In our previous blog post, we delved into how the HCLTech-SAP partnership is leveraging Generative AI to transform enterprises. This collaboration has paved the way for groundbreaking innovations that boost operational efficiencies and enhance customer engagement across various industries. In this blog post, we will illustrate a key example of a Digital Colleague that exemplifies this transformative potential—the “HCLTech Rate Case Normalizer.”

The Rate Case Normalizer is an essential tool specifically tailored to the needs of a specific group of employees in the utility industry who regularly handle the complex and demanding process of rate case preparation. By automating and streamlining these processes, this tool reduces the manual effort required to gather information, improves accuracy, and accelerates decision-making across the organization. This application is the result of innovation from HCLTech and SAP, addressing the unique needs of utility providers. In this blog, we explore the technical details of the Rate Case Normalizer, its implementation process and the significant benefits it delivers to the utility sector, paving the way for a more efficient and responsive industry.

Need of the solution in the utility industry and collaboration with SAP

In the utility industry, there is a critical need for solutions that streamline processes like rate cases, which are essential for ensuring sufficient revenue to cover operational costs, capital investments and regulatory requirements. Navigating through the rate-filing process involves meticulous planning, financial analysis, clear communication with stakeholders and a deep understanding of regulatory frameworks. Successful preparation of rate cases is vital for utilities to maintain reliable services while balancing the needs of customers and shareholders.

Some of the common challenges are:

• Legal and regulatory compliance: Utilities must ensure that their rate proposal complies with all relevant laws and regulations. Non-compliance can result in delays and legal challenges.
• Public and stakeholder relations: Rate cases can be contentious, with customers, advocacy groups and other stakeholders often opposing rate increases. Utilities must engage in effective public relations and communication efforts to garner support for their proposals.
• Economic and political factors: Economic conditions, political pressures and public sentiment can significantly influence the outcome of a rate case. A strong economy may make rate increases more palatable; while in all other cases, it can lead to heightened scrutiny.
• Legal costs: Engaging legal counsel and experts to represent the utility in the rate case process can be expensive. These expenses can accumulate, particularly if the case is contested.
• Rate case timing: Timing is crucial. Delays in the rate case process can affect a utility's ability to recover costs and make necessary investments.
• Changing utility landscape: Rapid technological advancements, evolving customer preferences and a shift in energy sources introduce uncertainty to rate cases, requiring utilities to adapt swiftly to new market dynamics.
• Rate design: Developing a rate structure that balances fairness to customers with the utility's need to recover its costs can be complex. It requires navigating the interests of different customer classes and addressing concerns about affordability effectively.

The HCLTech Rate Case Normalizer plays a crucial role in revolutionizing the regulatory landscape of the utility industry. It is specifically designed to tackle the administrative burdens of utility rate cases.

Today, HCLTech's Rate Case Normalizer includes advanced AI-driven features that streamline regulatory compliance processes by analyzing documents and automating reporting tasks. This reduces the typical rate case process timeline from years to just a few months, enabling utility companies to respond swiftly to regulatory demands. Integrated with SAP's robust infrastructure, this application by HCLTech not only simplifies regulatory compliance but also enhances overall operational efficiency for utility providers.

Technical details of the Rate Case Normalizer app

The HCLTech Rate Case Normalizer is designed to automate and streamline the typically manual and time-consuming regulatory processes in the utility industry. At its core, the application leverages advanced AI technologies to analyze regulatory documents, automate data extraction and facilitate the precise preparation of rate cases. This innovation aims to cut down manual effort by up to 70%, thereby significantly improving both the speed and accuracy of regulatory compliance processes.

HCLTech leveraged the reference architecture provided by SAP, which greatly assisted in understanding and incorporating the best practices into the custom solution for utility providers. The multitenant SaaS architecture using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), along with technical guidance from SAP and industry-specific expertise from HCLTech, resulted in a custom solution that automates the preparation and submission of rate cases, significantly reducing manual effort and enhancing accuracy.

