General Utilities Archives | Epoch Solutions Group

Streamlining Utility Infrastructure: The Rise and Importance of Digital As-Built Systems

Posted on October 29, 2024November 6, 2024 by Ciara Tobin

The digital transformation of the utility industry is progressing rapidly, driven by escalating energy demand and the need to modernize the grid for greater capacity, reliability, and resilience. This evolution is touching every aspect of a utility’s organization, including field operations.

As utilities strive to provide field crews with accurate, real-time data about assets and infrastructure, digital as-built solutions are becoming a vital component of their technology ecosystems. And solutions like the EpochField map-first workforce management platform are leading the way in delivering the digital as-built capabilities that premier utilities need to thrive.

What’s Driving the Need for Digital As-Built Solutions?

A utility’s as-built environment can differ significantly from the design documents as changes occur during and after construction. Utilities traditionally attempted to update as-built records manually—continually redlining paper-based construction packets and distributing new versions. Even after investing in geospatial information systems (GIS), many utilities have continued to use a manual workflow that creates mapping backlogs and stretches already-thin staffs. It’s a slow, laborious, inefficient process that inevitably yields inaccurate information.

Yet, to do their jobs effectively, field crews need to know the exact location, condition, and history of the assets they inspect, maintain, and repair. From pipelines and electrical lines to transformers and water mains, high fidelity asset data is a must. Without it, the risks to the organization are significant: Slow response to outages, maintenance work backlogs, inefficient resource use, and low customer satisfaction.

This reality is encouraging leading utilities to adopt digital as-built solutions, generating a map-based, dynamic, digital representation of the utility’s infrastructure and other field assets as they exist today.

A digitized as-built record is much more than an electronic version of a paper document, as digitized data is transformed in ways that create tremendous value. Data is collected in real time where the work is occurring, so it’s accurate and reliable. The as-built record is comprehensive, providing critical context by combining documents, GIS data, photos, and other details on both existing and newly installed assets. And since the digital as-built system is typically cloud-based, data is readily accessible, free of siloed legacy system constraints.

Digital As-Built Solutions Transform Field Operations

For field technicians, the difference between paper and digital as-builts is substantial. Manual records don’t provide the spatial intelligence they need to quickly locate assets, and inaccurate or incomplete records leave gaps that hinder their work. It’s especially problematic when time is of the essence, such as during power restoration activities. In contrast, digital as-builts provide field crews with timely, accurate information about the current state of the utility’s infrastructure, so they can locate assets faster and approach their work with reliable data.

By implementing digital as-built solutions, utilities can manage field assets from a position of greater knowledge, equipping field technicians to perform their work efficiently, effectively, and safely. A best-in-class digital as-built solution transforms field operations by delivering six key benefits:

Real-time Data. Field workers are more productive when they have instant access to real-time asset information, including visualizations like GIS-based maps. Digital as-built systems empower them to make faster, more informed decisions when performing maintenance and making repairs.
Better Accuracy. Digital as-built solutions eliminate manual data entry and the resulting errors. Field workers can approach each task with confidence, knowing they have an accurate, up-to-date representation of the field infrastructure.
Improved Safety. Inaccurate information about their environment can place field workers in harm’s way. A digital as-built system reduces risk by ensuring field workers are fully informed of hazards, changes, safety protocols, and other essential information.
Faster Response. Digital as-built systems improve collaboration and information sharing among field workers, engineers, and office staff, enabling them to respond more quickly to an outage or other emergency and coordinate effectively on large, complex projects.
Cost Savings. By eliminating repetitive manual tasks and speeding the process of updating as-built records, a digital solution reduces field operation labor costs.

Digital As-Built Systems Improve Tracking and Traceability

Utilities must be able to track and trace every asset from the time it’s installed through its operational life and eventual decommissioning, including its movement, condition, upgrade, and maintenance. Proper tracking and tracing is integral to effective asset management—both reactive and proactive—and it’s vital for maintaining regulatory compliance.

Digital as-built systems make tracking and traceability significantly easier by providing better visibility into every asset throughout its lifecycle, noting every change made over time.

When assets are affected by outages and other events, digital as-builts arm field crews with the historical information needed to speed restoration efforts and provide responsive customer service.
When traceable data is paired with advanced analytics, utilities gain data-driven insights that enable teams to make informed decisions to improve asset management.
When utilities need to demonstrate tracking and traceability for compliance purposes, digital as-built systems provide easy access to detailed, fully auditable records of all field activities.

As technology continues to advance, digital as-built capabilities will evolve and further improve. Generative AI is likely to have a major impact, especially when it comes to making massive data sets understandable and usable. With high fidelity data becoming even more integral to utility field operations, utilities will look to their vendors to incorporate AI and machine learning to empower field crews and office-based staff to make better data-driven decisions.

EpochField: The Complete Digital As-Built Solution for Field Operations

Today’s utilities can’t afford to struggle with outdated asset data that reduces field crew efficiency and jeopardizes their safety. That’s why many are implementing the EpochField map-first workforce management system—an industry-specific solution purpose-built to address the evolving challenges of a dynamic utility industry.

EpochField transforms as-built documentation for utility field workers, streamlining operations, improving efficiency, and enhancing customer service. This digital as-built solution delivers the spatial intelligence that field crews need and seamlessly integrates with legacy utility solutions and other enterprise applications, performing real-time updates that ensure high fidelity data. It enables the organization to continuously monitor assets and infrastructure, providing the tracking and traceability capabilities that are essential to effective asset management and regulatory compliance. And it’s easily configurable and scalable to meet the needs of any sized utility, from small-scale to large infrastructure networks.

Contact an Epoch Solutions Group sales consultant or visit EpochField to learn more.

Mastering Your Esri ArcGIS Utility Network Implementation: Top Five Considerations from Epoch’s Esri-Certified Professionals

Posted on October 17, 2024November 6, 2024 by Ciara Tobin

With power demand increasing dramatically and energy reliability challenged by extreme weather, your utility network has never been more mission-critical. But traditional networks make it difficult to manage large and complex data sets with high integrity, and they don’t deliver actionable insights for effective decision-making.

These realities are leading many utilities to move to the Esri ArcGIS Utility Network. This modern framework transforms utility asset management, operational efficiency, and network analysis by making it easy to manage complex networks with high fidelity and scalability.

The Esri UN-certified professionals at Epoch Solutions Group have successfully deployed many large-scale Utility Network projects, so they know how to achieve a smooth transition that empowers utilities to reap all the benefits. They’re also the team that delivers our Epoch UN Blueprint: an end-to-end service that combines a structured process, tailored data models, and best practices to complete your deployment quickly and efficiently. Our experts leveraged their deep experience to share the top five considerations for mastering your Esri ArcGIS Utility Network implementation.

1. Determine Your Level of UN Data Readiness

The data readiness assessment is arguably the most critical component of any successful Utility Network implementation. The Utility Network enforces a strict set of rules for data preparation, making this assessment essential, regardless of the current state of data quality. Although this task may seem overwhelming, leveraging industry-leading tools and expertise will transform it into a streamlined process that enhances data integrity. In turn, end users will have confidence in their data being Utility Network-ready from day one.

