Georgia Power, the largest of Southern Company’s five electric utilities, has been providing electricity to residents of Georgia for more than 100 years. All of Southern Company’s subsidiaries, including Georgia Power, place environmental compliance as a top priority; and recently the Enviance System was implemented to fill in the gaps within Georgia Power’s environmental management system. With six employees responsible for environmental compliance oversight at 90 transmission and distribution (T&D) service and maintenance centers, Georgia Power decided that they needed to provide tools for these employees to manage their workload more efficiently.

In 2004, Enviance was selected as Georgia Power’s environmental information management system. The Enviance System immediately addressed two needs: replacement of a legacy system for reporting of oil spills which was no longer supported by IT, and tracking tasks and data related to underground storage tank compliance across the entire state.

Georgia Power selected Enviance because of its powerful functionality.

Many of Georgia Power’s service centers have underground storage tanks for vehicle fuel storage. Monthly tank volume reconciliation reports are required to verify that a tank is not leaking. This involves Enviance users at 50 sites entering data from tank monitors; several data points are collected on a daily basis and also when fuel deliveries are made. All of this data is entered into the Enviance System, where at the end of a calendar month, the System then performs the required calculations to determine if the tank is operating in compliance or if a discrepancy is noted. The Enviance System allows mobility – with access anywhere there is an Internet connection – to those users who are responsible for regulatory compliance. Enviance users at the 90 service centers enter data when there is an oil or hazardous material spill or release. The System triggers certain tasks for events that exceed a reportable quantity or for oil spills that enter a waterway.

The Enviance System reminds users to take necessary readings at the beginning and end of the month, alerts users and compliance personnel when a discrepancy is noted, and notifies compliance personnel if data has not been entered within a week. With the assistance of Enviance, the six compliance personnel can now remotely monitor the compliance status at these distant facilities. Carolyn Kennedy, Environmental Services Manager, is already seeing the benefits: “This will significantly speed the process of report completion, eliminate transcription errors, and save manpower.”

Georgia Power assures compliance faster and more cost effectively than ever before.

Operating a large electrical utility comes with demands from all ends of the spectrum: a corporate parent, customers, and regulatory agencies. Having an environmental management system with the ability to save time and money, all while assuring compliance, eases those demands. The corporate parent can rest assured that subsidiaries have all of the tools necessary to remain in compliance. Customers benefit by having a utility that is not subjected to large fines. And regulatory agencies appreciate all information in one central location, making reporting and auditing much easier. Georgia Power has many employees but only a few are environmental professionals. Enviance’s intuitive compliance management technology provides a foundation that keeps Georgia Power’s environmental management system working efficiently.

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Phone: (760) 496-0200
Fax: (760) 496-0202
E-mail: info@enviance.com
Web: www.enviance.com