{"id":581376,"date":"2026-01-23T20:26:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T20:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?post_type=blog&p=581376"},"modified":"2026-01-24T00:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:39:34","slug":"washington-city-power-modernizes-with-arcgis-utility-network","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/washington-city-power-modernizes-with-arcgis-utility-network","title":{"rendered":"Washington\u00a0City Power Modernizes with\u00a0ArcGIS\u00a0Utility Network"},"content":{"rendered":"

Customer Spotlight Story<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Washington City Power (WCP) is a municipally owned public power utility serving one of the fastest-growing communities in southwest Utah. Operating since 1987, the utility delivers electric distribution service to approximately 12,000 customers.  <\/p>\n\n

As Washington City, Utah, continues to expand, WCP plays a critical role in supporting community growth by maintaining a reliable, safe, and cost-competitive electric system tailored to local needs. Guided by a mission centered on operational excellence, transparency, and customer service, the utility has positioned itself as a forward-looking \u201cpower department of choice,\u201d focused on continuous system investment, modern infrastructure, and smart planning to ensure dependable service and long-term value for the community it serves. <\/p>\n\n

To support this mission, WCP relies heavily on its Esri-based GIS infrastructure for field operations, outage management, and system planning. <\/p>\n\n

CHALLENGE <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Seeking to modernize its capabilities, WCP realized it needed a more robust network management system. WCP\u2019s legacy GIS provided limited visibility into the utility\u2019s circuit configurations, meter connections, and network conditions. The GIS lacked connectivity and topology rules, hampering outage management and making it virtually impossible to keep network data current, especially with limited staff resources. This limited visibility into circuit configurations and meter connections makes outage management inefficient and data maintenance nearly impossible with limited staff.  <\/p>\n\n

Field crews had to rely on the \u201cnormal configuration\u201d of circuits maintained in GIS, rather than the actual configurations that existed during the outage. In addition, during outages, crews had no reliable way to identify affected meters or estimate restoration times. Configuration changes, such as taking a substation offline, were too labor-intensive to reflect in GIS, forcing crews to translate between outdated maps and real-world conditions mentally. These challenges were compounded by a largely new staff unfamiliar with the legacy GIS system, underscoring the need for accurate, up-to-date network data to support safe and effective operations.<\/p>\n\n

SOLUTION<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n

WCP decided to migrate to ArcGIS Utility Network<\/a>. The goal was to enhance operational workflows, improve data accuracy, and enable integration with SCADA, outage management, and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems. This strategic upgrade aimed to deliver real-time network visibility and streamline utility processes across departments. Migrating to ArcGIS Utility Network enabled accurate topology and connectivity. This migration addressed the major challenges. <\/p>\n\n

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The new system increased productivity and improved decision-making for operational staff.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

WCP partnered with\u00a0SSP Innovations<\/a>\u00a0to implement\u00a0ArcGIS Pro<\/a>\u00a0along with ArcGIS\u00a0Utility Network using\u00a0SSP Accelerate<\/a>, a packaged migration solution.\u00a0Starting with a solution that is 80\u201390% complete, WCP\u00a0focused on the aspects of\u00a0the migration\u00a0that are\u00a0truly unique\u00a0to WCP.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The project was completed in under 90 days, leveraging a pre-built model tailored to electric utility best practices. SSP\u2019s automated tools cleaned and migrated legacy GIS data, followed by rigorous QA\/QC to ensure connectivity and phasing accuracy. WCP adopted SSP Productivity for asset creation and editing, streamlining workflows with context-sensitive prompts and background processing. This solution provided a scalable, user-friendly platform that reduced the learning curve and positioned WCP for future integration with AMI, SCADA, and outage management systems. <\/p>\n\n

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WCP data migrated to ArcGIS Utility Network schema to power the topology.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Rather than implementing the complete ArcGIS Utility Network model with over 600 fields, WCP worked with SSP Innovations to implement a streamlined version built on electric utility best practices. SSP\u2019s automated tools were used to clean up and migrate WCP\u2019s legacy GIS data to its new ArcGIS Utility Network solution. Further QA\/QC was performed on the migrated data within ArcGIS Utility Network. WCP used the new network functionality to confirm connectivity and phasing and make necessary corrections. <\/p>\n\n

RESULTS <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Since implementing ArcGIS Utility Network, WCP has seen significant operational improvements. Switching procedures that once took days now take minutes, thanks to versioned modeling and validation tools. Outage response times have improved with real-time access to circuit configurations, enabling crews to identify affected meters quickly. Data integrity has increased through tracing and phase propagation, revealing and correcting legacy errors. The implementation also laid the groundwork for integrating AMI and outage management, enhancing long-term planning and system automation. According to WCP leadership, the system\u2019s accuracy and responsiveness have already proven valuable in the field, transforming operations and delivering measurable efficiencies within weeks of deployment.<\/p>\n\n

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The new system improved switching, outage response, and data quality.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

PARTNER<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

SSP Innovations specializes in GIS, work, and asset management consulting for utilities. For this project, SSP deployed its Accelerate solution to deliver a streamlined ArcGIS Utility Network implementation tailored to WCP\u2019s needs. SSP provided automated data migration, QA\/QC, and productivity tools to simplify editing and improve data accuracy.<\/p>\n\n

BENEFITS <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

WCP is experiencing dramatic improvements in switching, outage response, and data quality. Just weeks after implementing, WCP was already enjoying rapid switching procedures with enhanced validation. Before implementing ArcGIS Utility Network, WCP\u2019s switching procedure was a manual process that involved drawing the configuration on paper, signing off on the plan, and then manually updating the GIS after implementation. There was no way to test the plan before it was implemented, and there was a lag in updating the GIS with the final configuration.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe migration process went smoother than I anticipated. We finished earlier than expected and got to do a few more things that weren\u2019t on the original list.\u201d – Rick Hansen, Washington City Power Director.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

With ArcGIS Utility Network, crews can model the switching plan in a new version, test the changes for unexpected de-energization, and immediately post the updates once the switching procedure is complete. What previously took several days to update in GIS can now be completed within a few minutes. Other benefits include:<\/p>\n\n