Below are some of the key checks that should be conducted as part of the readiness assessment:

Functional and attribution drivers for asset group and asset types
Geometry errors
Stacked lines and points
Connectivity analysis
Source data attribution errors

An effective data preparation process will help lead to an efficient data modeling and migration process. Whether you take a phased approach to your migration or migrate the data all at once, tools like Epoch Sync Pro greatly simplify an otherwise-complex process. This powerful, scalable data migration tool seamlessly syncs data bidirectionally and accurately from Smallworld Version Managed Data Stores/other GIS vendors and Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Geodatabases, even on massive databases.

2. Take Time to Tailor the Data Model Effectively

To get the most benefit from the network you’ll need to customize the data model to reflect your assets, operational practices, infrastructure, workflows, and regulatory requirements.

For example, an electric utility that’s evolving to incorporate renewable energy sources will need to create custom asset groups for solar panels, wind turbines, or smart meters. A gas utility will need to set up asset groups and types that distinguish transmission lines from service lines or reflect gas-specific equipment such as compressor stations and odorization facilities.

The flexibility of the UN data model is a pro and a con: You can tailor it exactly to your needs, but that can feel overwhelming. Several best practices will smooth the process:

Conduct a workshop with key stakeholders—including GIS specialists, field crews, and engineers—to define your UN objectives and data requirements.
Take inventory of your assets and attribute data to determine what needs to be incorporated and identify gaps.
Utilize commodity-driven data models designed by Epoch Solutions Group to specifically adhere to your business needs and workflows.
Test the model on a sample dataset for functional and structural validity and adjust it based on the results.
Keep the model as simple as possible for ease of maintenance yet scalable to accommodate additional assets or network expansion.

3. Carefully Configure and Validate the Network Topology

The Esri Utility Network includes tools that help you establish network rules to suit your operation. For example, connectivity rules define how different assets connect within the network (such as a transformer connected to a feeder line), while containment rules define how one asset is contained within another (such as cables within a conduit).

You’ll also need to validate that the network topology complies with the rules you’ve established. This process points out errors, like a missing asset connection or containment relationship. You can correct them using the ArcGIS Pro editing tools and adjust the network rules if they’re too restrictive. Though it’s critical to validate network topology rules prior to implementation, periodic validations are vital for maintaining network integrity.

4. Optimize Network Performance and Scalability

Achieving a high-performing, scalable network is a key objective of your Utility Network deployment. To reduce the impact of dataset size and complexity on network performance, use simpler geometries where feasible and generalized presentations for high-level data views. To keep your hardware and infrastructure from hindering UN performance, be sure your servers meet or exceed Esri’s recommended requirements and your infrastructure can handle the data transfer demands.

For a network that’s scalable and future-proof, plan for growth in your data volume and number of users, as well as increased application complexity over time. A modular design will enable you to add new components without major overhauls, and a cloud-based platform will allow you to allocate resources flexibly and reduce costly on-premise hardware.

5. Build in Training and Change Management

You need to equip end users to work within the new network proficiently, understand the workflows, and maintain data accuracy and integrity. It’s vital to build their knowledge and skills in both the ArcGIS Pro software and the Utility Network’s features. The training will be most useful if it’s role-specific: GIS analysts need to understand data modeling, topology rules, and network analysis, field crews need to know how to use mobile applications to collect data, and managers will primarily use the reporting tools.

As with any change, you might face resistance when moving to the Utility Network. Take time upfront to explain the rationale and how it will benefit different stakeholders, and involve end users in the project planning to create buy-in. A phased implementation rollout is helpful too, as it allows end users to adapt gradually. Offer them convenient ways to provide feedback and report technical issues, and make sure your support team is equipped to provide accurate, responsive help.

A successful Esri ArcGIS Utility Network implementation requires careful planning and expertise. That’s why it’s important to have an experienced, Esri-certified professional as your guide.

Our Epoch UN Blueprint takes you from planning through execution, step by step, with Esri UN experts handing all the technical details and leading you through a successful migration. This turnkey service speeds and streamlines your Utility Network deployment through a structured, proven process—so you can start reaping the benefits of this enterprise solution sooner.

Contact a sales consultant to learn how the Epoch UN Blueprint can help you migrate quickly and seamlessly to the Esri Utility Network.

EpochField Updates Reflect the Utility Industry’s Evolving Needs

Posted on September 24, 2024September 27, 2024 by Ciara Tobin

Today’s utilities are under greater pressure than ever. Electrification is rising dramatically thanks to accelerating AI use and electric vehicle adoption, creating a pressing need to expand and modernize the grid. Climate change is driving major, costly decarbonization efforts while threatening energy reliability. And skilled labor remains difficult to find and retain, creating workforce capacity constraints.

Epoch Solutions Group recognizes the challenges your utility faces in delivering safe, reliable, cost-effective energy. We’re committed to keeping our EpochField workforce management solution in sync with your dynamic needs—not only responding to customer feedback and requests, but anticipating the future of field service management.

This year we released a major EpochField update along with several minor updates as part of our drive to continually enhance this mission-critical solution for leading utilities. Here’s a recap of the invaluable features we added or enhanced in the latest EpochField 5.2 versions, designed to streamline field service operations, improve the efficiency and productivity of your crews, dispatchers, and schedulers, and equip you to deliver the level of service your customers expect.

A More Intuitive Mobile UI/UX for Better Efficiency

In sync with the industry’s shift toward mobile-first solutions, we redesigned the EpochField mobile app for better mobile workforce management. A more intuitive interface makes the app simpler for field workers to use and navigate and more engaging—a major benefit at a time when it’s tough to stay fully staffed and you need to accomplish more work with fewer people. Our app facilitates streamlined workflows, enabling field crews to complete work order-related tasks faster and easier using a mobile phone or tablet for a better overall experience.

.NET Maui Migration for Improved Performance

The migration from Xamarin to the .NET Maui (Multi-Platform App UI) platform accomplishes two important objectives: It improves cross-platform performance when your field crews use EpochField on Apple, Android, or Microsoft mobile devices and ensures you can maximize the value of the latest app development technologies. By taking a forward-thinking view, we’re future-proofing EpochField to provide a solid foundation for developing more mobile capabilities that work across platforms.

Work Order Process Improvements for Greater Productivity

EpochField now includes many enhancements that help your teams process work orders more efficiently. We enhanced the solution’s data collection capabilities to reduce administrative steps, simplify data entry, reduce the risk of data errors, and streamline workflow.

Self-managed work order creation: EpochField now allows your field crews to initiate and manage the creation of ad hoc work orders themselves by uploading CSV files through the mobile app, using asset data IDs or geographic coordinates. They can organize their own work and complete routine inspections and other jobs without waiting on external dependencies that risk slowing the process.
Improved editing of multiple work features: Utility field crews can use the solution’s lasso tool to precisely choose work features for editing just by clicking on the map. This tool makes it easier to select and edit tasks individually or in bulk, improving accuracy, efficiency, and oversight. The newest software version also allows end users to delete work features individually or in bulk through the main form, further saving time.
Better workflow form flexibility: An improved workflow forms layout is more intuitive for your field workers to use, guiding them logically as they complete the form. By combining Categories and Fields on the same form, and enhancing the Workflow Bulder with simple drag-and-drop functionality, we’ve made it simpler to create and use workflow forms.

