Esri’s Utility Network allows you to model your electric and gas systems from the generator or gathering fields all the way down to a customer’s meter.  Having this connected model coupled with a higher-fidelity data model unlocks all sorts of new analytics and establishes a strong foundation for this rapidly evolving industry.  Utilities already have their distribution systems in GIS and many transmission systems are being established there as well.  But there is one data set critical to establishing this transmission to distribution tier connectivity that has rarely been modeled in GIS: the station.

In the electric world, the substations are what step up or step doawn the voltage to different levels, be it transmission or distribution.  On the gas side, you have the compressor, town border, and regulator stations managing and stepping up or down the pressure of the gas flowing through the pipes.  For GIS, it made sense to track the location of these stations but there was little value of tracking the assets inside those stations.  If someone was sent to a station asset for maintenance, they were just told “go to this station at this address” and that worked.  You’ve never had to worry about what has been “inside the fence”.  You have very little details or data of the assets inside that fence besides the sources for distribution circuits and zones.  But inside that fence is the link to the multiple tiers the Utility Network can model.  And currently, it’s missing.  How can we solve for this missing link?

First, you need to figure out what you want out of the Utility Network. Do you want to be able to establish full electric circuits or gas zones at the transmission level that can also trace down into the distribution tier or another transmission tier?  If not, then you don’t have to worry about those station assets.

If you do want those traceable circuits and zones, then at the very least you need to establish the assets that are “operable” or can change the flow of the electricity or gas.  You will also need to establish Utility Network terminals to show the direction of flow.  If you want more of a “digital twin” of what is out there in the real world along with traceable circuits and zone, then you also need to consider modeling electric bus work or the gas station piping.  With the gas system, this digital twin of a regulator station could include items such as flanges as weld.  It really depends on how much detail you require to meet your needs.  Just remember: the more assets you add to that station model, the more data maintenance procedures you will have to build around those assets.

Secondly, where is your station data and what format is it in?  Do you have diagrams or documents that represent each station?  Are these in paper, pdf, or CAD format?  Can the data be pulled electronically from another system like a planning model or energy management system (EMS) model?  The more you can collate this data into electronic formats of some sort, the easier it is to come up with a scripting process to generate GIS data to represent these stations.  If this isn’t possible, be prepared for a lot of manual data creation as people will have to transcribe the data from paper or PDF.

The last thing to consider is on-going data maintenance.  It’s rare that a GIS editor sees any information about changes to a substation.  How do you get them included in the loop?  Or better yet, is there another business unit that maintains this data and can their changes be applied to the Utility Network model through an automated process?  You could use the EMS or CAD diagrams to auto-create and update station data as changes occur if those changes are made in a timely fashion.  What you want to avoid as much as possible is duplicate data creation/entry by individuals.  GIS could be the system of record for station diagrams and that info can be shared back to CAD, planning, and EMS.  Or CAD may be the system of record and that data is shared out accordingly.  You need to take a hard look at your workflows to figure out what is the best solution for your utility.

For a fully connected “digital twin” Utility Network, you need the station internals in some fashion.  This data can be filled in for your GIS, but it requires careful analysis and planning to ensure you “right size” that data for your utility.  Not doing so will add unnecessary complexity, costs, and time to your Utility Network project.  By looking into the four considerations outlined in this article, you can be prepared to close that missing link!