The year of 2012 is already well underway, and Intelex is gearing up for an action-packed year of events to attend to around the world.  The first on the list is the 15th annual Energy, Utility and Environment Conference (EUEC) in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Taking place January 30th to February 1st, this exciting event plays host to the top environmental leaders, energy executives, NGOs and government policy makers from around the globe in to the name of exchanging best practices and working toward renewable energy solutions for the future.

As a returning solutions provider, Intelex is thrilled to be involved.  “EUEC is always a great event to connect with top industry specialists,” says Intelex’s own senior solutions expert, Fraser Dickie. “We’ve developed valuable relationships from this show in previous years and we’re excited to be back!”

Be sure to visit the Intelex team this week at booth 214/216.

Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC), a massive utility provider covering the entire nation of Oman, had its environment, health and safety (EHS, or HSE in the Middle East) management system featured in the Times of Oman today. OETC’s HSE management system is provided by Intelex with the help of Middle East partner Barik Group.

OETC has implemented Intelex’s complete EHS management solutions, and leverages the system to manage auditing, nonconformances, incident and near-miss reporting, safety meetings, KPI reporting, and much more. Across the region, utility companies must meet stringent regulatory EHS and reporting requirements.

As OETC GM Said Al Hadabi remarks in the Omani Times article:

(The) online reporting system has played a vital role not only keeping OETC in compliance with regulations and standards, but also in maintaining a safe workplace across all the sites. OETC will now have a 360-degree view of not only their employees’ activities, but also all the contractors working for OETC. This online HSE reporting system allowed us to use fewer resources while expanding our operations. The system has also reduced a lot of manual errors and paperwork and improved communications and accountability of HSE activities – a key benefit to the organization.

The implementation of our system at OETC – following system rollouts at Oman Oil, Muscat Electricity Distribution Company, Daleel Petroleum and Dubai International Airports – represents the fact Intelex is becoming the go-to provider for HSE management for energy, utility and other industries across Oman and throughout the region. 

While its ambitious agenda to curb greenhouse gases (GHG) has been delayed, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is still moving ahead in full force to have power plants – one of the biggest contributors of GHGs – cut emissions drastically.

The EPA announced late last year it would move to push new, strict emissions performance standards on plants and refineries. The move faced stiff opposition from U.S. Republicans, as well as some others opposed to imposed limits on emissions, since it was viewed as a move by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to make up for the fact President Barack Obama failed to pass promised environmental legislation in his first term in office. However, the EPA had a legal mandate from the Supreme Court to move forward on carbon emissions cuts.

This week the EPA indicating it is budging, but only slightly. Its new deadline for proposing a GHG performance standard has been moved to September 30, two months later than the initially proposed July 26 deadline.

While power plants across the U.S. may breathe a collective sigh of relief that the deadline is not mere weeks away, this is but an eight week extension. Tracking, reporting, and mitigating GHG emissions will be the new reality for all power plants and refineries by the end of the year.

What's the best plan? Well, since you can't manage what you don't measure, start tracking carbon emissions immediately.

While the current rule may apply only to the biggest emitters – refineries and power plants represent more than 40 per cent of nationwide emissions, according to the EPA – eventually all businesses will need to move towards emissions reporting and reduction. So what's stopping you? Track and report on emissions now. It can be cost-effective, cheap and – counterintuitively – generate substantial financial rewards.

Did I mention we make software for that?

Joey Ebanks, EHS and Training Manager for Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) and Intelex client, dropped by the Intelex offices in Toronto, Canada this week to make a presentation to Intelexians on how CUC is using Intelex software, and how it has boosted the performance of its EHS programs. 

Below is an excerpt from his presentation, an excellent anecdote that reflects Joey’s confidence as he entered an audit of his environmental management system (EMS) last month:

“In April we had a surveillance audit. The auditor came back in to look at 50 per cent of our EMS system. And I actually took the weekend off and went to Fort Lauderdale, had some fun. My boss, our VP, was very upset that I was not there, making sure everyone was ready for the audit. But I was absolutely sure we were ready. In fact I said to him, 'I’m 99 per cent sure we are going to pass. If we don’t, you can fire me.'

“So we created within Intelex a little audit report based on what the auditor was looking for. And on April 18, the auditor came in. Traditionally the audit wrap-up session takes two hours, because there are so many things to discuss. This audit wrap-up session took four minutes. Four minutes. The CEO and all the executives came in the room and sat down, prepared for a fight. Then auditor went through the report, and she just simply said, ‘Look: these are the recommendations. Take them or leave them. This is as close to as flawless an audit as I’ve ever seen.’

“So it took us four minutes, and that’s how we knew were making huge progress with Intelex.”

Courtesy of the help of its Middle East partner, Barik IT Group, Intelex Technologies is cornering the market on providing comprehensive EHS management software solutions to utility companies across OMAN. 

Recently, Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) joined Muscat Electricity Distribution Company, Al-Ghubrah Power and Desalination and Majan Electricity Company by turning to Intelex for its industry-leading EHS software solutions.

Check out our Press Room for more details on this exciting new relationship and Intelex's continuing growth across the Middle East.

Last week, Intelex’s energy solutions specialist Steve Ross was at the Association Rural Electric Generation Cooperatives (AREGC), where hosts Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI) welcomed him into their backyard.

Steve joined AECI in their friendly hometown of Branson, Missouri to support the energy provider and show how scalable and configurable Intelex software can be. Steve had a great time at this four-day event, meeting with power utility coops and offering software solutions.

With a great mix of business and pleasure, the event was a huge success. Intelex can’t wait to participate again next year in Salt Lake City, Utah with hosts Deseret Power.

To find out more about the software solutions Intelex has for Environment, Health & Safety and Quality visit our product pages.

Along with our Middle Eastern partner Barik IT Solutions, Intelex is pleased to announce two new additions to our client roster, Majan Electricity Company and Daleel Petroleum both located in Oman, have selected Intelex Technologies to provide them with an EHS Management System.

Both companies are key players in Oman’s energy industry with Majan Electricity being a leader in electricity distribution and supply and Daleel Petroleum a top oil and gas operator. Majan Electricity selected the Intelex EHS Management System as a means of automating all of their Environmental, Health & Safety processes into one unified system, working to effectively manage and track such core business components as Audits Management, EHS Training, Incident Reporting, Permit Management, Document Control, Environmental Management and Risk Assessments. Daleel Petroleum selected Intelex’s Safety Management System as a means of automating and tracking their EHS activities across all of their operating sites. Both companies will be leveraging the web-based Intelex platform to foster real-time reporting and generating a complete 360-degree view into their EHS business processes and performances.

To learn more about how an Intelex solution can help you improve your organization's EHS performance, request a free demo here.