Ensuring That Spatial Data Can't Hide

WHITE PAPER Sponsored by: Microsoft J i l l F e bl o wi t z No v em ber 2 0 08 Ric k N ic h ols o n

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ENERGY INSIGHTS OPINION Aging transmission and distribution (T&D) assets and mandatory reliability standards are pushing grid reliability to the forefront. The aging workforce is causing a shortage of skilled labor and increasing the need for automation. Climate change is creating a need for connecting renewable resources to the grid and deploying demand response programs. One option many utilities are considering to address these factors is the intelligent grid. As the intelligent grid moves forward, spatially enabling the intelligent grid is becoming increasingly important. Two key reasons that utilities need this spatial understanding are the distributed, yet connected nature of assets and people associated with the grid and the fact that the intelligent grid will require more personnel to have access to spatial information about the grid, including customer care representatives, dispatch personnel, managers, executives, and field crews. Not only will more personnel need to view spatial information, but as less experienced people join the workforce, they will need easier ways to visualize and think about the grid. Given the spatial nature of the grid, spatially visualizing and analyzing data can paint an even clearer picture of the grid and its behavior. Additionally, an intelligent grid will need more accurate and precise information about grid assets, including the location and connectivity of devices, right down to the customer connection. However, personnel often have difficulty accessing spatial information because this information is siloed and spread throughout the company. Spatially enabling the intelligent grid and the broader utility does not mean that utilities must make substantial investments in new technology. Rather, utilities often just need to begin to better leverage their technologies. Examples include: Implementing enterprisewide spatial data quality and integration capabilities and policies Embedding spatial capabilities into everyday sources of information, which could include Web-based access, so that management, executives, remote workers, and even customers can readily access spatial information Providing field personnel with the ability to directly update and correct spatial information
November 2008, Energy Insights #EI215043

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IN THIS WHITE PAPER This white paper looks at the value of spatial data and access to spatial data in meeting the business needs of today's utility industry. In particular, this white paper discusses: Key challenges facing utilities How the intelligent grid can help utilities overcome these challenges The role spatial information plays in the intelligent grid Where utilities have fallen short in spatially enabling the intelligent grid and other aspects of their organizations How utilities can improve access to their spatial data Recommendations for utilities on next steps in improving access to spatial data SITUATION OVERVIEW Before talking about the importance of spatial data, we must consider what spatial data is. Spatial data is simply data used to represent points, lines, and areas on a surface. In most cases, the data relates to a physical location or geography, which is particularly true for utility companies. This type of spatial data is more specifically known as geospatial data. This document uses the term "spatial" so as not to limit the types of spatial data utilities need to provide access to, but in most cases, utility companies will be using geospatial data.
Why It Is Important to Provide Access to Spatial Information

To help readers better understand why spatial data and access to the data is important, this section reviews key factors shaping the utility industry and the role of the intelligent grid. The key factors discussed in the following sections are shaping the utility industry and driving the industry to more seriously consider the intelligent grid.
Increasing Capital Expenditure

With aging infrastructure and growing demand, utilities are increasing their capital investment. According to data filed with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), utilities started to increase capital expenditures for construction across generation, transmission, and distribution in 2005, and that trend continued into 2007. More recently, Public Utilities Fortnightly editor in chief Michael Burr stated that "The Fortnightly 40 companies spent more on capex in 2007 than they earned from continuing operations. The utility industry's big build officially has begun." Increasing capital expenditure is also a strong driver outside the United States, especially in the growing economies of the Asia/Pacific region.
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Climate Change

In terms of climate change, several U.S. states and regions already have voluntary and mandatory carbon cap-and-trade programs in place, and a national mandatory cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions is expected to be enacted by the new administration. The European Union is already operating a mandatory carbon cap-andtrade market. Renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) are also on the books in many U.S. states, which would require increased use of renewable generation sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal.
Reliability and Security

