GIS IN ACTION 19 Rapid GIS Deployment New Mexico Gas Company Starts from Scratch Highlights „ GIS-based maps enable utility staff to see the entire state at once. „ With geographically enabled data, the utility can quickly create work orders. „ With GIS, operations staff can see how its data relates to the company’s transmission lines. When New Mexico public utility company PNM sold its gas assets this year to Continental Energy Systems, the newly formed New Mexico Gas Company faced a significant hurdle: maintain existing service levels for its 500,000 customers while building an operations and engineering platform from scratch. The utility needed its distribution data— information related to pipes, valves, meters, work orders, and customers—in one place where it could be stored, managed, and accessed by everyone on staff. A legacy GIS and various computer-aided drafting (CAD) and paper mapping systems had to be converted to one GIS. In addition, the company needed a core technology solution to facilitate engineering work and field access to data. New Mexico Gas Company selected GIS technology from Esri so that utility data could be used, shared, and edited for operations, maintenance, and engineering functions. Within three months, the utility had consolidated disparate data into one place and deployed GIS tools throughout the company. The GIS launch was speedy, budget constraints were met, and employees were trained in time to use the new technology. “With GIS-based maps, we can see our entire state at once,” says Curtis Winner, New Mexico Gas Company manager of land services. “I turn on the aerial imagery, and all of a sudden, I’m in Carlsbad, a five-hour drive. It really helps staff evaluate projects and saves on travel. Using GIS tools, such as bookmarks, we can jump all over the state without leaving the office.” The first step was to migrate existing applications to the GIS. The second step was to focus on the data stored in its homegrown record-keeping database for gas distribution, AMIGO. Information such as construction orders, asset data, leak reports, and repairs was pulled into the GIS by linking each piece to relevant points, lines, and polygons. “We looked at what we had, and we knew we could tie in the AMIGO data with attributes in GIS to improve data accuracy in the database,” Winner says. To enhance the geodatabase, New Mexico Gas Company brought in aerial photography, county street data, parcel data, and available environmental data. The utility built specific task assistant procedures for both mapping and design of distribution pipelines and other assets. With GIS-based utility maps, the Task assistant tools allow New Mexico Gas Company staff to map designs for new construction and operations staff is able to view county maintenance. assessor and parcel data, along with topography, aerial images, and customer in- accurate and timely model runs. GIS system is running smoothly and being used formation, and see how that data relates to the “Potential routes can be identified quickly, company-wide,” says Deborah McDonald, GIS company’s transmission lines. and we know the exact length for generating administrator, New Mexico Gas Company. Field crews use GPS data to track facilities accurate cost estimates,” Winner says. “We and update asset information. Because all the have taken a lot of the what-ifs out of the equa- More Information data is geospatially enabled, the utility can tion and can quantify our recommendations.” For more information, contact Curtis Winner, quickly create work orders for new construcNew Mexico Gas Company also uses GIS manager, Land Services (tel.: 505-697-3639, tion and maintenance. Using GIS-based spatial for environmental planning and permitting. The e-mail: curtis.winner@nmgco.com). analysis, the company performs least-cost staff can view assets in relation to groundwater analysis to site potential pipeline corridors. discharge zones and other environmentally These routes can also be imported into the sensitive areas, such as cultural sites and threatutility’s hydraulic modeling software, ensuring ened and endangered species habitats. “The