State Model Functionality for Better Control

Many EpochField users expressed a need to better control field work order statuses. In response we introduced state model functionality that provides clearer workflows and better operational visibility across the EpochField platform.

Other EpochField Enhancements

In addition to these major functionality enhancements, EpochField now provides improved icons, particularly in the Print tool, to further improve the user experience. And of course, we’ve continued to prioritize the security of our platform by applying critical security patches as they become available.

Evolving in Sync with Utilities

EpochField is transforming field service management for leading utilities—streamlining how your teams work, improving efficiency from the front line to the back office, and empowering you to provide safe, reliable services to your customers. Our map-first approach leverages the power of GIS data to improve your field operations, supporting you as you evolve your business model to address the trends that are reshaping the utility industry.

By continually enhancing EpochField with updates that reflect customer input and industry trends, we’re adding the innovative capabilities you need today while keeping one step ahead of the future of field service management.

Learn more about the EpochField workforce management solution or schedule a live demo.

Shane Hullinger

Shane Hullinger is the Epoch Solutions Group Director of Product Management for EpochField, responsible for shaping the product and leading cross-functional teams to execute strategies, embark on impactful market research, and refine the customer experience.

Dominion Energy Selects EpochField to Improve Field Inspections and Maintenance with Accessible, Reliable GIS Data

Project Summary

Project Type:

Implementation of SaaS-based EpochField GIS mapping for users across eight locations, followed soon by integration with the SAP enterprise system to support work order management.

Number of Customers:

About 6 million

Applications:

To equip line workers with easy access to reliable GIS data on field assets and access roads, facilitating inspections, maintenance, and emergency response work.

Solutions Implemented:

EpochField Work Management, EpochField Mobile, EpochField Workflow Builder, and EpochField Administrator

Member Benefits:

Access up-to-date GIS data in the field, with or without Internet connectivity

Obtain and log accurate details about available access roads

Breadcrumb where field crews have completed work and the best route when returning

Improve situational awareness during field inspections and maintenance work

Dynamically share work order information bidirectionally between EpochField and SAP

Reduce IT workload by moving to a reliable, supported work order management system

Introduction

Dominion Energy serves an estimated 6 million customers in 15 states, providing reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy to homes and businesses. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the publicly traded company employs over 17,000 people all committed to providing reliable electricity and natural gas, protecting the environment, and giving back to the communities where they live and work.

When Dominion Energy’s transmission line workers inspect and maintain assets in the field, obtaining accurate information about on-the-ground conditions and maintenance history is a must. But the utility’s existing map application proved difficult to use on site, especially when Internet connectivity is unreliable. To equip line workers with the data to complete their work accurately and safely, Dominion Energy implemented the EpochField Work Management solution and mobile application in December 2023. The success of this project quickly led to a second initiative, which will integrate EpochField and its work order management capabilities with the utility’s SAP enterprise system.

The Challenge: Accessing Accurate GIS Data in the Field

Dominion Energy’s internally-developed GIS mapping application (leveraging Esri Field Maps) posed significant limitations for field workers in the power delivery group.

“Our line workers had to connect to the Internet to download large mapping files to a hard drive and constantly update them to access accurate information about field assets,” said Matthew Rogers, Supervisor, Electric Transmission Lines Operations. “We needed to implement a more dynamic solution that our employees could easily update while they’re in the field doing climbing inspections, preventative maintenance, or emergency response work.” The utility also needed more reliable information about access road location, which is critical in the rural areas where many utility field crews operate.

The utility’s GIS group was talking with Epoch Solutions Group about other needs across the enterprise, so they were the first provider considered to address the digital mapping requirements of the transmission lines operations team. Dominion Energy quickly dismissed the idea of building a new mapping solution in-house in favor of implementing the EpochField platform and mobile application.

“Epoch Solutions Group listened to our needs and found a way to bring the solution we needed to fruition,” Rogers said. “We explained what we wanted our line workers to see, and we got everything we asked for.”

EpochField checked all the must-have boxes for Dominion Energy, providing a solution that’s easily configured to their needs (without requiring custom development) and easy to use in the field, with mobile capabilities and the ability to access data both online and
offline.

The utility also appreciated that this robust solution would make it easy for field crews to navigate to assets, while providing full visibility into the network structure and available access roads. After talking with EpochField customers and hearing about their exceptional experience with the solution, Dominion Energy was confident in moving ahead.

EpochField: Providing a Modern Solution with Utility-Specific Functionality

Thanks to the intuitive, easy-to-use mobile app, line workers across eight locations in Virginia can access EpochField’s GIS mapping capabilities through their iPads and iPhones. They’re able to work with the GIS mapping application both online or offline to obtain accurate, up-to-date information about utility assets and access roads, with no concerns about Internet reliability.

“If they find a new access road, they can breadcrumb it and the information will update in EpochField dynamically,” Rogers noted. They can also add newfound access roads to the map in EpochField for a more complete view of their work environment. Additionally, the breadcrumb feature enables them to track where they’ve been and document the best route to reach that destination the next time.

“We’ve integrated EpochField with an eNav system that contains all our structure and asset information,” Rogers explained, so a line worker can click on any point on the map in EpochField and get turn-by-turn directions to the site. As a SaaS solution, EpochField has also reduced the IT administrative burden previously required to maintain the internally-developed mapping application.

The Implementation: Smooth and Responsive

Throughout the project, periodic developer meetings and check-ins between EpochField and Dominion Energy’s IT and GIS teams kept everything tracking toward a successful completion on a 10-month timeline. To facilitate a smooth transition, Epoch conducted on-site train-the-trainer sessions for four office-based users, who then trained the transmission line workers.

“The in-person support prior to rollout was especially nice,” Rogers said. “From a project management standpoint, everything just fell into place.”

The Implementation: Smooth and Responsive

The response to the EpochField rollout has been very positive.

“Our line workers like that the EpochField application is basically in their pocket, available on their phone,” Rogers said. They also appreciate that they can provide updated field information to GIS, which reviews it for accuracy and pushes it out via EpochField.

“They like having a hand in the process of moving information from the field to the home office and into the application,” he noted.

Future Plans: Integrating EpochField with SAP

After such a great experience, Dominion Energy is moving forward with another EpochField initiative: Integrating the solution with its SAP enterprise system to improve work order management. The utility has been using an in-house system for field inspection work orders and recognized a tremendous opportunity to gain more robust capabilities and better reliability by using EpochField for this use case.

“SAP is the database for all the details on our assets, including all the work we’ve done on them over 80 years,” Rogers explained. “Being able to exchange that information between SAP and EpochField in a GIS format will provide our teams with better data and improve how they manage inspection work orders.”

The integration with SAP will enable Dominion Energy staff to obtain a visual representation of the area where inspections need to be done, gaining better situational awareness without toggling back and forth between separate mapping and work order applications. And they’ll access much richer historical information about the assets they’re assigned to inspect, gleaning potential clues about why an issue is occurring.

“EpochField will also show them any inspection work orders completed or planned,” Rogers added. If they see a future work order coming up, and they have the time, they can choose to complete the inspection while already at the site.

EpochField’s reliability will prove a further boon, eliminating the IT support required to resolve recurring issues with the in-house work order management application. “It will free our team to focus on other important IT projects,” he noted. The utility expects to have the EpochField/SAP integration live in early 2025.