As part of the EPAct 2005, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) became responsible for developing and enforcing mandatory grid reliability standards. Fines of up to $1 million per event per day are possible. In addition, state regulators are also imposing fines for failures to meet reliability standards. Also included in the NERC standards are the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards for cybersecurity. Although these security standards are in effect, they are already under criticism by a number of federal agencies. For gas utilities in the United States, the recent Distribution Integrity Management Program issued by the Department of Transportation (DOT) is driving additional needs for spatial data. Indeed, in interviews with multiple U.S. utility companies, when asked about new initiatives requiring access to spatial information, all of those utilities with gas distribution assets mentioned the new DOT regulations. One of the most recent policy and regulator developments relative to reliability and security was the passage of the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which included a section (Title XIII) on the smart grid. Although this legislation will help improve the organization and coordination of intelligent grid efforts, the bill lacks true incentives to push utilities and regulators forward with large-scale intelligent grid deployments. Many other countries, particularly in Europe, have enacted or are considering similar steps to increase grid reliability and security.
Restructuring Rollback

As rate caps expire and some U.S. states roll back their restructuring initiatives, some energy regulators are rethinking the regulatory model to provide incentives for energy efficiency investments by "decoupling" utility sales from profits. Traditional rate-of-return regulation focuses on setting prices (i.e., rates). Consumption-based rates by nature link sales to profits the more energy a utility sells, the more money it makes. By decoupling sales from profits, the regulator tells the utility how much money it will be allowed to keep, on average, for every customer it serves, thus removing the incentive to increase sales.
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The Aging Workforce

The utility industry in most developed countries is facing an aging workforce crisis, with many utilities expecting half their workforce to retire in the next 510 years. Engineers and skilled technical and craft labor pose the biggest problem because utilities depend on these occupations to maintain a reliable system. This crisis raises issues around both labor replacement and knowledge retention. Most utilities want to hire fewer, but more productive replacement employees. However, current employees have extensive knowledge of company assets and processes, which they must transfer to both existing and new employees to achieve desired productivity goals.
Intelligent Grid Can Help Utilities Deal with These Factors

Aging T&D assets and mandatory reliability standards are pushing grid reliability to the forefront. The aging workforce is causing a shortage of skilled labor and increasing the need for automation. Climate change is driving a need for connecting renewable resources to the grid and deploying demand response programs. One option many utilities are considering to address these factors is the intelligent grid. As the intelligent grid moves forward, spatially enabling it is becoming increasingly important. First, though, we need to define the intelligent grid.
What Is an Intelligent Grid?

Many terms are floating around today, but they all describe the vision of an electric T&D network that through the use of information technology is "smart" enough to predict and adjust to network changes. Therefore, an intelligent grid could recognize a potential problem, such as an abnormal operating condition, and communicate this problem to a decision maker (i.e., computer) that would automatically work to correct the problem. Since many utilities today do not have this enhanced visibility into their distribution networks, accomplishing this vision requires that utilities improve three basic technologies: communication networks, sensors, and analytics (see Figure 1). For example, say a utility has an outage on its distribution network. More network sensors such as smart meters collecting information means that a utility can better pinpoint a problem's location. Communication networks installed along the distribution grid would enable these sensors to communicate this problem to the utility. Improved analytics can efficiently process information and automate responses to the problem such as dispatching the field crew closest to the area. These analytics increasingly rely upon an accurate and complete network data model to ensure the analytics provide decision makers with actionable information.

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FIGURE 1
Basic Technologies for the Intelligent Grid

Better communication networks

Improved analytics

More sensors

Source: Energy Insights, 2008

Why Spatially Enabling the Intelligent Grid Is Important

Utilities need to not only understand their grid but also build intelligence about their grid in a spatial context. Two reasons that utilities need this spatial understanding include the distributed, yet connected nature of the grid and the types of decisions that utilities will make as they gain more intelligence about the grid. The electric grid is a network of distributed assets and personnel that must connect and interact with one another. Looking at how these groups spatially relate to one another provides a way for utilities to understand their complex interactions. These components include: Distributed assets. To deliver electricity, each asset on the grid whether a transformer, meter, or substation component must cooperate with other assets throughout the system. Assets may be miles away from one another, but because of their connection, a problem with one asset can impact other assets upstream or downstream from it. Therefore, it is important to understand not only where a problem is occurring but also how that problem could impact surrounding assets along the network (or "connectedness").

