BOR - CARMA (Capital Asset and Resource Management Application)
Investment ID: 010-000000279
Overview
Program Title
BOR - CARMA (Capital Asset and Resource Management Application)
Description
BOR-CARMA (Capital Asset and Resource Management Application) is Reclamation's implementation of Facility Maintenance System (FMS). CARMA provides a strategic approach to asset management at dams/power facilities, ensuring reliability & cost effectiveness. This investment was initiated in 2010 and is managed by the Dams Safety and Infrastructure office.
Type of Program
Major IT Investments
Multi-Agency Category
Other
Investment Detail
CARMA is the main tool used to maximize the life of Reclamation's power generation equipment and related assets utilizing a disciplined approach to best-practice maintenance. It aids in the estimation of future costs of maintenance activities based on the ability to extract actual costs on a historical basis utilizing CARMA. In FY 2020, CARMA was utilized to track and manage, through the use of over 4,300 active work orders interfacing with the Financial and Business Management System (FBMS), over $282 million in reported operation, maintenance, and replacement (OM&R) activity on Reclamation's constructed real property. Without this capability, Reclamation would suffer significant losses in effective resource management, work order and cost tracking, and asset reliability due to inefficient work management capabilities. The estimated cost to administer these functions without the use of CARMA would, at a minimum, surpass $6 million annually.
CARMA is also used to meet compliance with NERC/WECC (North American Electrical Reliability Corporation/Western Electricity Coordinating Council), which is necessary to assure the public of the reliability and security of the bulk power system (grid). Reclamation is the nation's largest wholesaler of water and generates roughly 40 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year (generating a billion dollars in revenue) through its hydroelectric power plants.
Reclamation s weighted forced outage factor - for active, conventional, non-seasonal facilities - is benchmarked against the industry average, as reported by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Generating Availability Data System (GADS) database. Whereas the industry average fluctuates slightly year to year, the rolling average hovers around 2.2%.
CARMA is also used to meet compliance with NERC/WECC (North American Electrical Reliability Corporation/Western Electricity Coordinating Council), which is necessary to assure the public of the reliability and security of the bulk power system (grid). Reclamation is the nation's largest wholesaler of water and generates roughly 40 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year (generating a billion dollars in revenue) through its hydroelectric power plants.
Reclamation s weighted forced outage factor - for active, conventional, non-seasonal facilities - is benchmarked against the industry average, as reported by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Generating Availability Data System (GADS) database. Whereas the industry average fluctuates slightly year to year, the rolling average hovers around 2.2%.