KLICKITAT PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT (KPUD) IS USING THE FUSION GIS SOFTWARE as its automated mapping and facilities management geographic information system (AM/FM/GIS) system. It provides data on facilities and customers throughout KPUD's enterprise. The system is built around a spatial database that uses separate user interfaces for editing and viewing, and also enables a mobile platform on laptops. This is a true integration of GIS- and CAD-based technologies. KPUD (Goldendale, Washington, U.S.) thinks of it as a “GIS system in a box,” because it is capable of using any front-end user interface.

KPUD is a rural electric, water and wastewater utility serving 11,000 consumers within a 2000-sq mile (5180-sq km) territory. KPUD is a small utility with only 60 employees, but it is relatively advanced in that it operates 230-kV transmission and substation facilities, along with methane-gas generation and, in about 18 months, a share of a 200-MW wind farm.

SPATIAL DATABASE

The spatial database is the center of the AM/FM/GIS system and holds field inventory information for the entire organization. There also are links to other equipment databases within the organization. Through the GIS system, these databases appear seamless to the user. Prior to the spatial database, much of this information was embedded in stand-alone map files and was not readily available to everyone. The system also has links to other applications within KPUD, such as accounting, billing, inventory and engineering analysis software.

The key to this system is that the user's platform, the front end, is separate from the database, the back-end system. The system itself is Fusion GIS. KPUD runs the AutoCAD and FastLook platforms, but it has the capability to use ArcEditor, SVG or almost anything else as the front-end platform. In addition to being able to use various platforms, KPUD can run the different platforms simultaneously; therefore, the data are available to all the various departments that are using different platforms.

Because the data are spatial, there are no file-based drawings like what can be found with CAD-type platforms. The fact that KPUD doesn't really have drawings is completely transparent to the user. This means that a utility can enable GIS applications while maintaining any investment in CAD. This investment is not only hardware and software, but also training and the accumulated years of experience of the users.

The Fusion GIS software product was developed under a partnership between CanMap Systems (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), which provides services to the utility industry, and Jeforz Software (Vancouver), an information technology company that develops and implements enterprise GIS software. Together, the companies provide technology to provide a user-friendly environment where engineering and management share information seamlessly.

THE VIEWER

The basic inquiry tool of Fusion GIS is the Viewer. Although Viewers lack editing capability, they allow the user to see what is in the field at a much-reduced platform cost. Therefore, KPUD can spread not just the data, but also the maps and graphical interfaces throughout the organization.

At KPUD, the Viewers are available on both desktop and laptop computers. KPUD crew foremen, servicemen, operations manager and meter men have laptops they take with them in the field. KPUD also has Viewers on desktops for its support assistants and customer-service staff.

There are three ways users can access the maps and related data. The first way is through dynamic panning and zooming. Since the maps are created from the database, traditional GIS tools are available. For example, to aid in speed, the information is staged so that as you get closer, more information is shown.

The second way to access the maps and data is through multi-variable searches. This searching can be done on any available data field that can be linked to a geographic location. For example, field crews could search by pole or meter number while customer-service staff could search by phone number or address. From the maps, you can access any information through links built into the spatial database. For example, you can look at a graph of customer load information, assembly unit data, transformer information or even the construction work order (CWO) history of each pole or “location.”

This same information also is available directly off the maps, through a tool called Map Tips. You merely hold your cursor over any object to display information about it.

Tools can also be added, as required, to query information out of the database. An example is what KPUD terms “Operational Tools” on its Viewer. This set of tools gives the utility the ability to select any feeder and draw it on screen in the Viewer. A lineman, for example, could then select devices he wanted to add to the view, such as reclosers, switches or fuses. He could scale the size of each of these symbols on the screen, in effect creating a one-line diagram on the fly. He could then click on each device symbol and access the relevant information. He could also choose to show the feeder conductors colored by phase. Other tools can easily be implemented, as there is great flexibility in choosing how the map is displayed.

PLUG-IN MODULES

Because the system is based on GIS principles, it is easy to add and view many different information sources and overlay them. Users can create tools as self-contained modules on the basic system that use this information and core data. This makes the modules easy to implement and reliable.

One such module is the Land Base. KPUD has a basic USGS map background, along with topographical and aerial photo backgrounds for its maps.

KPUD also imports its county assessor's database, which provides the utility with access to property ownership, property descriptions, surveys and land valuations geographically. This information also could include other utility mapping, demographics or even travel routing.

