After forty years in the utility business, I’ve been involved with every facet of the electric utility operations from generation to transmission and even retail. What I have found is that many professionals in electric utilities do not understand what other parts of the organization do, especially vegetation management.  It’s a whole part of the plan and a large part of the budget but what they hear are a whole lot of new terms like side trims, toppers, unit pricing, cycle work, hot spots, demand, fixed price, T&M….

Vegetation Management is an interesting subject as it has a language and culture all its own. Although vegetation management isn’t the mainline business of an electric utility it is a support function that is most critical to the reliable delivery of electricity. We all know that many outages, both momentary and sustained are caused by wind blowing powerlines, touching each other, shorted by a tree branch, or knocked down by a fallen tree. Electric utilities spend a lot of time and in many cases the largest part of their budget in managing the growth and trim of trees. So here is a “Rookie” primer for anyone who is interested in what the vegetation management team is up to.

What’s the process of vegetation management? It’s simple: Identify the trees that need to be cut; send people with tools to cut and clear the trees; record the date that the lines were cleared; come back and do it again when it’s needed. Sounds straight forward, but there are many ways of managing this activity.

The Process:

Let’s look at the process and see what the various influences are. Here are the basic categories in the vegetation management process:

Initiating the Work Request

Requests for tree clearance come from several areas and it depends on the type of work. There are generally two types of work, Planned and Reactive. Each type of work having variations of why the work is done and what the specific need initiated the request.

Planned

As stated earlier, the primary objective is to keep power lines clear of vegetation that can cause an interruption. One type of planned work is the maintenance of the vegetation system. This work is generally planned pruning (or trimming) and is done continuously with each year being part of a multi-year trim cycle.  The trim cycle is either approved or directed by the utility commission, or in the case of municipals and coops by local management best practices.

Another approach to managing clearance work is by looking at the circuits that have the highest impact on reliability, “hot spots”, and prioritizing work in that manner. Yet another type of planned work, is that driven by new capital construction. Right of way paths must be cleared based on the new construction needs.

Reactive work

This is work that is done in response to a customer, government agency or dispatch. The most obvious type of reactive work is a trouble request from the dispatcher to clear trees before a restoration effort can begin. Another could be a customer noticing that trees are getting into the power lines. (Note: the customer relationship is a very important part of the clearance management process and we will discuss that in another blog next month).

Executing the work

There are two basic ways that utilities are structured for their vegetation work. The first is a basic vegetation management structure as shown in the chart below. A supervisor with several foresters work directly with the contractors (tree and vegetation trimming contractors) to execute the work. The supervisor is probably working on a yearly master plan which is part of that trim cycle that we discussed earlier. Foresters have walked, driven or flown (using LIDAR) the scheduled circuits and identified which areas need to be cleared. They will issue work orders to the contractors and then audit the work to make sure that it was completed properly, before the contractor gets paid.

The second structure (in the illustration below) that I’ve come across is where a planning contractor acts on behalf of the utility by planning and managing the work with the trim contractors.

These are the very basic elements of managing vegetation and line clearance. There are several other aspects that we address in another blog; some of which are customer notification and permission to access property, historical tracking of work, different contract and pricing techniques, compliance with utility commission and regulatory requirements like FAC 003. As you can see vegetation management has many components and much of it is still largely a manual, paper based operation with cabinets full of records which are not easily navigated. Of course, software can help. Looking at the information presented above the software must accommodate several business structures, varying business processes, recording and tracking of both costs and work.

GSI has been engaged in vegetation management since 2009, developing and deploying GSI Forester for electric utilities. The result is one system that facilitates every step of the process from multi-year planning through auditing completed work and updating your GIS, easily managing contractors with convenient, real-time reports and dashboards.

