Brookings Municipal Utilities “Does Things Right” with GIS

Based in Brookings, South Dakota, Brookings Municipal Utilities (BMU) supplies power to approximately 12,000 customers and manages water and wastewater utility, internet, and telecommunications services. While the company had a successful track record using CAD to manage electric utility operations, leadership recognized the need to modernize operations. Decades of department-level systems had resulted in isolated data. The disparate databases met user objectives but resulted in multiple redundancy pockets that consumed precious resources to update and maintain. Company staff had to manage multiple stand-alone databases and spreadsheets, all involving different aspects of network operations, from underground assets to field inspection forms.

This lack of consolidation led to duplicated work, wasted time, and the potential for data errors. In addition, BMU needed a single source of truth—a system of record that provided a view of the network and related attribute data.

New leaders at BMU were increasingly aware of geographic information system (GIS) technology as a data integration platform. The engineering department, focusing on the water/wastewater division, first entered the foray of GIS with an Esri enterprise software implementation. After careful consideration, BMU collectively moved its electric division to an Esri-based system that included ArcGIS Utility Network to take advantage of the data integrity and tracing capabilities. The company also wanted to support staff in the field using Esri’s ArcGIS Enterprise portal and the mobile data collection app ArcGIS Survey123. The company implemented Utility Network and ArcGIS Pro—Esri’s professional desktop application for editing, visualizing, and analyzing spatial data—as part of its overall solution. Staff also upgraded their ArcGIS Enterprise instance to take advantage of Esri’s new Utility Network licensing model. Utility Network functionality helps turn the company’s previously map-centric 2D model into a high-fidelity, network-centric 3D model with greater data detail and analytic capabilities.

Each feature template is based on the inventory of actual switchgear models used by BMU. The modern system georeferenced electric network and related tabular information. Staff can now take advantage of location analytics to perform queries and visualize results.

BMU also recently implemented a mobile workforce and work order management system from within the Esri system. The utility manages daily safety job briefings and construction field visits by using iPads utilizing Esri technology.

BMU selected Locana to partner on implementing Esri software, including Utility Network, for BMU's electric utilities. Initially, BMU planned to execute much of the project with Locana in a support role. However, after an initial collaborative needs assessment, which included the Locana Collaboration Spectrum evaluation, BMU ultimately asked Locana to shift to the lead consulting model for implementation. In addition, because of its extensive experience with Utility Network implementations, Locana developed a detailed GIS road map and strategy to streamline the implementation.

“We gave Locana a goal to go live in April of 2021, a six-month time frame from the start date. Locana staff did most of the work, communicating with us regularly, including weekly meetings. It was a successful project that met the goals we set out.”

                                                                                                          Russ Halgerson, Electric Department Manager, BMU

A key issue for BMU was data migration. Staff at the utility benefited from Locana’s knowledge and tools for transitioning to Utility Network and getting disparate legacy data into the standard Esri format.

Esri’s solution reduced the drawing time for new features, allowing for rapid data remediation. Leveraging ArcGIS, BMU transitioned from departmental GIS to a spatially enabled enterprise, facilitating easy access to comprehensive maps and related information across departments. Today, BMU leverages an enterprise GIS that replaces ad hoc legacy maps with a network model that more closely aligns with the utility's real-world system. As a result, staff have secure, modern technology to scale for the future, enabling smooth integrations with new systems as they are implemented.

Esri’s geospatial tools now allow more employees at BMU to do their job more effectively. Moreover, staff now use a traceable network model with high data integrity for improved business functions.

Previously, using CAD for mapping and managing the network had proved problematic because of its inherent limitations. Esri’s GIS software provides exceptional tracing capabilities, enabling users to trace upstream and downstream, a previously unavailable functionality in CAD. For instance, today, if an outage occurs at BMU, staff can select the downline customers affected by the outage. As a result, BMU staff improved their outage response and reporting, turning a lengthy notification procedure into a much quicker process. In addition, they improved planned outages, leveraging a faster, more efficient method to identify and contact customers.

ArcGIS provides numerous other benefits as well. Engineers can quickly publish maps using a single solution, whether a customized map or mapped data displayed for different department dashboards. Operational tools help departments with day-to-day activities.

For example, the water department has a near real-time display of hydrant-flushing activity updated by the GIS and includes notes and feedback about where crews are located. Likewise, the electric department uses a dashboard for its annual inspection of switch cabinets. The dashboard shows which assets have already been inspected and which ones still need to be inspected. It also contains notes on maintenance items and images for easy access.

With its modern GIS in place, BMU is considering implementing containerization for transformers and substations. As the model evolves and develops, the utility will also look to incorporate supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and all third-party systems to take full advantage of GIS functionality within other operational systems. Staff also plan to deploy a mobile workforce as well as a work order management system with GIS functionality to enhance data collection.