Horizon Power has earned two major accolades at the 2018 Digital Utility Awards on 19 April 2018.
The top award – Utility Innovator of the Year’ – went to Managing Director, Frank Tudor, for overseeing several Australian-first innovations, while the utility was named Digital Utility of the Year for its digital transformation.
Mr Tudor deftly balances the integration of game-changing technologies with the stable supply of electricity across more than 2.3 million square kilometres of regional Western Australia.
Mr Tudor said the awards recognised Horizon Power’s transformation from an energy-focused utility, to a technology-focused one.
“As an industry, we need to manage the broader digitisation of our economies and lifestyles – think of the ever increasing abundance of interconnected devices and appliances, predicted uptake of electric vehicles; and the growing reliance on automation and analytics – these will all have disruptive impacts on our networks,” Mr Tudor said.
“Investing in digital technologies is the solution to these challenges, and opens up enormous opportunities for new commercial ventures, exploration of fresh ideas, and development of new ways to meet customer needs.
“At Horizon Power we continue to develop and invest in digital technologies, including sky imaging and satellite-based cloud monitoring as part of our world-first research trials, which will inform our work in the renewable energy space.
“We have also introduced a free app, which allows our customers to monitor their usage and bills in near real time – a first in Australia.”
The Digital Utility Awards by Utility magazine recognise the utility industry’s greatest achievements in the digitisation of utility networks, processes and practices across Australia.
Mr Tudor’s award recognises the person making the single biggest contribution to the digitisation of the utility sector across Australia.
Mr Tudor said the awards were validation of the investment Horizon Power is making in ground-breaking projects and products.
“With each breakthrough we get closer to being the world’s best microgrid company and awards like this serve as a reminder of where this organisation is headed.”