History and Customer

Previously we talked about some concepts that were either directly mentioned or implied. The word “history’ was never mentioned, but to know where you are in the trim cycle you need to know where and when work was previously done. We also mentioned customer and a couple of points are important here. Power lines are often on the right of way through the customer’s property. So, a customer needs to be notified and grant permission for the work. Likewise, if a customer has a complaint there needs to be history verifying that the utility did do work. The customer relationship is very sensitive and complex, especially in “canopied” communities. For an education on this issue I recommend the LinkedIn post “Less is More” by Perry Odom, City of Tallahassee Electric Utility Arborist https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140630133724-49180422-less-is-more 

Bidding and Costing

An interesting aspect of the vegetation management business is the many ways that contracts are priced

Time and Materials- Usually this means rates are agreed to for every category of labor, equipment and materials. The contractor is just given work orders and executes at those rates.

Unit Pricing- This pricing is based upon the type of work that is done. Examples are lateral cuts, side cuts, application of growth retardants per area of measure, etc.

Firm Bid- Under this scenario prices are bid to include all material equipment and labor to clear a circuit(s) or a region. In this kind of bid the contractors may even have to do a walk (ride) down a circuit to prepare a bid.

Government Regulation

Effective July 1, 2014, The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) mandated that all U.S. bulk energy transmission companies comply with the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) regulation FAC-003-2 and furthermore requires 100% inspection of all transmission corridors each year.

FAC-003-2 was born out of the cascading 2003 black out around the Great Lakes and Northeast, which was started by a vegetation flash on a bulk transmission line at First Energy. See this Wikipedia discussion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003

The rule defines specific behaviors for transmission operators regarding the maintenance, reporting and penalties for non-compliance regarding vegetation management. This article in the National Law Review gives a good perspective, http://www.natlawreview.com/article/ferc-approves-new-vegetation-management-reliability-standard-issues-nopr-to-clarify

What’s the point?

Vegetation management programs are still largely manual, paper based operations with cabinets full of records which are not easily navigated. Of course, software can help. Looking at the information presented above it is clear that the software must accommodate several business structures, varying business processes, recording and tracking of both costs and work.

GSI has been engaged in this business since 2009 and the GSI Forester software can enhance any vegetation management program and covers all the scenarios described in this article.

This September at Esri’s GeoConX, I had the chance to meet an extraordinary group of women working in GIS. The organization hosting the event was Women in GIS (WiGIS), an international, professional, and social organization as well as an advocacy group for women serving in a variety of geospatial fields.

About WiGIS: 

WiGIS is a consortium of advocates from academia, government, and private industry designed to advance the presence of women and minorities in GIS. Activities of the organization include social gatherings, professional development and educational events, and opportunities for networking and mentoring. At a minimum, WiGIS’s goal is to meet quarterly and to engage in constant communication as needed and desired via forums such as the WiGIS website and an email listserv/newsletter. (http://www.womeningis.org/home/about-us/)

How to get involved with WiGIS:

• Add yourself to the Women in GIS story map
• Join the LinkedIn group: Women in GIS
• Join the listserve by filling out this handy little form
• Support Women in GIS get some cool stuff from our store on Cafepress

Learn more at the GSI User Conference in Tampa in November or by emailing info@gsiworks.com

The weather in San Diego during the DistribuTECH 2017 conference did not disappoint with sunny skies, 70+ degrees and it’s always wonderful dining experiences.  Companies from across the globe sent a few fortunate employees to enjoy not only what San Diego has to offer, but an opportunity to see the next wave of technology, focused on improving their work experiences.

The opening Keynote session, sponsored by Oracle, focused in emerging technologies with a “don’t get left behind” theme.  Geoff Colvin, Senior Editor-at-Large of Fortune Magazine, gave an entertaining and insightful presentation on emerging technologies and how not keeping up has resulted in failure.  Examples he cited are the Blackberry, once the mainstream business device; Taxis, now being replaced by the likes of Uber and Lyft; and Tesla, who instead of needing to bring cars back to the shop for a recall, was able to repair a major problem through a wireless software patch.   Audry Zibelman, Chair, New York State Public Service Commission, presented on how emerging technologies outpace our government’s ability to keep up with regulating the market.  Scott Drury, President of San Diego Gas & Electric presented on how his city embraced the Smart City concept and is a leader in Distributed Energy by embracing all forms of generation.

