Tuesday Breakout Sessions

When a fault occurs on the transmission system, the scope of impact can be very large. It is important to understand the scope of impact and the geographic location of faults when they occur. By integrating data from power quality meters, revenue meters, digital fault recorders and relays, it is possible to derive a spatial analysis of the scope of impact. In addition, other data sources like lightning can be integrated to provide near real time fault location.

This presentation will discuss the technologies employed and the techniques used to deliver near real time event analysis.

DistGIS (Distribution Geographic Information System) is Gulf Power Company’s ArcMap based application for modeling our distribution network. TCMS (Trouble Call Management System) has a one-way interface to extract DistGIS graphics and tabular information to build a network for trouble call analysis and response. TCMS maintains a detailed history of every outage event logged.

This paper presents a prototype interface in which historical trouble information is imported back into DistGIS, and presented to reliability engineers for use in improving the Gulf Power distribution system. Outage Data is arranged in three categories; by event, by device, and by customers out.

This organization allows engineers to focus on frequency of certain types of events, troublesome devices, or customers experiencing unusual numbers of outages. Engineers are provided a simple interface to extract data from TCMS and present it on standard Gulf Power map products. Tabular reporting tools enhance the maps with additional detail.

Integrating Systems can be a costly adventure. Upgrading with existing custom coupled integration, even costlier. So what should you do, and when should you do it? This presentation will walk through the different options you have available to you on the lot, what work you can do on your own (like changing the oil), and what you need expertise for (like replacing your engine). What you might end up with is a Prius, with 240 HP under the hood, and really cool rims!

Located in Eastern North Carolina, Greenville Utilities Commission (GUC) provides electric, water, sewer and natural gas services to Pitt County with a combined total of more than 135,800 customer connections.

The organization is entering a very exciting time as an increasing amount of our operations are integrating with GIS technology. GUC has focused on delivering GIS content and functionality effectively through careful management of our data infrastructure.

Specifically, the GUC Gas Department recently designed, developed and deployed a new data model to manage a recent CAD conversion. Along the way, the project team encountered success, failure and humility. These lessons will help guide future data projects at GUC and would be valuable for any organization interested in pursuing the implementation of similar techniques.

Do you want to get up-to-date GIS into the hands of your decision makers so they can make the best organizational decisions? The answer is a resounding yes. However, when looking at integrating GeoDatabases, enterprise applications, and setting up all of the work flows, processes and support mechanisms for each line of business (LOB), the task is almost insurmountable. Arizona Public Service will share how we built an Enterprise GIS Web foundation based on ArcGIS Server that allows each LOB to build their specific tools and integrate their data sources into systems that accomplish their business missions quickly and cost effectively. We'll discuss how a hardware and software foundation, along with an enterprise-wide five year GIS plan and an Enterprise License Agreement all combine to create an effective SOA on which to rapidly deploy business-specific Web services.

Although T&D utilities have been discussing GIS integration for some time, the depth and degree of GIS integration that works well and delivers desired capabilities from a business and IT perspective remain somewhat limited. Technical, cultural, process, and cost issues underpin this situation. Hydro One has a roadmap to attain ESRI ArcGIS-SAP ERP and ESRI ArcGIS-Smart Grid integration enabling transmission and distribution applications that operate as part of a near-real-time GIS which is synchronized at the asset-level with SAP EAM. The primary objective of this presentation is to highlight the steps and plan that Hydro One is executing to attain these integration and process capabilities, leveraging today's data volumes and preparing for tomorrow's Smart Grid flood of information, said by some to increase operational data by 300,000 per cent. In addition, this discussion will focus on other utilities' experiences in integrating GIS with SAP EAM to deliver a composite SAP-GIS asset register and with Smart Grid to deliver a grid state connectivity engine, analytics, and visualization capabilities. The session will focus on Hydro One's plan and others' experiences in these important areas of ESRI ArcGIS software-related system integration.

Georgia Power's Transmission Forestry and Right-of-Way group needed a way to create GIS features from geotagged aerial images of encroachments.

With vendor support from TC Technologies, we were able to create an application that would automatically process the latitude and longitude stored in the picture's metadata (EXIF). The solution uses geotagged imagery, ArcGIS Server 9.3.1, ArcSDE and the ArcGIS API for Microsoft Silverlight. This new way of handling information saves time and is ideal for non-tech savvy users.

Most GIS systems are not designed specifically for the purpose of disaster management. This presentation proposes a systematic methodology for evaluating an existing GIS to rate its level of preparedness for a disaster situation. Based on a literature review; existing methods for building a GIS and the use of GIS systems in disaster management are described. From this review, a set of system criteria for evaluating a GIS for disaster management have been identified. Using heuristic and cost-benefit analysis to explore the nature of an existing system, it is possible to identify gaps and to detail needed improvements. The results of a case study application of this evaluation method are described to evaluate the heuristic scoring system. Armed with the knowledge generated from this new methodology, GIS practitioners can work to improve their systems to mitigate risk from disasters.

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss how gas distribution operators can prepare for the regulations proposed by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration and recently approved by the Department of Transportation. The regulations require each system operator to establish and operate a Distribution Integrity Management Program (DIMP). It is expected the regulations will be published to the federal register this fall, so gas distribution system operators should be gearing up to implement a program for their organization now. This paper covers the role of a geographic information system (GIS) in meeting the requirements of the regulations. The presentation focuses on the GIS and related data, data maintenance procedures, and applications to ensure an operator will have the foundation required to meet the upcoming rules. The proposed rules specify seven elements that an operator's program must encompass, and the presentation will cover how GIS fulfills a key role in each of those elements and provides the foundation required for an effective integrity management program.