Conclusion

The EpochField implementation at Dominion Energy underscores the value of leveraging a SaaS solution, purpose-built for utilities, to equip field staff with the data and situational awareness to work effectively and safely. Epoch Solutions Group has transformed transmission line inspection and maintenance at the utility, ensuring the organization can provide reliable power to millions of customers in their service area.

How the Esri Utility Network Transforms Utility Data Management

Posted on May 30, 2024June 14, 2024 by Epoch Solutions Group

EpochSync Pro Facilitates Migrating Data to this Powerful Network

As utilities grapple with escalating challenges in a complex and dynamic environment, many are looking to solutions like the Esri ArcGIS Utility Network to simplify data management while ensuring integrity, even across massive data sets.

“Throughout our 15-year relationship with Esri—and now as an Esri Gold Partner—we’ve worked together to identify and solve utilities’ needs, especially by integrating Esri technology with our own suite of solutions,” noted James Street, Epoch Solutions Group CEO. “With the need to manage and integrate data becoming both more challenging and more critical for utilities, we see great value in helping our customers leverage powerful tools like the Esri Utility Network.”

We recently tapped Esri Product Manager Saranya Kesavan to share insights on how the company’s next-generation ArcGIS Utility Network is helping to improve data management amidst transformative change.

New Challenges Make Data Management Vital

Grid modernization has become a high priority across the utility industry, especially as electricity demand rises in response to the shift to clean energy, increased electric vehicle adoption, and a rise in data center power usage to support cloud-based applications. The increase in electricity demand is redefining the power load and tasking utilities with improving energy supply and reliability, according to Kesavan.

“It’s all placing a lot more demand on the grid,” she said. At the same time, climate change is fueling more frequent and severe storms, resulting in more power outages that require utilities to respond quickly and efficiently and maintain high customer satisfaction.

“Challenges like these make a utility’s network more mission-critical than ever, while making data management essential yet more difficult,” Street pointed out. As utilities strive to improve this function, many are moving to the Esri ArcGIS Utility Network.

Setting the Foundation

The ArcGIS Utility Network serves as a system of record that captures data on all utility assets in detail, ensuring that any applications built on the platform can readily access the data required. According to Kesavan, Esri’s network management solution as it is today has evolved over the last 20 years in lockstep with technology advancements.

“Esri’s initial geometric network was robust at the time, but the technology and the industry have changed significantly,” she said. The then-current technology which the network was built on presented inherent limitations, particularly at a time when utilities often maintained data in multiple, disparate applications that didn’t provide a holistic view or enable access to timely, accurate information.

“For example, field crews often lacked real-time information about changing conditions, especially data from downstream applications like their outage management system,” she explained.

As both the technology and the industry’s needs evolved, the Esri network did too. “We considered how utilities are now organizing their data, the workloads they’re managing, and how to future-proof the model,” Kesavan said. With the retirement of Geometric Network, Esri created a next-gen utility network on the ArcGIS Pro mapping and visualization platform.

Integrity, Scalability, and Productivity Top the List

Esri built its new ArcGIS Utility Network to address three common and interrelated needs of today’s utilities: data integrity, network scalability, and network management productivity.

“By using a services-oriented network, utilities can spend less time on tasks like controlling who can access and edit data, improving productivity without sacrificing data integrity or security,” Kesavan said. At the user level, the network restricts data access based on login credentials, while at the network level, rules fire off dynamically as data is edited, triggering error messages that reduce the odds of inputting bad data.

“The network rules can control what type of transformer can connect with what type of conductor,” she explained. “The goal is to ensure the Utility Network is robust and stable, and that it identifies any workflows with potential to corrupt the organization’s data set.” With data volumes growing rapidly within most utilities, the highly scalable network is designed to reduce the strains of day-end processing, ensuring data is clean, up to date, and pushed out to every downstream application, even when large volumes are involved.

The Esri ArcGIS Utility Network also facilitates moving from manual workflows to automated workflows that speed and streamline work, improve accuracy, and leverage the value of digitized data. “For example, rather than draw up a rough sketch of a field installation and send it to GIS team, field crews can capture that information digitally,” Kesavan said.

Managing data in a dynamic environment demands that the utility’s staff has a clear, accurate view of what’s happening in the field at all times. Esri’s Utility Network aims to provide that view through a highly detailed network model and built-in visualization tools that remove visual clutter while keeping data within reach. “Each user can choose the level of detail they need to see,” she said, while authorization measures ensure data security.

Additionally, end users and system administrators can utilize dashboards with embedded awareness of the utility network topology and associations. “Utilities are customizing these dashboards to gain a better understanding of what’s happening in their network at any given time, through a single system of record,” Kesavan explained. The more applications integrated, the more holistic the view. “That enables utilities to identify trends, gather insights, develop mitigation plans to solve problems, and work proactively to prevent them.”

Solving the Dilemma of Getting Data Into the Network

One of the impediments to using the Esri Utility Network is the challenge of migrating data from GE Smallworld Version Managed Data Stores and other GIS databases that store utility transmission and distribution GIS data. Since the data models involved vary significantly, it isn’t always easy to port the data over.

“As more utilities look to leverage the Esri Utility Network for map-based applications like emergency operations management, outage management, and streetlight management, we recognized that the data migration need was becoming more pressing,” Street said.

That’s why Epoch Solutions Group developed EpochSync Pro, a GIS data migration software tool that simplifies the migration of GE Smallworld data to Esri. EpochSync Pro helps utilities harness the full power of the Esri ArcGIS Utility Network by providing a seamless way to synchronize data bidirectionally and accurately between Smallworld Version Managed Data Stores and Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Geodatabases, even for large data volumes. “We specifically wrote this tool in the ArcGIS Pro SDK to fully leverage the value of the network and the ArcGIS functionality on behalf of our utility customers,” Street said.

EpochSync Pro is part of the Epoch Solutions Group suite of solutions, helping utilities leverage the power of GIS data to transform field operations. Contact Epoch Solutions Group to schedule a demo of EpochSync Pro, or contact Esri to schedule a demo of the Esri ArcGIS Utility Network.

CEO James Street Joins GISCafe Bunker Broadcast

James Street recently sat down with Sanjay Gangal for GISCafe’s Bunker Broadcast to discuss Epoch Solutions Group’s innovative mobile workforce management software solutions for utilities.

Check out the recording here >

5 Trends That Will Impact Utilities in 2024

Posted on December 21, 2023December 21, 2023 by Epoch Solutions Group

The environment that utilities operate in is more complex and volatile than ever, with significant forces impacting the ability to plan effectively and meet every stakeholder’s needs. James Street, CEO of Epoch Solutions Group, reviews the five trends he believes will have a major influence on utilities in the coming year.

