FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC) Application for a Certificate of Public ...

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Response:
FortisBC Inc. (FortisBC or the Company)
Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity
for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project
Response to British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC or the Commission)
Information Request (IR) No. 1
35.3 Explain the security provided to protect the data.
Submission Date:
October 5, 2012
Page 62
The MDMS application is protected behind firewalls within the FortisBC corporate network. Data
transmission uses SSL 128bit encryption for all communications.
Role-based security will be used which will ensure only authenticated users have access to the
system. Additionally, users will be assigned to roles or security groups that will limit the
functions they can perform or data they are authorized to view.
Versioning of data will also be maintained within the MDMS and audit logs kept in order to have
the ability to identify changes that have been made, by which user and why.
Response:
35.4 Explain the algorithms used in the VEE process and why the backfilling of
missing data is required.
Despite the robust communications network that would be established as part of the proposed
AMI deployment, the transmission of some hourly data will inevitably be delayed and some data
may be faulty. Validation routines flag potentially faulty data. In instances of incomplete data,
estimating algorithms attempt to fill in the missing data. If automated algorithms fail, the VEE
process allows for manual editing of the hourly data.
Using validation, estimation and editing (VEE), the data is quickly and accurately verified and if
needed, amended, making it available for billing, operational and other uses by the utility.
Backfilling of missing data may be required:
• To ensure that clean and complete data can be delivered to utility systems;
• To ensure the data quality of assets (for example, by using the Message Sum Check
algorithm to compare the sum of the intervals to the difference in register reads);
• To ensure complete data for Web presentment to customers; and
• To ensure that billing can proceed accurately.
A Message Sum Check algorithm is a critical process in the effort to provide data for billing
processes that meet the needs for verification and reconciliation. Upon the receipt of the AMI