Power Perspective: Improved Decision Making (Part Two)

To make good decisions about utility infrastructure, operators need to closely monitor assets, stay informed of their condition, and quickly access their attributes. As an asset management tool, a GIS application offers users a single source for storing reliable asset information and mapping the location of everything from transmission, substations, and above-ground and underground distribution, to service locations. Using GIS, field crews can perform real-time data collection tasks, such as inventorying assets, performing pole inspections, and redlining data discrepancies.

With this visibility, electric utilities such as MJM Electric Cooperative in Carlinville, Illinois, can operate a more efficient maintenance schedule by monitoring which assets and devices, such as aging poles and protection devices, need attention. Through mobile devices, users can capture and verify field data and send this information back to the office. This proactive approach helps avoid asset failures and extends the life of infrastructure.

Spatial Integration

Using an enterprise GIS to link spatially located asset information with other electric utility applications, such as customer information systems, asset management, outage detection, engineering analysis, and staking programs provide organizations with efficiency and usability.

Accessing and leveraging data from one spatially accurate, centralized location enables an electric utility to more easily monitor infrastructure changes and service disruptions and resolve issues more quickly. This capability helps the utility to provide improved customer service and more efficient business processes.