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Enhancing data connectivity and operational reliability with Utility Network

Learn how utilities and public works organizations are using ArcGIS Utility Network to enable more complete connectivity between datasets, reduce the need for error-prone manual processes and gain operational insight to improve asset and outage management and ensure reliable service delivery.

Public Works Department at the City of Provo, Utah – Replacing manual work with automated processes to improve data accuracy

The Public Works Department at the City of Provo provides safe and reliable water, wastewater, and stormwater services to over 18,000 customers throughout the city.

Before migrating to the Utility Network, the City of Provo, Utah’s Public Works Department had to identify pressure zones, sewer management and watershed areas using manual methods. The process was slow and tedious, involving hours of manually tracing out each zone and populating attributes with related features. External support was often required given how labour intensive the system was. Given its manual nature, the previous process was also prone to human error. Such errors could lead to slow and costly audits, as many of the Department’s processes are obligated to meet certain regulatory and permitting requirements.

Before migrating to the Utility Network, the City of Provo, Utah’s Public Works Department had to identify pressure zones, sewer management and watershed areas using manual methods. The process was slow and tedious, involving hours of manually tracing out each zone and populating attributes with related features. External support was often required given how labour intensive the system was. Given its manual nature, the previous process was also prone to human error. Such errors could lead to slow and costly audits, as many of the Department’s processes are obligated to meet certain regulatory and permitting requirements.

“With ArcGIS Utility Network providing service-level access, we have put accurate data into the hands of more users at all levels within the organization to increase vested interest in the data as well as the value from the data. This helps us tremendously as a data-driven organization.” — Kalvan Hone, GIS Coordinate in the City of Provo’s Public Works Department

Learn more about this deployment here

Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU) – Interconnecting data to improve asset and outage management

Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU), owned by PPL Corporation, provide energy to more than 1.3 million to customers in Kentucky and Virginia.

Like many utilities, LG&E and KU found that essential transmission information was often isolated, requiring manual data processing to support critical workflows such as outage management. More specifically, GIS data related to transmission was limited to individual circuits and associated switches and structures. Circuits were not connected with one another and siloed from the distribution system. Moreover, the Company relied on a third-party vendor to manage the data, which limited integration and increased the costs of routine updates. To improve asset and outage management, LG&E decided to take advantage of ArcGIS Utility Network as well as ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS field operations capabilities. To implement these solutions, the Company partnered with Esri Platinum Tier Partner SSP Innovations.

With ArcGIS deployed across the organizations by SSP Innovations, all lines of business were migrated to an ArcGIS Utility Network Model. Transmission GIS was brought in house and reflected in the Utility Network. Data was further enriched by connecting devices, lines and substation assets.

With ArcGIS deployed across the organizations by SSP Innovations, all lines of business were migrated to an ArcGIS Utility Network Model. Transmission GIS was brought in house and reflected in the Utility Network. Data was further enriched by connecting devices, lines and substation assets.

“Transitioning to the Utility Network has laid the groundwork for a far more capable future. We already see improvements with visualization of our asset data and better-quality decision making. As more areas of LG&E and KU move to the Utility Network, we expect a ripple effect to occur that will enable the company to be better prepared for future challenges. With Esri and SSP Innovations assisting, we feel we are in great hands and positioned to maximize the benefits of our Enterprise GIS."
— Keith Yocum Manager Transmission Engineering, Construction and Maintenance

Learn more about this deployment here

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You can learn more about ArcGIS Utility Network here.

This post was translated to French and can be viewed here.