1. Climate risks and electrification are stressing the grid.

More frequent and severe storms have become the norm and are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. While hurricanes have always been a concern, convective storms, extreme heat, and wildfires are also on the rise, placing more pressure on the grid. For example, a McKinsey report forecasts that by 2030, Minnesota will see a 75 percent rise in extreme heat days and Colorado will see a 29 percent increase in severe thunderstorm frequency. Almost 90 percent of the western US could experience as many as 30 high Fire Weather Index days annually. And persistent droughts are making it tougher for thermal and hydroelectric utilities to ensure reliable power. With much of the industry’s infrastructure assets well beyond their intended lifespan, extreme weather also becomes more difficult to respond to, resulting in more temperature-induced power line losses and longer power interruptions. The electrification trend and rising data center power use are likewise stressing the grid in ways we couldn’t foresee just a decade ago. As consumers and businesses adopt electric vehicles and favor electric heat pumps, electricity demand is escalating. And as AI, blockchain, and cloud computing become more prevalent, they’re driving up data center power consumption. With seasonal load profiles changing and electricity demand rising, utilities face greater pressure to ensure grid reliability and performance. In this disruptive environment, field asset management and vegetation management become more difficult yet more critical, demanding digitized, flexible platforms that enable utility staff to complete these tasks efficiently and accurately.

2. Grid planning is becoming more complex.

A dynamic and volatile environment will continue to complicate holistic grid planning that’s designed to manage growth, improve reliability, and enhance resilience. For example, dispersed and aging infrastructures, outdated technology, changing regulations, and evolving risks all make it more difficult to plan and manage field assets effectively. That includes assessing and monitoring asset health and risk, managing vegetation risk, and deploying field resources optimally, both for proactive, scheduled work and emergency situations. The increase in bidirectionality is only adding to grid planning complexity. Millions of devices at the edge—including solar panels, electric vehicles, and smart thermostats—are now participating in power generation and impacting grid behavior. This trend will make it more vital, though more complicated, to model and manage utility assets in the context of rising risks, changing customer behaviors, and aging assets. Enhanced modeling and asset management solutions will prove increasingly critical, especially to help field crews work optimally during regular operations and mutual assistance scenarios. With access to real-time information about live and offline assets, utilities can improve asset management planning by empowering field crews with accurate data and enhanced situational awareness.

3. New government policies are posing new requirements for utilities.

While government policy always has the potential to impact utility operations, two of the latest rules from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will likely require utilities to meet new requirements for ensuring gird reliability. One such rule directs the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to develop a standard around transmission system planning for extreme heat and cold weather conditions. Another requires power transmission providers to report on their policies and processes for conducting extreme weather vulnerability assessments and identifying strategies to mitigate these risks. In addition, several energy policies aim to advance smart grid technology that has the potential to help electricity distributors reduce costs, improve reliability, and meet the challenge of balancing supply and demand. Though there are significant benefits to be realized, developing and implementing smart grid technology will require major capital investments. Many utilities are already moving ahead with smart grid systems that employ two-way communication and intelligent devices, aided by various US Department of Energy grant programs.

4. Government investment is facilitating the clean energy transition, but risks and challenges will remain.

Renewable energy adoption is increasing rapidly, now accounting for about one-fifth of US total power. With world leaders agreeing to new climate goals at the recent COP28 summit, that figure is set to rise significantly. Governments worldwide are providing financial incentives to ease the energy transition for power companies, with the US alone committing billions through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The IRA extends and modifies key tax credits for renewable energy investment and production, funds the acceleration of new energy infrastructure siting, and incentivizes carbon capture, while the IIJA is funding infrastructure modernizations that support clean energy expansion and improve resilience. Despite such financial assistance, along with the opportunity that the clean energy transition offers come a host of challenges for utilities. Renewable energy sources can be intermittent, yet consumers and businesses demand stable, reliable power. New energy sources take time to scale, but power demand is rising dramatically. The ability to plan effectively during this critical transition will require enhanced systems and better access to data that can help utilities make informed decisions about deploying and optimizing assets amidst change and unpredictability.

5. The digital technology transformation is helping utilities tackle emerging challenges.

Many utilities are finding that the transformation to digital technologies can help them meet new challenges, address emerging requirements, and adapt to continued change. In particular, they’re shifting away from legacy systems to more flexible and integrated platforms that support new ways of working. The move to cloud-based solutions, GIS-based applications, and digitized field service workflows, along with the integration of disparate systems and data sources, is helping leading utilities leverage data and technology to transform their operations and meet new challenges head-on. In modernizing their technology infrastructure and applications, utilities are prioritizing use cases that demonstrate the greatest tangible value. For example, a geospatial software platform that syncs asset data in real-time across disparate systems, applications, and devices can yield high ROI by giving operations and field teams the visibility and situational awareness to work more efficiently and safely. These digitized platforms also provide access to the data needed to prevent the disastrous consequences of unmanaged vegetation impacting power lines brought down by extreme weather, as well as inspect and manage joint use assets like poles, wires, and circuits to reduce costs and avoid redundancies.

Why Utilities Are Partnering with Epoch Solutions Group

Leading utilities recognize the value of partnering with a solutions provider that can help them meet new requirements and challenges at a time of great change and uncertainty. For many utilities, that partner is Epoch Solutions Group. Our EpochField solution leverages geospatial technology to help utilities improve field asset management, reduce costs, and minimize breakdowns and outages. This geospatial workforce management platform is empowering utilities across the US to meet reliability requirements, enhance safety, ensure power availability, and maintain compliance in a volatile environment. Schedule an EpochField demo to see how this solution can help you meet emerging challenges.

Digitize Your Utility Damage Assessment with EpochField

When your utility is facing a damage assessment after a storm event, manual collection of data can slow down the effectiveness of your field crews.

EpochField helps utilities collect accurate data and operate more efficiently when it matters the most.

This video demonstrates how EpochField:

Replaces the generation of paper maps,
Enables real-time scheduling decisions,
Improves service response times,
Provides online and offline access, and
Enables sharing of work order and asset information.

View the Demo

The Latest Impacts of Grid Strain, Microgrids, and Other Trends Affecting the Utility Industry

In January 2023, Epoch Solutions Group CEO James Street met with energy industry forecaster Peter Kelly-Detwiler to discuss the growth of new technology, energy sources, and increasingly complex distribution grids. A lot has happened since then, including more severe weather events impacting an aging infrastructure, the growth of electric vehicles putting more strain on the grid, and increased use of microgrids to help ease the strain.

Peter and James met again in September 2023 to review the trends they have seen throughout the year, the impact they have had on the industry, and how utilities can adapt and thrive by prioritizing proper asset management strategies and technologies. Download the webinar to get insight from Peter on how your utility company can stay at the forefront of the trends affecting the industry and your utility company in the years to come.

Download the Webinar Recording

James Street
Epoch Solutions Group Founder & CEO

Peter Kelly-Detwiler
Energy Industry Thought Leader: Author, Consultant, Speaker

Better Utility Asset Management Starts with These Best Practices

Posted on June 30, 2023June 30, 2023 by Epoch Solutions Group

A rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, higher service expectations, dispersed and aging infrastructures, technology constraints, and the shift to renewable energy sources all combine to make it more challenging than ever to deliver service reliably, safely, and profitably. This environment also makes proper asset management more difficult, yet more vital to accomplish.

Asset management helps utilities maximize value while optimizing the resources for necessary repairs and upgrades, replacing the traditional run-to-failure approach. Proactive asset management enables utilities to minimize breakdowns and outages, ensuring continued service delivery, and extending asset life.

By taking a best practices approach to asset management and leveraging digitized asset management solutions, gas and electric utilities can overcome today’s considerable operational obstacles. The following best practices provide a great start.

