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Prospector is an evaluation tool for gas utilities to determine the profitability of system expansion. The software allows for the financial and economic evaluation of system expansion opportunities.
Product Features and Capabilities
The Market Opportunity Simulation Tool (Prospector) from Forefront Economics Inc. is a Windows-based application for estimating the impact on company profitability from gas service expansion projects. Prospector combines company-specified global assumptions with project-specific inputs to determine cost-effectiveness. Advantages of Prospector include:
- Professional analysis combined with ease of use -- users do not have to understand financial analysis.
- Centralized control of default assumptions assures consistency of analysis.
- Project tracking to database for reporting and integration with data warehouse.
- Predictive models for expected loads and customer additions (Prospector Pro).
Overview of Prospector
A Prospector project consists of information about the project supplied by the user, global assumptions supplied by the Prospector administrator, and the analytical engine that translates all inputs into standard financial analysis.
Prospector is available in two packages, Lite and Pro. Use the features table below to determine which version is right for your organization.
| Feature | Lite | Pro |
| Administration | ||
| Central control of global company assumptions | X | X |
| Vary global assumptions by operating district | X | X |
| Version control of global assumptions | X | |
| Projects | ||
| Residential, commercial, and mixed projects | X | X |
| Service only projects | X | X |
| Main extension projects with in-fill | X | X |
| Automatic construction cost estimation (from Globals) | X | X |
| Home attribute driven estimates of annual loads | X | |
| Home attribute driven estimates of in-fill potential | X | |
| Application and Data Warehouse Integration | ||
| Save results and inputs to XML or SQL Server | X | X |
| Programmable API | X | |
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