DistribuTECH was well attended this year with over 14,000 present.  This made for a lively show floor and many opportunities for vendors to engage with their customer base and make new and interesting contacts.  The emerging technologies being shown at the display booths created an energy of excitement for what is possible and what is coming in the future.   Many vendors incorporated VR and Microsoft’s HoloLens to show how facilities can be designed, built and managed.  The Cloud is becoming a reality for the industry, which at one point was reluctant to embrace it, but is now gaining in understanding and realizing the cost savings and efficiency being provided by organizations such as ourselves, GeoSpatial Innovations.

An interesting development occurred at the conference with regard to cloud technologies. Electric Light & Power reported on a study funded by Oracle highlighting the acceptance of cloud technology by utility regulators.  The EL&P report states that 83 percent of U.S. utilities regulators surveyed believe the cloud to be an important technology trend and 67 percent agree that the cloud will be critical to utilities’ future success. This is an important development, as utilities are compensated based on investment in the plant (capital) rather than operating and maintenance expense. This could open the door for subscription based cloud services if regulators are seeing value and are open to new methods of recovery.

Another familiar technology theme was in the Geospatial track. A discussion panel perused the use of mobile devices by field technicians and how there was often a resistance to putting a laptop or tablet in a truck but now those same techs couldn’t live without their smart devices. GeoSpatial Innovations excels at putting user friendly software into the hands of field personnel; for instance, American Electric Power has over 600 people doing designs in the field using high accuracy Trimble GPS hand held devices. Most of these folks never take a map to the field; with GPS they are already in the map.

Once again technology was in the showcase; after all it’s in the name, Distributech.

GSI is excited to announce that Chuck Lang has joined our sales team as a Sales Agent covering the Northeastern part of the United States. He is based just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Previously, Chuck was the Sales Leader – Americas for GE’s Digital Energy Software business, responsible for Revenue growth for their Operational Technology portfolio in both North and Latin America. Chuck spent nearly 7 years with GE after their acquisition of MapFrame, a mobile GIS and field automation software firm he helped grow into a multi-million-dollar entity. Chuck left GE in 2014 to join Oracle’s Utilities Global Business Unit, where he was a Regional Vice President responsible for a team focused on growth of their meter to cash and operational technology software portfolio.

Chuck holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa. He is excited to get to know our customers in the Northeast.

Welcome to the team, Chuck!

It’s been a long time coming but the Department of Transportation and the FAA have announced that they have finalized the first operational rules for small UAS (drones).  You can find a high level pdf and the full 600+ document below but here are a few highlights.

• Rules take effect in late August
• They are only applicable to UAS under 55lbs
• Must still be operated within visual line of sight
• Visual Observers are no longer required to be present
• You no longer need to be a licensed pilot to operate a drone.  You only need to be over 16 years old and get a certification from the FAA.  The cost is estimated to be around $150
• The title that the FAA is using for UAS operators is “Remote Pilot in Command”
• Max altitude for flight is 400 feet but they then go on to say that “if higher than 400 feet AGL, remain within 400 feet of a structure.”
• FAA airworthiness certification is not required.  Pilot in command just has to conduct a preflight visual check of the drone to ensure that the condition is safe for operation.
• If you already have a 333 exemption you can continue to operate under it or conduct operations under the new rules. 
• You cannot fly over people on the ground who are not directly participating in the UAS operation

These new rules should start to open the door for utilities to begin more widespread use of drones in the field for inspections in house instead of outsourcing the work to companies with 333 exemptions and licensed pilots.  I would anticipate additional rules to follow but this is a great step in the right direction. 

