Utility Vegetation Management & GIS

Transcription

1 Utility Vegetation Management & GIS Designing A Mobile Geospatial application to streamline field collection & recordkeeping Joshua DeWees Spoon River Electric Cooperative

2 Agenda I. Background II. Case Study: Spoon River Electric III. Design Process IV. Results

3 Background

4 Distribution Electric Systems Consists of substations, poles, wires, overcurrent protection, and meters Vegetation can cause faults Faults Blinking lights Outages Voltage anomalies Customer dissatisfaction Regulatory issues

5 Vegetation Impacts on Distribution Lines Direct contact Overhanging branches Underbrush that prevents access

6 Utility Vegetation Management (UVM) It is generally accepted that the single largest cause of electric power outages occurs when trees, or portions of trees, grow or fall into overhead power lines. Utility Vegetation Management (UVM) programs represent one of the largest recurring maintenance expenses for electric utility companies in North America. Utility Vegetation Management Final Report March 2004 CN Utility Consulting, LLC

7 Case Study SPOON RIVER ELECTRIC

8 Spoon River Electric Cooperative Three electric cooperatives 15 Employees 5,200 Miles of distribution line GPS and ESRI GIS based planning and record keeping Linear referencing and route event tables

9 Spoon River Electric: Current Processes Planning process Collect GPS points Make handwritten notes Transcribe all written notes into the GIS database Print maps for the crews Record keeping process Collect GPS record of work completed Handwritten daily work record Transcribe the work notes into the GIS Calculate work footage completed

10 Field Sheet

11 Field Map

12 What s the Problem? Planning and documentation takes a lot of time Manual transcription process Errors between field notes and database Lag time between field work and database Difficult to teach others to update

13 What s the Solution? Utilize good design principles to create a mobile application to: Improve efficiency over current manual process Allows edits in the field for real-time updates Work on easy to use mobile platforms already used personally and professionally at the cooperatives Create a long term record keeping system Designed to improve VM for a broader audience than Spoon River

14 Design Process

15 Design Process

16 Mobile Platforms

17 COTS

18 Cooperative Surveys CEO Surveys Assess high level view of VM Consider budgets related to VM Obtain permission to survey VM manager VM Manager Survey Assess time/effort spent on managing vegetation Gain feedback on operational perspective for VM Methods, Technology, Planning, Communication, Other Needs

19 VM Workload Please rate your agreement with this statement: Vegetation management activities are an important part of my work. What percentage of your annual budget is designated for vegetation management? What percentage of your day is spent on vegetation management activities? # Answer Response % 6 Strongly Disagree 1 7% 7 Disagree 0 0% 8 Neither Agree nor 0 0% Disagree 9 Agree 4 29% 10 Strongly Agree 9 64% Total % # Answer Response % 1 No regular budget 1 7% amount 2 1-2% 2 14% 3 3-5% 7 50% 4 Greater than 5% 2 14% 5 Other (please 2 14% explain) Total % # Answer Min Value Max Value 1 Percent Time Average Value Standard Deviation Responses

20 Current VM Practices What technologies are used to track vegetation management activities? Choose all that apply How are vegetation management records kept? How do you communicate work assignments to vegetation management crews? # Answer Response % 1 Pen and paper 8 89% 2 GPS 4 44% 3 GIS 5 56% 4 CAD 0 0% 5 Other (Please describe) 1 11% # Answer Response % 1 Hard copy 1 11% 2 Database 2 22% 3 Spreadsheet 5 56% 4 Paper maps 5 56% 5 GIS maps 3 33% 6 Other (please explain) 1 11% # Answer Response % 1 Maps 8 89% 2 Job orders/tickets 9 100% 3 Mobile Device 0 0% 4 GIS 0 0% 5 Other (please explain) 0 0%

21 Current VM Practices How are vegetation management activities verified? Who performs vegetation management activities? Which planning activities are used to determine where vegetation management is required? Choose all that apply. # Answer Response % 1 Physical complete postrun 8 89% 2 Physical post spot-checks 2 22% 3 Contractor affidavit/work 1 11% records 4 Employee work records 2 22% 5 Other (please explain) 0 0% # Answer Response % 1 Full time personnel 2 22% 2 Contracted Vegetation Management 1 11% personnel 3 A combination of contracted and full time 6 67% personnel Total 9 100% # Answer Response % 1 Systematic Physical inspection/evaluation 7 78% 2 Timed rotation of vegetation activities 7 78% 3 Employee reported trouble areas 7 78% 4 Member reported trouble areas 6 67% 5 Other (please explain) 0 0%

22 VM Manager Needs If you were to envision a completely new system for improving vegetation management in your organization, how would you like it to work? Summary of Responses: Better organization Electronic maps Enhanced record keeping Web based application that could be used by all employees Timed VM rotation followed annually

23 Paper Prototype

24 Paper Prototype Final

25 Results

26 Lessons Learned Illinois cooperatives Vegetation management is important Still using paper Similar budgets Part-time management Similar work strategies Not using any special apps for VM Challenges Customizing user interface Adding linear referencing to a feature service layer

27 Thank You! Questions? Contact:

28 References: 1. Utility Vegetation Management Final Report ; CN Utility Consulting, LLC; March Beyond Status Quo ; Rick Johnstone; Vistas (a trade publication); accessed 11/09/ The Economic Impacts of Deferring Electric Utility Tree Maintenance ; D. Mark Browning; Environmental Consultants, Inc.; April Integrated Vegetation Management on an Electric Transmission Right-of-way in Pennsylvania, U. S. ; Richard H. Yahner and Russell J. Hutnick; Journal of Arboriculture; September UAA Best Management Practices Funding, Lynn Grayson ; accessed 11/09/ Reliability Based Vegetation Management Through Intelligent System Monitoring ; B. Don Russell, Carl L. Benner, and Jeffrey Wischkaemper; Project T-27 Tele-seminar, 10/16/2007, accessed 11/09/2014