Another module is KPUD's GPS field inventory and staking. Using GPS tools to create CWOs and collect field-inventory data further simplifies field work. Data collection can be done in defined input forms using a company's standard assembly units. These forms can be downloaded to a GPS unit to collect existing field facility data as GPS data are collected. These same input forms can be used when creating a new CWO while in the field. As the information is obtained in the field and can be verified right there, no further human interaction or compilation in the office is required. The result is highly reliable data.

The system also can auto-digitize the collected information to the map and be used to create an entire CWO from GPS data.

KPUD also has a module for exporting system information to engineering analysis applications. It maintains an interface database that translates the geometry associated with each framing assembly unit, like the conductor height aboveground and phase spacing, in a format that can be accessed by the engineering analysis software. KPUD also exports customer-usage information from its Customer Billing System, which it links to the map for modeling and planning purposes.

As a more detailed example of a module, this is an overview of KPUD's outage management system. There are four aspects to the system:

• First is taking the calls. The customer service representative gets the phone number or address from the caller and logs the call. If the customer would like a call back or has specific requirements, this request also is logged. All outage calls are marked with yellow dots on the map.

• The second aspect is the operations department (or dispatcher) looking at these calls to find the first common upstream protection device. This device is flagged to show a potential open point. This establishes a specific outage. All other customers can then be tagged on the map as blue dots to show the extent of that outage. It is an easy matter to select customers and place calls on either side of the outage flag to validate the open point. The crew can be informed of the location of the open device as they are dispatched. The dispatcher enters the crew dispatch time, their estimated time of arrival and other pertinent data.

• As the customer service representatives continue to take calls, they can see if the call is part of an outage already reported, and if it is, the representative can relay outage information to the customer. Everyone can be kept up-to-date easily without separate phone calls.

• The fourth part of the system is outage reporting. By completing energization times and outage causes, the system can be used to report the various outage indices. The system can calculate the number of customers automatically because it has access to the connected network model and the outage point.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

Potential future developments are exciting with the increasing availability of technology and the convergence of CAD- and GIS-based applications. Like KPUD, you can be a small utility and still realize the functionality you want. You can also be a large utility and keep your systems simple while maintaining your functionality.

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Jim Smith began his career working for British Columbia Hydro and ultimately serving as engineering manager for the city of Vancouver. Smith subsequently relocated to Washington and has served as engineering manager for Klickitat Public Utility District (KPUD) since 1997. In that time, he has implemented KPUD's SCADA system, specified and implemented the CWO, AM/FM/GIS system, and designed and managed KPUD's system improvement projects, including 230-kV transmission and substation projects. He holds a BSEE degree from the University of British Columbia in Canada and is a registered professional engineer in the state of Washington. JSmith@klickpud.com

CONSTRUCTION WORK ORDER SYSTEM

Every utility has a process for adding to its facilities, whether it is customer driven or a requirement for system improvement. Klickitat Public Utility District (KPUD) calls the process a construction work order (CWO). KPUD's system is built around a relatively standard REA/RUS process.

KPUD distills its CWO process down to a short list of standard steps that the staking engineer or service representative has to work through. Using a toolbar, these steps are set up as numbered buttons on screen:

1. Get a CWO number.

2. Define a work order area by selecting a rectangle, and set the scale.

3. Enter the CWO information. KPUD enters the basic customer information necessary to create an account in its Customer Billing System on a service order. There is also a tracking screen so that anyone can access CWO information to answer questions for customers without physically pulling a file folder.

4. Place the stakes at the locations where crew will add vaults, poles or transformers. Users can use standard front-end-platform drawing tools such as bearings, circles, lines and intersection points to place these stakes in the desired location.

5. Enter staking assemblies at each stake. There are a series of screens using drop-down menus to pick standard assembly units defined by the utility. The staking engineer selects the assembly units and the quantities in this step to define the work that is required at each location. The system adds standard construction notes from these entries and a work summary appears at each stake location on the construction drawing. The system completes the scaling, layering, coloring, digitizing and other drawing-related items. This means KPUD engineers can focus on their work and not on trying to make the drawing correct.

6. Digitize conductors between the stakes. The system uses the same drop-down menu and assembly unit approach for selecting conductors. The system maintains a true electrically connected model, including phase, in the database for use in analysis.

7. Plot construction drawings. The system inserts all titles and headings from previously entered information and the user just has to click the print button. The user can change the plots through configuration screens.

8. Printing or view reports. The system crunches all the numbers and produces staking sheets, material lists, estimates and accounting records as required.

KPUD also runs standard activity reports monthly and annually. These include the number of CWOs completed, the number of services installed, miles of line installed and the like. KPUD also tracks work activity by crew and by engineer. The system contains the information in the database, and the utility can pull out the specific information it wants to review.