Press Release

Lake Saint Louis, Mo., Nov. 20, 2018 -- NISC’s web and mobile app, SmartHub, along with several Virginia-based NISC Members were recognized by the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council for contributions to energy efficiency. SmartHub, along with A&N Electric Cooperative, Community Electric Cooperative, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative, Prince George Electric Cooperative, Southside Electric Cooperative and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, were presented a second-place award in the Residential category at the 2018 Virginia Energy Efficiency Leadership Awards luncheon Nov. 14 in Richmond, Va. SmartHub is a customer engagement web and smartphone app for NISC Members’ consumers that provides an easier way to pay their bill and monitor their energy usage. To Rappahannock Electric, one of the award recipients, this has meant increased efficiency and enhanced customer communication. “Through anecdotal evidence, cooperative consumers make changes to their behavior to reduce their electricity use once presented with their personalized energy analysis,” said Kris Sieber, director of member services for Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. “In contrast to receiving an electric bill once a month, consumers are able to draw meaningful correlation to controllable factors like thermostat settings, appliance use, and see the impact external factors such as weather have on their electric use. SmartHub brings tremendous intangible value to Rappahannock Electric.” “We’ve long-known our Members are leaders in the utility industry when it comes to energy efficiency,” said Doug Remboldt, NISC vice president of Member Support. “We’re proud that SmartHub is helping these Members truly communicate with their end consumers and make a difference when it comes to energy efficiency. It puts much more information in the hands of the person at the end of the line, and allows them to not only have access to this information but select how they will [...]

The technology cooperative has launched new features and functionality within iVUE Mosaic, a business intelligence tool turning data into actionable information. Saint Louis, Mo., Sept. 11, 2018 — At the annual Member Information Conference this week in St. Louis, Mo., National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) announced a new, modernized design with enhanced features for its iVUE Mosaic solution, a cloud-based tool helping organizations better leverage data and identify trends to make more informed business decisions. Along with a sleek, new design and improved user navigation, iVUE Mosaic now has over 300 pieces of standardized content available to users, providing a baseline to work towards their specific organization's goals. Depending on their needs, users also have the option to build their own content from scratch, with support readily available from NISC staff. "These new features allow our Members to gain immediate insights into their data by using out of the box content," said John Weber, NISC product line manager. "In addition, they can also easily customize an existing visualization to meet their unique needs." Other new features available to users include improved portal creation tools, expanded iVUE data sources as well as a New Data Source Explorer for navigation. Egyptian Electric Cooperative, located in Murphysboro, Ill., deployed iVUE Mosaic in February of 2018. The cooperative was looking for a better tool to not only analyze their data, but to present that data in an effective way to the decision makers at Egyptian. "Before we began using iVUE Mosaic, we gathered information from various NISC modules and developed reports from spreadsheets or Word documents," said Art Pontow, projects manager for Egyptian Electric. "It was very time-consuming, and the reports didn't have the flexibility that we were looking [...]

Lake Saint Louis, Mo., Sept. 6, 2018 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of software solutions to utility and telecommunication companies, announces its annual Member Information Conference (MIC) Sept. 11-13, 2018, in downtown St. Louis at the America's Center. NISC's premier learning event, the MIC, brings together more than 2,500 Members, NISC employees, invited guests and national speakers for a three-day conference featuring more than 190 concurrent sessions and three power-packed general sessions. "At the heart of the MIC is learning," says Jasper Schneider, NISC Vice President of Member and Industry. "We're able to emphasize our enterprise-wide technology solutions to help Members better enhance their operations and utilize the NISC solution suite to its full potential. Our scope spans a wide range of industry professionals, from executives to communications/marketing, accounting, finance, human resources and information technology professionals." This year's MIC celebrates NISC's 50th anniversary with special tributes to our rich history and a focus on the next 50 years. Highlights: Sessions From accounting and billing to engineering and all points in-between, the 2018 MIC will provide a record 191 sessions on the latest enhancements to NISC solutions, updates on the technology roadmap and discussions of issues facing the utility and telecom industries. Of these sessions, 46 will be Member-led, featuring best practices and case studies. Partner Pavilion As the hub for the MIC's events, the Partner Pavilion is home to NISC's Consulting Booth and Innovations Lab, where attendees can meet with NISC subject matter experts, as well as more than 30 exhibiting partners and vendors showcasing a variety of solutions and services valuable to our Member organizations. Thought-provoking General Sessions Sept. 11 Vern Dosch President and CEO of NISC Dosch will share [...]