Define Success

Your utility asset management program should be guided by clear, thoughtful objectives. Most utilities implement an asset management program to reduce costs, improve productivity, minimize the risk of an unplanned outage, and/or extend the life and usefulness of their valuable field assets. Your specific business objectives will drive the key performance indicators (KPIs) you use to track progress against.

Evaluate Processes

Obtain a baseline of your current asset management processes and practices, focusing on what’s working vs what isn’t. Review all asset management standard operating procedures (SOPs), looking for gaps or obsolete procedures that need updating.

Take Inventory

Proper asset management demands an accurate, detailed inventory of every field asset, including its location, size, manufacturer, model, lot number, material composition, installation date, inspection history, maintenance and repair history, current condition, and projected remaining useful life. From there, you can rank the criticality of each asset using an objective scoring method, based on criteria such as how much the network relies on that asset and its importance to service delivery, along with factors like failure types, probabilities, consequences, and costs. The results will inform how you plan and prioritize asset maintenance, repair, and replacement, enabling you to invest in operational improvements with the greatest ROI.

Create a Plan

To deliver the optimal service at the optimal cost, utilities need to acquire, operate, maintain, and upgrade or replace field assets as effectively as possible. And that demands a comprehensive, continually updated asset management plan. The plan should document all your field assets, how you’ll schedule and track their maintenance and repair, how you’ll manage and track budgeted vs actual asset management expenses, risks and mitigation measures for each asset, clear roles and responsibilities, and an asset management lifecycle strategy.

Integrate Your Systems

Disparate legacy systems are common in the utility industry, but they make it tough to manage field assets proactively and strategically. Because they often store data in different formats and don’t share it seamlessly, it’s difficult to gain visibility into accurate, real-time information to direct repair and maintenance efforts. And without that information at their fingertips, field crews waste time contacting operations for the necessary details.

A solution that utilizes geospatial software can improve integration by syncing asset data in real-time across systems, applications, and devices, equipping operations teams and field staff with the visibility and situational awareness they need on the job. Platforms that integrate field asset data into critical GIS solutions, as well as mission-critical business applications from providers like SAP and Oracle, prove most effective.

What to Look for in a Digitized Field Asset Management Platform

To unlock the value of proactive asset management, many utilities are adopting geospatial technologies that digitally capture and track asset data, optimize asset performance, improve compliance, and boost efficiencies. By combining automated workflows and map-centric interfaces—and sharing data across back-office servers, cloud-based applications, and mobile apps—a digitized field asset management platform helps the operations team dispatch, schedule and deploy field crews efficiently and gives field crews the situational awareness to complete their work quickly, accurately, and safely.

Before investing in a digitized utility asset management platform, consider which features and functionalities will most help you streamline work, improve efficiency and productivity, and reduce costs. Most utilities find the following essential:

A single platform that drives field asset maintenance, repair, and tracking
Ease of configuration to match their specific needs
Scalability to any size or type of utility
Dynamic, interactive maps that provide a full view of field assets and supporting details
Intuitive functionality that speeds and simplifies customized workflow and work order creation
Flexibility to develop maintenance schedules based on skills, proximity, availability, training and certification requirements, and other criteria
Access to real-time data online and offline to support remote locations
Enterprise data integration for easy access to asset and resource data across the technology ecosystem and data sharing across systems, applications, personnel, and locations

Why More Utilities are Choosing EpochField

For many gas and electric utilities, the field asset management platform of choice is EpochField from Epoch Solutions Group.

EpochField leverages geospatial technology to help utilities improve field asset management and maintenance, reduce costs, and minimize breakdowns and outages. Our digitized asset and field management solution provides operations teams with real-time situational awareness to optimize how they deploy field crews to inspect and repair utility field assets and manage vegetation. Utilities that use EpochField are positioned to deliver the service today’s customers demand, while ensuring safety, maintaining compliance, and gaining full asset traceability.

Download our detailed Guide to Deploying an Effective Asset Management Strategy. Or contact Epoch Solutions Group to learn how EpochField can transform how your utility manages your valuable field assets.

Best Practices for Improving Utility Asset Management: A Guide to Deploying an Effective Asset Management Strategy

Posted on June 30, 2023September 21, 2023 by Epoch Solutions Group

It’s never been a more challenging time to run a thriving, profitable utility company. From rapidly evolving regulations and escalating consumer service expectations to aging infrastructures and disparate legacy systems, utilities face significant operational obstacles in their quest to deliver power reliably, safely, and profitably. These challenges make proper asset management more vital than ever, yet more difficult to accomplish.

This guide is designed to help. It reviews the industry trends that are placing greater pressure on utility operations, the ways in which asset management solutions can help overcome those challenges and support a utility’s most critical business goals, the best practices that can help your organization manage assets more effectively, and how a digitized solution can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your utility asset management efforts.

Download the Guide to Learn:

Trends and regulations impacting asset management for utility companies today
The vital role that asset management has on a utility’s operating expenses and capital expenditures
A five-step best practices approach to utility asset management
How a digitized field asset management platform can help streamline work, improve efficiency and productivity, and reduce operating costs

Download the White Paper

To Migrate GE Smallworld Data to Esri, Utilities like BC Hydro Turn to EpochSync

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Epoch Solutions Group

Many utilities struggle to utilize their GIS data effectively across the enterprise, especially when that data resides within GE Smallworld. With more utilities looking to leverage the power of Esri’s ArcGIS Utility Network to gain more functionality—especially for huge datasets—the ability to migrate Smallworld data to the Esri platform is becoming a must.

So when BC Hydro faced limitations in the tools it could use to work with its transmission and distribution GIS information effectively, the company knew it was essential to make its Smallworld data accessible on Esri.

As IT Advisor Evan Schwab noted, “Other business groups in the company, like our power generation group, were using Esri for GIS data. While we currently have two GIS systems, we’re looking to develop new capabilities on the Esri platform going forward.”

Eager to gain ready access to the GIS data required to provide reliable service to more than 50 million customers, BC Hydro turned to Epoch Solutions Group’s EpochSync automated data migration tool. This scalable solution synchronizes data between Smallworld Version Managed Data Stores and Esri ArcGIS Enterprise Geodatabases, enabling even the largest utilities to easily migrate Smallworld data to an Esri geodatabase.

Once the initial synchronization is done, EpochSync only needs to perform periodic data synchronizations, ensuring just the incremental data changes are synchronized. And through a .NET-based user interface and Smallworld Magik components, EpochSync makes it easy to develop flexible mappings that support data syncing between different data models, empowering a utility’s staff to create those mappings to extract data with minimal training.

At BC Hydro, EpochSync provides a “set it and forget it” solution that runs nightly and is easy for internal staff to configure and maintain. Now, this British Columbia-based utility can use tools like ArcGIS Story Maps to develop distribution planning maps and share GIS data with external groups to provide much-needed situational awareness when major events happen.

Read the BC Hydro case study to discover all the business benefits that EpochSync provides for leading utilities.

Overcoming the Challenges of Managing Utility Joint Use Assets

Posted on April 13, 2023June 19, 2023 by Epoch Solutions Group

The modern world is changing rapidly, and the technologies and infrastructure that support it must evolve alongside it. This is especially true for utility companies, whose infrastructure must keep pace with changing demands and new technology. One area that has become increasingly important for utilities in recent years is joint use asset management.

