By Michael W. Michelson, Jr.
A map is a map is a map, or is it? Not if you ask John Fisher, a partner with Electrical Systems Consultants, a Fort Collins, Colorado, firm providing systems analysis services to small- and medium-sized electric companies throughout the country. And, in the opinion of many members of his firm, as well as his customers, a big part of the reason for the company's success results from the use of Trimble's Pathfinder Pro XR Global Positioning System (GPS) Mapping Systems.
"In a lot of ways, we got into GPS mapping for the same reasons many other firms do, even those not involved in the electricity business," said Fisher. "I've got a large client list full of people and companies that manage a wide range of geographically dispersed assets - all of which have benefited from the use of GPS technology."
It began more than six years ago when Fisher was looking for a better, more efficient way to build an intelligent map. "We have five departments, each providing a different type of engineering service to utility companies," said Fisher. "Our department - the Information Systems department - provides GIS and GPS services to a number of clients, many outside of the utility business." Among the company's non-utility clients are Anheuser-Busch and Amerada Hess. LaPlata Electric, of Durango, Colorado, was the first power company to turn to Electrical Systems Consultants for assistance with GPS
"GPS is a lot like other technologies," said Fisher. "It takes time and some boldness to be the first to use something like GPS. Gary McNaughton, the former assistant general manager of LaPlata Electric was the first one for us to try GPS. He was very pleased with the result." And, according to Fisher, LaPlata was one of the first to experiment with the concept of an intelligent map.
"When we started in GPS, we wanted to build more than an intelligent map," Fisher explained. "That's a term that's been greatly overused in the past few years, with everyone claiming to either be building or already using an 'intelligent map.' We wanted to be not only different, but even better than the rest."
That's when Fisher purchased his first Pathfinder Pro XL GPS Mapping System. "What we had in mind was to develop more than an accurate representation of where assets were located," Fisher said. "We wanted to be able to have not only locations of facilities, but accurate information regarding their connectivity. This way we can see their relationships to each other. We can see all the way from a meter, back to a protective device, and all the way back to a substation. With our Pro XR and the data management abilities we have with the GPS, we obtain this information and download it to a client's GIS."
GPS as an Accounting Tool
GPS is increasingly being used to accurately account for the depreciation of equipment in the field. "When a manager has accurate data about equipment in the field, he or she can determine when it was installed, and can then accurately depreciate those assets," said Fisher. Before GPS, accounting for these types of assets was almost theoretical. Now it's concrete. Also, some utilities report more than a 20 per cent 'sneak-on' rate, or the attachment of non-electrical equipment to a pole unbeknownst to the utility. Now we know what is on a utility pole so authorized users, such as cable and telephone companies, can be billed for their use of utility poles."
Fisher also credits the use of GPS for the proper taxation of assets in the field. "If a utility company has more accurate knowledge of what is out in the field, it can more accurately address its taxation issues," Fisher said.
Outage Control
When a utility company knows better where its customers are, it can provide better service. Fisher is betting that his Pro XRs will not only give his clients a better idea of where their customers are, but that utility services will dramatically improve as a result.
"There is no doubt that GPS is growing in acceptance as a viable tool in collecting data and enabling utility companies of all sizes to serve customers better," Fisher explained. "From day-to-day administration of assets to implementing quick responses to power outages, GPS is proving its mettle. In fact, there probably isn't an electric utility anywhere that isn't either already using or considering a purchase of GPS to capture and administer their data in the field. It's a proactive tactic in a typically reactive industry."
Objectivity Makes the Choice Better
"We believe that, as an engineering firm, it's our job to look at all choices we make objectively when we consider how to do our job better," Fisher said. "This ability to take an objective look at our methods as well as our tools includes the selection of which GPS product to use."
According to Fisher, reliability of the equipment has been the most important reason for selecting Trimble's Pro XR, as well as for continuing to use the product. "It seems like in a side-by-side analysis of the equipment, this equipment has been the most reliable, and has had shorter signal acquisition times, especially considering the amount of abuse it takes in the field."
Fisher said that Electrical Systems Consultants have purchased the new Pro XRS for real time data collection where radio beacons are available.
Favoured Tools: Software and GPS
"I like the fact that we can use Pathfinder Office software to standardize our data collection in the field," Fisher explained. "By setting up a series of checklists and menus, menu-driven commands make all of our tools easy to use, even by our most inexperienced crews. This also allows us to minimize the chances of operator error in the field. We can capture meter numbers, company numbers or other data in a standardized format."
GPS Provides for Differing Needs
"Electric utilities are different in many ways, some not so obvious," Fisher said. "Some managers may feel that they don't really need to know all of the information on every pole in the field. That's why in some cases we don't collect information pole-to-pole. We may collect information only on key poles that are at specific locations. Then, later on, we may go back to collect more information. Our Trimble Pro XR is a flexible tool that allows us to take all of these variables into consideration, collect our data and bring it into our GIS without a problem. To me, that's a useful tool, instead of having to adapt what we want to accomplish to the tool we're trying to use."
A recent situation in New Hampshire illustrated Fisher's point. "In this case we were charged with not only collecting data about the facilities, but we needed to collect information about things such as rights-of-way and possible future tree-trimming needs as well. Our Pro XRs didn't even skip a beat once we used the Office software to preprogram what the data was that we wanted to collect. It was all there ready for our crews to use," Fisher recalled.
Mobility, Adaptability, and Technology
Fisher and his crews have used a wide range of methods in their pursuit of data. GPS performance was consistent. "We've put our units on people who were astride bikes, all-terrain vehicles, mountain bikes, even snowshoes, all depending on where we needed to collect our data," Fisher mused. "How we collected the data never figured into the equation. In fact, some of what might seem to be our most inefficient methods proved to be the best. During one recent job for Mountain Parks Electric, in Granby, Colorado, we found that the best way to get to some of the poles on our route was to wait until winter and use snowmobiles in our collection efforts. This turned out to be the most efficient approach, in fact, and we completed the job ahead of schedule. We collected an average of 180 points during a six-hour day using this method."
Case Closed
"GPS has really proven itself as far as we are concerned," Fisher said. "It's a proven technology, especially in this application environment. We've done nearly a million points with GPS, and we've never been disappointed with the accuracy and reliability of the data we've collected. Further, we're finding that our clients have the utmost faith in the technology. We're also finding that they are coming up with new applications all the time, and not once have we been disappointed with the results. On the contrary, whatever we have collected data for, at whatever stage or need in mapping, we have gotten what we wanted. Every single time."
Michael Michelsen Jr. is with Trimble Navigation Ltd. ET