PDF Link: http://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Part_107_Summary.pdf

Full: http://www.faa.gov/uas/media/RIN_2120-AJ60_Clean_Signed.pdf

Did you know that GeoSpatial Innovations (GSI) is a women owned business? GSI is proud to be a women owned software company. In addition to the owners, women are throughout the organization in design, engineering, management, and technology positions. According to the U.S. census, in 1970, women represented only 3 percent of engineers, 14 percent of life and physical scientists, 15 percent of mathematical and computer workers, and 17 percent of social scientists. Although women make up nearly half of the working population, they remain underrepresented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) occupations. In 2011, 26 percent of STEM workers were women and 74 percent were men.

There has been a growing effort to get more women in STEM fields from a variety of organizations that I will list in the resources at the end of the article. Today, I’m introducing you to a few of our employees that are examples of women who made their way into a STEM occupation.

Meera- Support Engineer (University of Texas at Austin)

• What did you want to be when you grew up?  I changed my mind a lot – Teacher, Doctor, Musician, Imagineer (Disney Park designer).
• How has that changed and why? I think over time throughout high school and college, I really enjoyed my math and science classes and knew I wanted to choose a more technical career path.
• Where did you go to college? What did you study? The University of Texas at Austin, Geographic Information Systems
• What do you like about being a Support Engineer?  I really like the problem solving aspect of my job. When speaking with customers, I enjoy learning new solutions to problems and finding out what we can do to make their experience using our software better.
• Why should girls get involved in STEM? Women make up about half of the US work force and I think we’re extremely under-represented in STEM jobs. It might be easier sometimes for women to choose a more traditional career path, rather than enter such a male-dominated sector. But, I’m a big advocate for choosing what you love to do and if a science/technical job is more appealing, then definitely give it a try and don’t let stereotypes hold you back.

Laura- Senior Electrical Engineer (Gonzaga University)

• What did you want to be when you grew up?  A music composer
• How has that changed and why? My family wanted me to have a more practical job and I was good at Math and Science so I choose to go into engineering and pursue music for fun.
• Where did you go to college? What did you study? Gonzaga, Electrical Engineering
• What do you like about being an Electrical Engineer?  I enjoy the creativity of designing how features are going to work to meet the needs of our clients.  I also enjoy testing because it’s kind of like solving a puzzle trying to find the pieces that might not work correctly and making the product stronger by finding those weak spots.
• Why should girls get involved in STEM? There are so many opportunities for the use of math and science skills, the possibilities are really endless.  There will always be a need for people who can think logically to analyze problems and find ways to solve them.

Cammy – Software Tester (Southern Illinois University at Carbondale)

• What did you want to be when you grew up?  Cartographer
• How has that changed and why? When I was in college, maps were no longer being created by hand but by using computer technology so that is why I took the Geography (GIS) route.
• Where did you go to college? What did you study? Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, geography (GIS) and minor in computer information systems
• What do you like about being a Software Tester?  Computer technology is always changing/improving so you are always learning something new.  Software testing doesn’t get boring.
• Why should girls get involved in STEM? If girls are interested in STEM jobs, there is no reason why they can’t succeed in these areas especially in Technology where kids are exposed to computers at a younger age now and have the opportunity to take computer classes starting in junior high on up.

Laurie- Business Consultant/Project Manager (Eastern Washington University)

• What did you want to be when you grew up?  A nurse
• How has that changed and why? I gravitated more towards technical and management roles, as well as business courses versus chemistry and other training that would have been required for nursing.
• Where did you go to college? What did you study? Eastern Washington University, majors in Marketing and General Business, minors in Communications and International Business
• What do you like about being a Business Consultant/Project Manager? It’s very interesting, fast-paced and varied
• Why should girls get involved in STEM? Girls should get involved in STEM jobs because this sector is a huge component of business in the U.S. Females are a natural fit for many of these roles and they would find them very rewarding.

Learn more about opportunities for women in STEM?

The White House- Office of Science and Technology Policy

The STEM to STEAM Initiative

Pretty Brainy: Empowering Girls to Gain STEAM

Girls Who Code

The National Girl Collaborative