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 More intelligent grid assets. As the intelligent grid moves forward, utilities will install even more assets on the grid. From smart meters to distribution line sensors, these assets will not only provide more detail about the grid's status but also require utilities to maintain and better understand their location, connectivity, and condition. With many utilities already piloting the deployment of intelligent grid assets, geographic information system (GIS) managers interviewed for this white paper mentioned the need to model new devices such as smart meters and sensors, as well as the need to manage a "third network" the communication network supporting the intelligent grid as significant upcoming challenges. Distributed people. Along with distributed assets, utilities also have distributed personnel working on these assets. So utilities need to understand how personnel spatially relate to assets and other field crews. Understanding these spatial relationships can have important efficiency and safety implications for utilities. For example, crews need to know that they are accessing the asset that has been disconnected from power, and dispatch personnel need to understand which qualified crew is closest to an emergency job.
Decision-Making Needs

Not only does the intelligent grid require utilities to install more assets, but utilities also need to collect more data about distributed assets, more efficiently analyze the data, and make better decisions based on that analysis. Two types of proactive decisions are: Very quick decisions (VeQuiDs). These types of decisions are made in milliseconds by computers and intelligent devices analyzing complex, real-time data. Yet this intelligent grid vision is still a ways off for most utilities especially in terms of widespread deployment. Quick decisions (QuiDs). Many proactive decisions about the grid do not have to take place in milliseconds. Many utilities today can make QuiDs or decisions to adjust to network changes in a time frame of months, days, or minutes. Even though these decisions are not extremely quick, they still enable utilities to predict and correct network problems instead of just reacting when the grid fails. No matter how quick the decision, all of these predictive efforts are based on the same thing: providing the decision maker with access to good-quality data. Even though the goal of the intelligent grid is to automate more decisions about the grid, people will still be the primary decision makers for years to come. To make these decisions, the intelligent grid will require more personnel to have access to spatial information about the grid, including: Customer care representatives Dispatch personnel

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 Managers Executives Field crews These personnel may not be "modifiers" of spatial data, but they will be "viewers" of the information. When asked about the number of staff with access to spatial data, utilities interviewed in support of this white paper consistently replied that the number of users was expected to increase from hundreds to thousands over the next few years. Not only will more personnel need to view spatial information, but as less experienced people join the workforce, they will need easier ways to visualize and think about the grid. Given the spatial nature of the grid, spatially visualizing and analyzing data can paint an even clearer picture of the grid and its behavior.
Problems with Spatially Enabling the Intelligent Grid

Many technologies out there already help utilities understand the grid spatially, particularly GIS. Yet, these technologies, as they stand today, cannot support the spatial needs of an intelligent grid. Assets along the grid are already connected, but the real problem with spatially enabling the intelligent grid is connecting people and technologies with the spatial information they need. Traditionally, different solutions using spatial information reside in different departments throughout a utility. For example, a utility may have: A GIS department that collects and tracks geospatial information for planning purposes An engineering group that uses network analysis and design tools for making additions to the grid A maintenance department that collects and stores asset information A dispatch group that uses a separate mapping and routing system As a result of different technologies sitting in different silos, utilities may already collect spatial information but just don't make it readily available across the company (see Figure 2). With this lack of connections, utilities cannot develop a rich picture of the grid and the interactions between different components whether assets or field personnel. For example, vegetation inspections are often performed with helicopter flyovers. A system that allows the inspector in the helicopter to note problem vegetation anchored to a specific location would make the deployment of work crews more efficient.

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FIGURE 2
A Siloed Approach Toward Spatial Information
Decision-makers have access to different silos of information Decisionmaker Decisionmaker Decisionmaker Decisionmaker Decisionmaker

Systems operate relatively independently

Geographic information system

Network analysis and design

Outage management system

Enterprise asset management

Work management

Data manually entered into different systems

Indirect input of information into systems

Field crews

Source: Energy Insights, 2008

Distributing Spatial Information Throughout the Utility

Given these challenges, spatially enabling the intelligent grid and the broader utility does not mean that utilities must make substantial investments in new technology. Rather, utilities often just need to begin to better leverage existing technologies and personnel along with improving their decision-making processes.
Realigning Spatial Technologies and Applications

Spatial technologies such as GIS and network analysis and design programs, along with work and asset management programs, already have a layer of spatial information. To begin spatially enabling the intelligent grid, utilities need to realign this spatial information to provide a solid foundation of spatial data that personnel can access throughout the company and on different systems. Utilities need to develop ways to begin connecting these systems and share spatial data across the company. For example: Organizing spatial information in a way that enables utilities to provide access to consistent spatial information throughout the company and the ability to combine the data with other types of business information

