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BPLG Adds Software-Based Prepaid Account Management System

Posted on: Thursday, 30 April 2009, 09:00 CDT

BPL Global and Exceleron Software, Inc. to partner to offer software-based Prepaid Account Management System worldwide

PITTSBURGH, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- BPL Global(R), Ltd. (BPLG), a smart grid technology company dedicated to leading the transformation of energy efficiency and reliability, has partnered with Exceleron Software, to co-market Exceleron's industry leading software-based Prepaid Account Management System (PAMS) worldwide. With PAMS, participating customers of electric utilities gain control of their electric costs, typically reducing electric bills by 10% to 15% and avoiding service interruption. Electric utilities using this enterprise class software solution experience higher levels of customer satisfaction and reduce write-offs of bad debts. Together with leading utilities, PAMS provides new payment options to consumers that reduce energy consumption and improve operating productivity by transforming how consumers pay for electricity.

What makes prepaid so popular? It is a cost saver for the electric service provider that actually benefits consumers. Prepaid customers pose no credit risk. Deposits are not required eliminating the need to compute interest on deposits. There is never a past-due balance. Invoicing and collections efforts are therefore eliminated. In contrast, traditional billed electric service invoices a customer at the end of a billing period. Invoices that are not paid become aged receivables and the electric service provider must then collect the past due amount. If the collection effort fails, the customer's electricity is eventually disconnected and the provider writes off unpaid revenue as bad debt.

"Software-base prepaid account management transforms how utilities interact with their customers," said Keith Schaefer, CEO of BPL Global. "Consumers take active ownership of their electricity account, saving money and helping the environment. Utilities reduce financial risk -- a win-win solution for utilities and their customers."

BPL Global offers the PAMS solution to utilities around the globe as part of its comprehensive smart grid solutions portfolio. The value proposition for smart grid solutions is most compelling when it addresses the entire energy delivery value chain. BPLG offers collaborative smart grid solutions from the substation to and through the customer premises.

"The relationship with BPLG provides Exceleron Software with an ideal partner to quickly reach customers around the world," said Bob Crenshaw, President and CEO of Exceleron Software. "Their global reach and integrated suite of Power SG smart grid solutions combined with our PAMS provides a robust solution set for utilities."

The PAMS software represents a complete solution for the reduction of bad debts while enhancing customer service. It allows utilities to offer a prepaid option to customers who may have two or more services such as electric, gas and water. The system can be deployed quickly, easily integrating with a utility's advanced metering, customer information and payment systems. PAMS maintains constant communication with the prepaid consumers through the use of alerts and daily updates. Unlike hardware based prepayment systems, PAMS does not require expensive kiosks, smart cards, payment tokens, monthly billing or in-home terminals. This significantly improves speed of deployment and program flexibility.

"The Exceleron Software partnership provides utilities with a valuable enhancement to their existing AMI deployments," said Jeff Tolnar, CTO of BPLG. "PAMS follows BPL Global fundamental design principles -- software driven, standards based, and hardware agnostic. Utilities can easily implement a prepaid solution without depending upon any single AMI hardware vendor. It gives our customers the functionality and flexibility that they desire."

"Prepaid" is a commonly used term in many industries. Consumers from all walks of life take prepaid for granted as a normal alternative to monthly bills. Examples of currently used prepaid purchases are phone cards, gift cards, and toll tags. In colder climates, fuel oil and propane are also purchased on a prepaid basis. Prepaid electric service works in much the same way. Consumers pay for electric service prior to delivery. As consumers use electricity, their credit balance is reduced each day until either the balance is exhausted or additional payments are added to their balance. If a credit balance is exhausted, the consumer's electric service is disconnected until a credit balance is restored.

About BPL Global

BPL Global, Ltd. (BPLG) is a smart grid technology company dedicated to leading the transformation of energy efficiency and reliability. The company provides software solutions and services to electric utilities and energy service companies enabling an intelligent grid to more efficiently manage demand, integrate distributed energy resources, improve service reliability, and optimize cost and capital productivity. BPL Global partners with local utilities, Internet service providers, equipment suppliers and financiers to create end-to-end solutions integrating the best in software, communications, hardware and managed services to aggressively deploy smart grid solutions around the world. Part of the clean technology sector of the electric utility industry, our applications provide the critical foundation for a coordinated, intelligent grid to deliver energy more efficiently and reliably for a greener environment. www.bplglobal.net

About Exceleron Software

Exceleron Software, a software development company based in Dallas, Texas, has more than ten years experience in the prepaid industry from a development, member services, and marketing standpoint. Having first entered the prepaid industry through its development of a total prepaid alternative for telecommunications providers, Exceleron turned its efforts to applying this same knowledge to electric service providers in 2004. www.exceleron.com

SOURCE BPL Global, Ltd.

Source: PR Newswire

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