Projects
Over the years, Motive Power has worked closely with some of the largest utilities in the U.S., gaining deep insights and practical knowledge in the energy sector. Through these partnerships, we’ve developed a clear understanding of the challenges utilities face, from decarbonization and regulatory compliance to infrastructure modernization.
This expertise enables us to deliver customized solutions that drive operational efficiency, project success, and sustainable growth. Let our experience helping industry leaders guide your organization to new heights.
Case Studies
Enhancing Utility Safety Culture Through Maturity Model and Assessment
Motive Power partnered with a state regulatory agency to develop a maturity model for utility safety culture assessments. The model aims to guide the continuous implementation of safety procedures and objectively grade progress.
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A state regulatory agency responsible for regulating various privately owned public utilities sought to address the challenge of utility-ignited wildfires and enhance the overall safety culture. They required an assessment of each electrical corporation’s safety culture every five years and a technical model for continuous safety procedure implementation.
Motive Power collaborated with internal and external subject matter experts to develop a maturity model for gas and electric utility safety culture assessments. The team created a framework for the client, safety culture consultants, and utilities to work together towards a progressively mature safety culture. Additionally, they designed a flowchart to visualize process handoffs between safety-focused sister organizations, ensuring a consistent and coordinated approach.
The Safety Culture Maturity Model and Assessment was finalized, helping utilities identify their current safety culture stage, ideal stage, and the attributes needed to progress. Motive Power continues to support the client in implementing the model with stakeholders and partner utilities for optimal results.
Coal Ash Removal at Decommissioned Power Plants
A major utility in a southeastern U.S. state of coal ash ponds wanted to clean up 12 coal ash ponds at decommissioned power plants. Our team provides oversight, identifies improvement opportunities, and ensures consistency across all sites. By removing toxic coal ash, we aim to protect the environment, prevent pollution, and safeguard public health.
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The initiative focuses on the remediation of coal ash ponds resulting from decommissioning of 12 coal-fired power plants in a southeastern U.S. state. Our role is to provide additional oversight regarding costs, schedules, risks, and change management. We aim to identify opportunities for improvement, conduct in-depth reviews of project variances, and offer recommendations to enhance consistency across all sites.
We conduct monthly site visits to meet with on-site project teams and discuss the progress of the work. Our team submits a monthly assessment report to the local power company, outlining observations and control analyses for each site to help identify trends, challenges, and achievements. The ultimate goal is to keep the project on schedule and within budget.
The project has significant environmental implications as coal ash contains a toxic mix of mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and other heavy metals. This waste can pollute waterways, endanger wildlife, and cause respiratory illnesses for those living nearby large storage ponds.
Coal ash removal mitigates groundwater pollution sources and the risk of catastrophic spills resulting from containment failures due to extreme weather events such as floods. By cleaning up these coal ash ponds, the project aims to positively impact the environment and the well-being of surrounding communities.
Wildfire Mitigation Program Support
A major utility serving over 16 million customers across Northern and Central California faced an urgent need to manage increased wildfire risks. With critical staffing changes impacting operations at both their North Valley and North Coast headquarters, they required immediate support to maintain infrastructure and mitigate risk for their Transmission Line Wildfire Mitigation Program.
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Motive Power stepped in to provide essential project management and controls expertise, integrating seamlessly into the utility’s operations. Our team worked closely with construction crews, managers, vendors, and internal staff, ensuring communication remained clear and projects stayed on track. We took responsibility for managing construction schedules, reviewing clearance requirements, ordering replacement materials, and validating vendor pricing to streamline procurement processes.
Leveraging our established tools and methodologies, Motive Power delivered quick, measurable results. Our involvement enabled the utility to maintain operational continuity and safety, even as the wildfire crisis intensified. By the end of 2023, our team helped close over 1,471 capital tags for the utility’s Electrical Transmission Line organization, with 817 tags at the North Valley headquarters and 654 at the North Coast.
The utility praised Motive Power for providing the resources they needed during a time of heightened risk and staff shortages. Our consultants were recognized as valuable contributors to their teams, offering critical support that allowed the utility to focus on building a more permanent team.
This successful partnership not only addressed immediate project demands but also aligned with the utility’s broader environmental sustainability goals, contributing to wildfire mitigation efforts that protect communities and natural resources across California.
Enhancing Project Management with Dashboards
A large utility serving the Midwest and Southwest sought to hold its Project Management team accountable for key performance metrics, including monthly variance, project additions, and closeouts. To support this strategic initiative, Motive Power was tasked with developing dashboards focused on Project Management Office (PMO) performance. These dashboards were designed to provide quick access to key data, enabling executives and PMO teams to make informed, strategic decisions based on project performance.
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Motive Power developed a series of executive and PMO-focused dashboards, initially in SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) and later transitioning to PowerBI. These dashboards offered a comprehensive view of the utility’s project lifecycle, highlighting key metrics such as Schedule Performance Index (SPI), work order closeout progress, 5-year budget outlooks, and more. The dashboards were built based on input from both the utility’s executives and Transmission and ISP PMO teams, ensuring that the information provided aligned with their operational needs and strategic objectives.
Motive Power delivered 20 detailed dashboards that significantly enhanced the visibility and accuracy of the utility’s data reporting, achieving a data accuracy rate of over 99%. The dashboards’ visual appeal and efficiency surpassed what the utility’s internal development team had produced. The success of this project led to further engagement, with the utility expanding Motive Power’s services to its Gas and Energy Supply divisions.
This initiative aligned with the utility’s governance objectives, offering a scalable and sustainable data-driven approach to project performance management. Motive Power’s expertise in dashboard development and data visualization helped the utility improve operational oversight and drive better decision-making across its organization.