Joint use assets refer to the infrastructure components that multiple utility companies share, such as poles, wires, and conduits. They offer a range of benefits for utility companies, including cost savings, increased flexibility, and reduced infrastructure duplication. However, managing joint use assets comes with a unique set of challenges that can significantly impact the efficiency and reliability of the utility network. This article reviews the challenges of joint use assets—including overloaded poles, double poles, unauthorized attachments, conflicting needs, and regulatory compliance issues—and offers viable solutions.

Overloaded and Double Poles: Inventory is Key

Overloaded poles are a common problem with joint use assets, and they occur when too many companies attach their equipment to a single pole, exceeding its weight-bearing capacity. This can cause the pole to lean or even fall, leading to power outages, property damage, and safety hazards. Overloaded poles also make it difficult to perform maintenance and repair tasks, as it can be difficult to identify which company is responsible for the excess weight on the pole.

Conducting regular inspections and assessments of the poles helps identify any signs of overload, allowing utility companies to proactively address an issue before it leads to a safety hazard or outage. Additionally, utility companies can work together to develop load-sharing agreements to ensure that the weight on each pole is evenly distributed among the companies using the infrastructure.

Double poles are another issue that arises when a utility operates joint use assets. Double poles occur when new poles are installed next to existing poles rather than replacing them, resulting in two or more poles serving the same purpose. Aside from the fact that double poles can be unsightly, they pose a safety hazard and make it difficult to access and maintain the equipment, increasing the risk of power outages and other issues.

One solution to this common joint use asset problem is to conduct a comprehensive inventory of all existing poles and infrastructure to identify where double poles exist, enabling utility companies to prioritize which poles to remove or replace first. Utility companies also can work together to develop joint programs to replace double poles with a single pole that meets the needs of all companies involved.

Policies, Collaboration, and Training Are Essential

Unauthorized attachments are another significant problem for joint use assets. Attaching equipment to joint use assets without proper authorization or approval can create safety hazards, reliability issues, and regulatory compliance problems. Unauthorized attachments can also interfere with the equipment of other utility companies, leading to service disruptions and other problems.

One effective way to reduce or eliminate unauthorized attachments is to develop and enforce clear policies and procedures for attaching equipment to joint use assets, including guidelines for when equipment can be attached, who can approve the attachment, and what equipment is allowed. Utility companies also can use advanced analytics and monitoring tools to identify unauthorized attachments and proactively address them before they become a problem.

Managing joint use assets can also present broader challenges. Conflicting needs are a common problem when multiple companies use the same infrastructure. For example, one company may need to access a pole to install new equipment, while another company may need to perform maintenance on the same pole at the same time. Managing these competing objectives can be a complex and time-consuming process, often requiring significant coordination and communication between the companies involved.

To resolve conflicting needs for joint use assets, utility companies should develop collaboration tools and processes that allow multiple providers to work together more effectively. These tools can include shared communication channels, such as online portals or chat groups, where companies can coordinate their activities and schedules. Additionally, utilities can develop joint work plans that identify which tasks need to be completed and when, allowing them to better coordinate and schedule their activities.

Regulatory compliance is another area that utility companies must contend with when managing joint use assets. Utilities must comply with a range of regulations and standards, including safety standards, environmental regulations, and industry-specific guidelines, and failure to comply can result in fines, legal liabilities, and damage to the company’s reputation.

To ensure joint assets are managed in a way that complies with applicable regulations, each utility company should develop its own robust compliance program that includes regular audits and assessments to identify any areas of non-compliance. The program also should include training for employees and contractors to ensure they understand the regulations and standards that apply to joint use assets. Additionally, utility companies can work together to develop joint compliance programs that ensure all companies using the infrastructure are meeting the relevant regulations and standards.

How an Asset Management Platform Can Help

Despite these challenges, joint use assets continue to be an essential part of the utility industry. Given the clear benefits of shared infrastructure, utility companies are finding innovative ways to address the difficulties associated with managing joint use assets.

One way that leading utility companies are successfully managing joint use assets is through the use of an asset management platform like EpochField. With EpochField, utility companies can gain visibility into the condition of joint use assets, such as overloaded and double use poles, along with the real-time situational awareness to manage unauthorized access, ensure safe and reliable power delivery, and meet the regulatory mandates governing the industry.

Highly configurable to meet each utility company’s unique operational requirements, EpochField offers these and other advanced features:

Mobile offline collection and viewing of asset data for field personnel who are often working in remote locales, without an Internet connection
High-performance digital maps that display geospatial data holistically and dynamically update as the system processes new data
Configurable work order forms that are produced automatically based on field mapping data

Discover how the EpochField platform can transform your utility’s joint use asset management. Schedule a demo today.

Managing Utility Field Service Digital Transformation into the Next Decade: Featuring Industry Expert Peter Kelly-Detwiler

Posted on February 2, 2023February 28, 2023 by Epoch Solutions Group

It’s evident that the utility industry will undergo a significant digital transformation over the next 10 years. How will the convergence of new technologies, new energy sources, and an increasingly complex distribution grid affect utilities in the coming years? And how can you assure your field services teams are prepared to work as safely and efficiently as possible in this rapidly evolving environment?

This was the focus of our recent webinar, Managing Utility Field Service Digital Transformation into the Next Decade. This exclusive conversation, hosted by Epoch Solutions Group founder and CEO James Street, featured Peter Kelly-Detwiler, an acclaimed thought leader in the energy industry and a highly sought speaker, author, and consultant. Peter regularly advises energy industry leaders on the latest trends and how these developments will impact their organizations.

Insights on a Future Filled with Change

During this interactive webinar, Peter and James discussed the tremendous changes on the horizon for the utility industry, how these shifts will affect the work of field services teams, and the tools and technologies that field crews will need in order to operate safely and effectively.

A key topic was the projected impact of the industry’s move toward the “three Ds”— decarbonization, digitalization, and decentralization—three trends that will make the distribution grid increasingly dynamic and complex.

For example, Peter and James reviewed how escalating climate risks are creating greater pressure to improve vegetation management and facilitate the work of out-of-state crews during the increasingly frequent and prolonged weather-related outages. They discussed the ways in which the continued move to solar and other renewable energy sources—along with the rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and the evolution to vehicle-to-grid (V2G) EVs—will make the grid more data intensive and more challenging to manage. And they outlined how these transitions will impact field crews working in low-voltage environments, creating a need for technologies that provide better situational awareness and a more accurate picture of the facts on the ground by integrating local system modeling and real-time updates.

Get More Insights

This engaging webinar offered a glimpse into the future of the distribution grid and what the utility field crews of tomorrow will need in order to complete their jobs efficiently, effectively, and safely. We invite you to download the webinar recording for insights on the trends that are already beginning to impact your utility field crews.

Schedule a demo to learn how the EpochField mobile workforce management solution can help.