The reference architecture played a crucial role in enabling us to seamlessly integrate diverse Large Language Models (LLMs) using the Generative AI Hub in SAP AI Core. This allowed our application to effectively utilize the CAP LLM Plugin and other SDKs and plugins within the Cloud Application Programming model (CAP), as well as implement advanced methods like RAG with embeddings and the SAP HANA Cloud's Vector Engine. These integrations significantly enhanced the benefits tailored to the specific needs of utility providers.

The Multitenant SaaS approach was essential for us as a partner, as it allowed us to deliver this comprehensive solution to our clients, and it greatly facilitated our ability to meet their diverse needs.

The solution components are as follows:

• A multitenant, cloud-native application developed on the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to deliver state-of-the-art innovation powered by GenAI
• Leverages reference architecture and applications provided by SAP
• Combines benefits of the Cloud Application Programming Model with HANA as a Vector Database
• The scalable application can be used to resolve other use cases that require knowledge agent capabilities

Benefits to the utility industry

The HCLTech Rate Case Normalizer offers transformative benefits to the utility industry, fundamentally changing how rate case preparation and the process is managed. By automating the preparation and submission of rate cases, the application dramatically reduces manual effort and the risk of human error. This results in improving compliance accuracy and faster regulatory approvals.

Let’s explore an application use case in action. Imagine your team is preparing for an upcoming rate case review. Traditionally, this process involves months of manual data collection, document preparation and regulatory compliance checks. However, with the HCLTech Rate Case Normalizer, these tasks can be automated, reducing preparation time to weeks. For example, the app analyzes historical data, generates precise reports and ensures all regulatory requirements are met with minimal human intervention. This efficiency not only speeds up the rate case submission but also improves accuracy and compliance, freeing up your valuable human resources to focus on strategic improvements and customer service enhancements, ultimately driving better operational outcomes.

In the dynamic landscape of utility rate cases, AI integration has proven to be a game-changer. The GenAI-powered HCLTech Rate Case Normalizer is a cutting-edge collaborative AI solution that is spearheading the transformation of how we approach preparation, verification, validation, submission and data request processes.

Given below are some business benefits:

• Precision in preparation: Preparing for utility rate cases requires meticulous analysis and data processing. The HCLTech solution takes this to the next level by streamlining the preparation phase with its advanced capabilities. By assimilating vast datasets and identifying key variables, the solution establishes a comprehensive foundation for rate case deliberations.
• Automated document comparison: GenAI compares new and existing contracts. Upon receiving a new contract version, the AI quickly analyzes it against the previous version, highlighting changes, additions, or deletions in the legal language.
• Risk assessment: Generative AI assesses the potential legal risks associated with changes in contracts by flagging clauses or terms that may require closer attention or legal review. This helps the team prioritize their efforts effectively.
• Standardization and compliance: The AI ensures that contracts adhere to standardized templates and meet regulatory requirements specific to the electric utility industry. It identifies discrepancies in compliance and recommends necessary changes.
• Efficiency and time savings: Automating the document comparison process enables the contract management team to save significant time and resources. This efficiency allows them to focus on addressing more complex legal matters and negotiations.
• Future-ready utility rate cases: HCLTech’s GenAI solution isn't just a tool; it's a vision for the future of utility rate cases. By integrating AI in preparation, verification and validation processes, organizations are future-proofing their approaches. GenAI's efficiency gains, accuracy improvements and adaptability position utility rate case professionals at the forefront of innovation.

Technology benefits:

• Reliable/scalable architecture: SAP's reference architecture assures clients of reliability and scalability.
• Ready for business interaction: The solution enables business users to gain insights from GenAI without requiring any technical expertise. The application can also be used by businesses to extract insights from various other processes.
• Seamless integration with SAP enterprise systems: The application runs on SAP BTP and provides seamless integration and extension capabilities to SAP on-prem and cloud solutions.

As utility providers grapple with an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, the HCLTech Rate Case Normalizer application is a pivotal advancement toward a more streamlined and agile industry. The ongoing collaboration between HCLTech and SAP ensures that utility companies are well-equipped to harness the full potential of advanced technologies, driving sustainable growth and superior service delivery in an ever-evolving market.