Case Studies

Veridian Connections Powers Innovation through GIS

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Challenge Like many utility companies, Veridian needs to ensure that information related to its power system is accurate and accessible to support the engineering, operations and customer service goals of the organization. Veridian also continually seeks ways to improve productivity and focus on improvements that their customers value. This led Veridian to conduct an internal review that identified opportunities to enhance the way systems worked together and communication across departments, particularly with regards to outages. Operations staff needed to receive information from the field sooner, and when power outages occurred, customers appreciate restoration updates as quickly as possible. Veridian identified that expanding upon its existing use of GIS technology would help the utility address some of these needs. To achieve this, Veridian had to streamline its backend data maintenance processes so GIS analysts could devote more time to effectively serving the organization. A plan was designed to ensure Veridian's enhanced data management system would satisfy their current requirements, as well as future improvements. With this in place, Veridian began exploring GIS solutions that were cost-effective and could be readily integrated into its existing system. Given the mission-critical nature of Veridian's business, a provider that would remain engaged with the utility throughout the project lifecycle was essential. Veridian Connections ("Veridian") is the seventh largest municipally-owned electricity distributor in Ontario, serving more than 119,000 residential and business customers in a 639 km 2 service territory. As demonstrated by the results of the Ontario Energy Board's 2014 Electricity Distributor Scorecard, Veridian is committed to delivering positive customer experiences and operating effectively. Driven to continually improve and seek efficiencies, Veridian conducted an internal review in 2014 to evaluate potential enhancement opportunities. In 2014, Veridian implemented several ArcGIS solutions to help further integrate its systems and processes to drive greater efficiencies. As a result, Veridian has streamlined the flow of information throughout the utility and eliminated redundant processes, resulting in an improved customer experience and more efficient utilization of existing staff. 1 Esri Canada | Veridian Connections Powers Innovation through GIS Veridian's old network diagram (left) compared to its new diagram (right), which was created using ArcGIS Schematics. The new network diagram creates a more simplified version of the company's utility distribution network. ArcGIS helps utility streamline operations communication and reduces effort required to capture project changes by up to 50%.

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