Industry Outlook 2023: 4 Utility Workforce Management Trends to Watch

Posted on December 20, 2022February 28, 2023 by Epoch Solutions Group

The demand for workforce management technologies is growing rapidly, and this has implications for utility companies and their field operations. In fact, according to Grand View Research, the workforce management market was estimated at $6.1 billion in 2019 and is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% through 2025. Several factors are driving this market growth, notes the research firm, including the demand for “workforce optimization, increasing cloud deployment, and the need to comply with regulatory mandates.” To meet their current and future operational challenges, utility companies can benefit tremendously from leveraging workforce management technologies. Fortunately, a new generation of enterprise-grade field workforce digitization platforms is fast emerging. These solutions are allowing utilities to take full advantage of geospatial field data to inform operational decisions, automate workflows, and enable deep, ongoing visibility into how field operations are unfolding across the service area. To discover just what technological advances are of greatest value to utilities today, Epoch Solutions Group conducted a survey of customers in December of 2022 to learn more about their most pressing challenges, opportunities for the future – and how they plan to apply digitization to sharpen their operational model. Based on customer feedback and other industry sources, we have identified four common operational objectives of utility companies today, trends that are driving technological investments and setting the stage for a digitally transformed tomorrow.

Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change

Climate change is a consequential factor impacting many industries globally. For utility companies, the phenomenon not only presents operational challenges, but it also creates additional safety risks for utility field crew workers and the communities they serve. A recent Accenture survey cited by Forbes bears this out, revealing that utility industry executives believe climate change is a growing problem, and that “utility companies must double-down on their efforts to create technology-enabled resilient systems” in response. A full 95% of utility industry survey respondents believe having “greater adaptability” in their networks is a critical step toward achieving resiliency. The majority of respondents to our own survey agree, pointing also to investments in renewable energy as a top opportunity for 2023 – and both effective vegetation management and meeting environmental/decarbonization targets as among their most notable challenges. To ensure network adaptability going forward, implementing a field workforce digitization platform is a best practice to follow as these solutions enable marked increases in technological scale and flexibility. To track and trace conditions on the ground, including vegetation growth, aging infrastructure, and other factors that pose environmental and safety risks, utilities need an advanced field workforce digitization platform built to capture vast amounts of data for dissemination, analysis, and decisioning. To combat one of the most dangerous impacts of climate change – the increasing prevalence of wildfires – utilities need to focus on modernizing their vegetation management practices. With a feature-rich, highly automated field operations platform in place, utility operations teams can leverage real-time field data to track the growth patterns of vegetation more accurately and then take the steps necessary to protect their infrastructure assets from dry brush and other fire hazards. The ability to track field data at a granular level also allows utility companies to respond faster and more strategically when adverse weather conditions arise, including devastating winter storms and hurricanes that can cause widespread outages impacting entire geographic regions. The ability to trace and track the condition of assets and their surrounding terrain also enables utility companies to demonstrate their compliance with environmental and safety regulations – and to continuously improve business practices in ways that better protect consumers, structures, wildlife, and the environment going forward.

Automating Workflows for Better Productivity

Another top operational challenge noted by our survey respondents is the industry’s reliance on outdated systems and infrastructure. Legacy systems that have evolved over time simply lack the extensibility utilities require today to meet fast-advancing service demands. To unlock the power of their data, utilities need the ability to integrate systems and resources from cloud and back-office technologies to the mobile devices deployed in the hands of field crew workers. A modernized, seamlessly integrated enterprise, built on workforce digitization technology, gives utilities the connectivity they need to share data across all their applications, including the GIS solutions they rely on operationally and enterprise-wide business applications from companies like Oracle and SAP. Seamless data sharing across the continuum enables greater visibility into operational processes and their impacts, better collaboration among teams, and a more informed approach to field operations management overall. Consider also the industry’s aging workforce, a dynamic that is impacting utility companies on many levels. In fact, analysts predict that 50% of the industry’s workforce will retire or otherwise exit the profession in the near term, leaving utilities shorthanded in several key areas – from field crew technicians and administrative dispatchers to back-office service teams and engineers. To fill in these vitally important skill gaps, it is essential for utilities to deploy technologies that enable automation of workflows and processes. By automating routine tasks, utility companies can ensure that new staff members and contractors have the technological support they need to increase their productivity and keep systems and assets running optimally in the future. The most advanced digitization solutions on the market today can facilitate automation in many key areas, from scheduling and dispatching crews to data collection, entry, and analysis. These types of feature-rich solutions built for automation, connectivity, and scale will allow your company to meet staffing challenges head-on by digitizing repeatable tasks, enabling universal data access and sharing, and keeping personnel resources focused on the high-level, strategic initiatives needed to promote operational efficiency, safety, security, and sustainability.

Meeting the Expectations of Digital-First Consumers

The digital expectations of consumers today are higher than ever. Companies like Amazon and Google have taught consumers well that they can expect the exact information, products, and services they need on demand. This dynamic has widespread implications, and utility companies are taking note: our survey results point to customer satisfaction as a notable challenge facing utilities today. No longer is it acceptable to make modern consumers wait at home for hours for a service call – or to repeat themselves over and over again to different service reps when requesting a repair. Customers today expect data to be readily available to everyone involved. That means they expect to be updated, frequently, on when crews will arrive – and when they do, customers expect crews to know exactly what needs to be done – and to be fully equipped to fix the issue at hand. With an advanced field workforce digitization framework implemented, your utility company can capture, synch, and share real-time field data with employees and customers alike for expedited response times, better communication, and more rewarding consumer experiences.

Turning Field Data Into Actionable Insights

Data management is another major challenge cited by our survey respondents – and for good reason. Field data today is streaming into utility company systems and applications at an unprecedented rate, as the number of drones, sensors, smart meters, satellites, LiDAR systems, mobile devices, and digital cameras proliferate across both populated urban settings and remote locales. The ability to digitize, standardize, store, and analyze the volumes of field data utilities receive is transforming the way field operations are managed. With deep real-time visibility into operational data, utility back-office administrators can make more strategic, timely field crew deployment decisions that ensure the performance of infrastructure assets. Going forward, advances in high-performance computing and digitization technologies promise to help utility companies leverage their data streams in exciting new ways. As new, faster, more powerful hardware and software solutions become available, utilities will be able to advance their enterprise infrastructure to better leverage AI, machine learning, and other data-intensive applications used to run predictive models. Proactive analysis of utility field data will prove instrumental going forward in critical decision-making processes related to crew staffing, scheduling, and dispatching, and to future investments in technology and equipment.

Choosing the Right Provider

Technologies designed to track field assets in real time, deliver universal data access, scale operational workflows, and automate key processes are already helping utility companies achieve dramatic increases in responsiveness, efficiency, and service uptime. And we are only scratching the surface of what utility workforce digitization solutions will enable in the future. To ensure your investments fully deliver on their promise going forward, be sure to partner with a technology provider that can help you design a comprehensive, long-term plan for your infrastructure – and that offers the development, deployment, and service resources needed to implement new workforce digitization and automation technologies as they emerge. With population growth exploding across many areas of our nation and demand for energy resources increasing accordingly, your utility operations teams will be expected to perform at ever-higher levels going forward. Having the technological resources in place now to support this paradigm will allow you to advance your service levels to meet future operational demands, ensuring that your customers have the safe, reliable, affordable energy they need to power their daily lives for years to come. Epoch Solutions Group can help you meet the challenges ahead in 2023 and beyond. Contact us for a free demonstration of our EpochField platform utilizing GIS technology today.