The technology cooperative has added two Indiana-based utilities to its growing Membership. Lake Saint Louis, Mo., July 18, 2018 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of software solutions to utility and telecommunication companies, has long been a supporter of the Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA). The IT cooperative continues to strengthen its presence in the region with the addition of Lebanon Utilities in Lebanon, Ind., and Lawrenceburg Municipal Utilities in Lawrenceburg, Ind. “IMPA serves as an energy partner to communities in Indiana and Ohio,” said Jasper Schneider, Vice President of Member & Industry for NISC. “We are excited to help serve this region by offering integrated software solutions that will not only benefit customers in Lebanon and Lawrenceburg but will also make their operations more streamlined and efficient.” Lebanon Utilities (LU) offers electric, sewer and water services to more than 8,800 customers in central Indiana. Additionally, the company manages and operates storm water and telecommunications facilities for the City of Lebanon. LU currently uses NISC’s automated bill printing services and is expanding their use of NISC solutions by implementing the fully integrated enterprise for billing, accounting and operations management. “We realized we needed a modern, robust, fully integrated platform to manage our business more efficiently,” said Sandra Morgan, CFO for LU. “NISC offers a suite of functionality that provides us a one-stop-shop for all our business process needs – including billing for all services, meter data management and an App for field service management. In addition, they offer award-winning support, so we know we will have a lasting, stable relationship.” Lawrenceburg Municipal Utilities (LMU) offers electric, water and waste water services to more than 3,400 businesses and residents in southeastern Indiana. LMU [...]

Enterprise, Broadband Solutions Becoming More Important to Utility Providers Across the Country Lake Saint Louis, Mo., May 21, 2018 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of software and solutions to utility and telecommunication companies, has long been a supporter of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and its members. The IT Cooperative continues to strengthen its presence in the region with the addition of City of Dayton Utilities in Dayton, Tenn., Decatur Utilities (DU) in Decatur, Ala., Murray Electric System (MES) in Murray, Ky. And Sequachee Valley Electric Co-op (SVEC) in South Pittsburg, Tenn. “TVA has been essential to the southeastern United States as an energy provider and partner in economic development,” said Jasper Schneider, Vice President of Member & Industry for NISC. “We’re excited to continue to be the technology partner to SVEC, MES and Decatur Utilities and help them utilize technology that’s critical to their systems and improving the quality of life of their service areas.” SVEC is a distribution cooperative serving more than 34,000 residences and businesses across 3,000 miles of line and 14 substations in southeastern Tennessee. SVEConnect, a subsidiary of SVEC, will provide Fiber to the Home service to the residents of Marion County, Tennessee. SVEConnect will leverage NISC’s experience in the broadband industry to utilize iVUE Connect Service with broadband functionality for their customer care, billing and accounting needs. “We are excited to work with NISC on our fiber deployment,” said Mike Partin, CEO of SVEC. “Having a partner who understands the broadband industry, in addition to the electric industry, is important to us as we begin this new venture. iVUE Connect will make our deployment more efficient for our employees and ultimately our members.” MES offers [...]

The technology cooperative has launched NISC Operations Analytics, an integrated analysis platform for engineers and system operators of electric systems. Lake Saint Louis, Mo., May 3, 2018 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), an IT cooperative serving utilities and telecommunications organizations worldwide, announced the launch of NISC Operations Analytics (OA), an integrated platform for engineers and system operators of electric systems, which harnesses hourly AMI reads and the granularity of time-series data for better decision-making. “NISC Operations Analytics is a true paradigm shift,” said Todd Eisenhauer, NISC vice president of Strategy & Operations Solutions. “It changes the way utilities manage and operate for their distribution network, giving users greater visibility into system performance.” Leveraging a time-series approach, NISC Operations Analytics allows users to look beyond peak system analysis to better grasp real system performance. Data gleaned from NISC’s Meter Data Management System (MDMS), GIS, and Members’ Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) allows users to create realistic models and run calculations to make better-informed decisions. The core engine of NISC Operations Analytics is provided by EDD’s Distributed Engineering Workstation (DEW), which can analyze interval AMI data in a detailed electrical model, allowing it to be thoroughly vetted. Users can review large quantities of data collected over long periods of time, and identify trends and patterns in usage to make better planning and operational decisions. Previously, Verendrye Electric Cooperative, Velva and Minot, N.D., had been using seasonal models to make approximations, often over or underestimating equipment sizes and having to redo installations in the field. With the deployment of OA, Verendrye has saved time and money, properly sizing equipment in the field thanks to the ability to analyze real, hourly meter data. “At Verendrye, we see the implementation of OA as [...]