Due to the increasing industry regulations and requirements, natural gas utilities across the country are turning to technology to fill the lack of man power as well as increase the efficiency of industry specific work flow processes. With the creation of the ESRI Small Utility ELA small utilities are finding it easier than ever to meet regulations such as DIMP by utilizing some of the same resources that were once only affordable to large utilities. By implementing ArcGIS Server with ArcPad 8 and ArcGIS Mobile utilities, users can now incorporate much more information into a seamless RDBMS which in turn enables them to meet many of the requirements of DIMP. Based on recent implementations, this presentation will demonstrate methodologies for utilizing ESRI software for small utilities to aid in capturing the correct asset information, as well as how to best use this information to meet these new industry requirements.

Facing a NERC audit of its transmission vegetation management practices, PPL began last year looking for a way to use its enterprise GIS to replace a decentralized system of paper maps and spreadsheets. The utility needed to demonstrate its ability to track line clearing activities—from planning through post-work inspection—for 1,500 miles of NERC-regulated transmission lines operating at 230 kV and above. With utility foresters often working in remote areas of its service area, PPL needed a full featured map-based editing tool that could operate in a network disconnected environment and synchronize all edits to and from a central ArcGIS Server. PPL selected a COTS ArcGIS Engine application that could be customized for its specific work processes and implemented the ESRI distributed geodatabase replication framework for synchronization with ArcGIS Server. This presentation will describe the business requirements and technical solution implemented.

Georgia Power Company's move from CAD to ESRI began as part of a small IT-based Business Case to evaluate the benefits of moving to the core Southern Company GIS model. From this sprang a comprehensive business case and implementation that incorporated complex integrations including Work Management, Outage Management, Customer Information and Distribution Planning systems. Currently supporting over 450 field engineers in over 50 offices, learn how GPC encountered, addressed and still faces a wide variety of challenges, and their plans for the future.

Most utilities have used non-GIS databases for years to track their asset and work order management programs. Many times these databases are full of great information but are loosely tied to the new GIS database, or in some cases not connected at all. This is the challenge that we were facing several years ago and have recently overcome with the completion of a major data synchronization project.

Alabama, Georgia, Gulf, and Mississippi Power worked together with vendor support to construct a new system that would allow our GIS and legacy Oracle databases to act as a combined unit without abandoning either one. This method of using each system for its best parts allowed us to continue to utilize many of our current work processes while only increasing our data's accuracy.

In the past year, PJM has taken a very aggressive approach to incorporating new technologies within the organization, and GIS has played a significant role. Several GIS applications have been developed to depict transmission information in an interactive and user friendly fashion across the enterprise. One such technology is the "Interconnection Planning Portal". This application allows engineers to sort various GIS data based on specified criteria. Another emerging technology is PJM's Green Website. This site is highlighted by another interactive GIS display that allows the user to sort proposed projects based on their renewable fuel type. PJM continues to lead the industry in providing unique ways to incorporate GIS and the bulk transmission system.

In recent years, many utility companies have been installing AMI systems for a variety of reasons. This presentation will discuss how Avista is integrating AMI with GIS to automate outage prediction. The solution not only includes displaying customer outages in GIS using AMI information but also includes using this information to automatically predict fault locations.

The presentation will cover Avista's approach to designing a framework that can handle multiple AMI technologies, the decision to use Open Source technologies to speed development, the approach to testing the automated prediction process, and will conclude with future development plans.

This presentation will provide an overview of the history of Alabama Power Company and how it has evolved over the past one hundred years. We will discuss how the Data Management Center has become a vital part of the existence of the company and also how ESRI GIS Technology is a vital part of the Data Management Center. We will discuss some of the components that has helped develop the Data Management Center and made the Company what it is today. We will also show what we feel will be the future of the Data Management Center.

Mechanical, or Third Party, damage from construction activity in the vicinity of gas transmission pipelines is a significant threat for pipeline operators. This threat is amplified for Consolidated Edison of New York (Con Ed), whose transmission pipelines operate in the heart of New York City. Con Ed has implemented a comprehensive integrity management program supported by GIS applications. Their Pipeline Integrity Information Management System (PIIMS) operates on the ArcGIS/ArcSDE platform structured by the ArcGIS Pipeline Data Model (APDM). The Mechanical Damage threat requires tools to facilitate prevention and sound emergency planning. This paper discusses how Con Ed has met these objectives by developing the One Call and Pipeline Patrol applications that automate processing of incoming One Call tickets, tracks pipeline patrollers who verify and identify construction activity in the field, facilitates emergency response in case of an incident, and are fully integrated with PIIMS and their integrity management program.

Spatial data can be stored in disparate formats and data models, making it challenging for utilities to fuse data together for an integrated view of their business information. This session will take an in-depth look at the common data interoperability challenges faced by the electric and gas industry, as well as demonstrate how spatial ETL (extract, transform and load) can improve access to the spatial data organizations' need to use. Through demonstrations and case studies, this presentation will illustrate how electric and gas utilities, including Enstar Natural Gas Company, are using spatial ETL today to convert, restructure, migrate and load large volumes of spatial data from disparate sources into an ESRI GIS system and transforming this data into valuable information. Attendees will leave this presentation with a deeper understanding of the many ways spatial ETL can help them better access and use their spatial information.

ESRI has recently completed an update to the Gas Distribution Data Model. This session will include the rationale behind the changes, details about the modifications, particulars on how the model can be used by utilities to manage both transmission and distribution infrastructure, and plans for future updates. There will also be time allocated for questions.