Central Networks puts power supply details on the web

Utility firm Central Networks has launched a live network map on its website which allows its 4.9 million customers to view constantly updated information on their electricity supply.

The map shows when a power service is interrupted, the cause of the problem, and the estimated time of restoration, and lists planned and unplanned power interruptions by county.

“The development represents an important step forward in the UK electricity industry and offers customers accessible real time information in an open and transparent way for the first time,” said a spokesman for the firm, which supplies electricity to the Midlands region.

Central networks developed the system in house, as a three-tier application, with a front end web application, a middle tier web service proxy and an end tier comprising a web service-based interface.

All the applications are written in Microsoft C# .Net and run on Windows server 2003. The system links into the company’s two key control systems, run by GE Harris and Thales, and based on Oracle databases.

Data is extracted from these every five minutes, and provided to the web service data interface so that customers can view it online.

The technology was first introduced by E.ON Nordic which runs a similar application for its million customers across Sweden.

“The system was originally written in JavaScript for a proof of concept, but had to be migrated to C# .Net for deployment to our external web servers. It had to comply with the company’s strict security policy as it was going to be visible on the web,” said the spokesman.