics remains, as supported by the results from a key industry benchmark tool, the BRIDGE Index™.

In Q4 2014, the BRIDGE Index™ uncovered low "maturity" levels in the progression beyond work order systems to a more holistic work and asset management system. The benchmark showed that new technologies, including analytics and sensors, made it feasible for utilities to drive objective data based decisions and better target maintenance and investment dollars. However, room for improvement was clear. Adds Small, "The utility of the future will migrate from making asset replacement and management decisions based on institutional experience and subjective risk assessment, to making more objective fact based decisions powered by analytics."

Over 65% of respondents conclude that staffing resources and the lack of integration of related systems continue to serve as the largest impediments to Work and Asset Management related projects.

BRIDGE will be sharing the full results of this survey at DistribuTECH on February 3rd-5^th in San Diego California while exhibiting at booth #930. The Asset Management Survey report can also be requested by contacting [e-mail].

About BRIDGE Energy Group
BRIDGE Energy Group is the leading consulting and systems integration company focused on improving utility operational performance. BRIDGE combines business, OT and IT domain expertise to deliver and optimize innovative grid operations solutions. For more information on BRIDGE, please contact 888-351-8999 or visit www.BridgeEnergyGroup.com.