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 Embedding spatial capabilities into everyday sources of information, which could include Web-based access, so that management, executives, remote workers, and even customers can readily access spatial information Providing personnel particularly mobile field crews with the ability to directly update and correct spatial information
Vendor Efforts in This Space

Given the rapidly changing spatial needs of the utility industry, many vendors are adjusting their offerings to help utilities realign their spatial capabilities. Many vendors in the geospatial arena, such as Autodesk, are working on developing more utility-specific applications. Still, many vendors are also focusing on taking spatial information and capabilities outside of the GIS or engineering department to the enterprise. Although some GIS vendors offer proprietary access to data, others are experimenting with open access to data to enable many different applications to benefit from spatial information. Database vendors such as Microsoft are providing more universal access to spatial information. Getting geospatial data into the hands of all sorts of employees at a utility does have some benefits. For example, one telecommunication company is involved in a reengineering project, replacing 4,500 separate GIS workstations with one online GIS system. Engineers doing network design and rights of way will have access to this system, along with maintenance engineers, call centers, and dispatchers. Altogether close to 50,000 employees will have the same view of and access to spatial data. Significant cost savings derive from providing information to 50,000 employees that previously was available to only 4,500. This will be especially attractive for greenfield installations where an asset can be tracked from design to operation to retirement all on the basis of geographic coordinates. The key to democratizing spatial data is to provide open access to that information. One example of vendors working to build better access to spatial information is the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Autodesk integration.
Sp at i a l Ca pab il iti e s Ad d ed to M ic ro soft SQL Se rv er 20 0 8

Previous versions of SQL Server (2005 or earlier) did not explicitly support geospatial information. However, SQL Server 2008 can now store spatial information. This provides utilities with two key capabilities: By storing spatial data in relational tables, SQL Server 2008 enables utility personnel to more readily combine spatial data with other kinds of business data. Storing spatial data in one location enables utilities to integrate geospatial information into a variety of applications.

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M icro so f t S Q L S e rv e r 2 0 08 / Au t od es k Int eg ra t io n

Autodesk is working with Microsoft to leverage the spatial capabilities of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to break down the organization silos containing geospatial data, to enhance understanding of the grid, and to provide more people with access to information about the grid. Autodesk Feature Data Objects (FDO) Data Access Technology, which supports interoperability between Autodesk geospatial products and many other IT systems, now includes an FDO-based open source driver that enables SQL Server to work with key Autodesk products, including (see Figure 3): Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise, which can deliver spatial data over the Web and via mashups with Microsoft Virtual Earth to reach consumers and personnel throughout the utility AutoCAD Map 3D, which enables CAD and GIS users to work from one source of current, accurate spatial information
FIGURE 3
Autodesk and Microsoft Technology Stack

Browser
Keyhole Mark-up Language

Distribution

Geospatial
Microsoft Virtual Earth

Publishing

Tools
Autodesk MapGuide Studio

Application
AutoCAD Map 3D Feature Data Object API

Application/ Application Server

Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise

Feature Data Object API

Database
Transactions

Microsoft SQL Server

Source: Energy Insights, 2008

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The strength of the Autodesk and Microsoft offering is that SQL Server 2008 provides the ability to carry explicit coordinates as a data type. Once the coordinates are in the database, they can be accessed throughout the utility, just through an SQL call. The FDO feature of Autodesk provides an abstraction layer that lets spatial data from SQL Server 2008 and multiple other spatial data sources work consistently within Autodesk. FDO is developed by Autodesk, but it is freely available to developers and solution providers as an open source data access technology. This makes integration simpler and also creates a "system of record" for the asset so that asset managers, maintenance managers, field staff, customer service representatives (CSRs), and others can all use the same coordinates. This type of arrangement also reduces licensing costs. FUTURE OUTLOOK As the intelligent grid moves forward and utilities introduce more devices and complex power flows on the grid, utilities will need better access to information to make decisions about an increasingly complex set of distributed assets. In terms of spatial information, utilities will increasingly turn to spatial information as a way to better understand complex grid interactions. More utility personnel will likely demand access to spatial information as they become more familiar with the value of spatial information through interactions with other consumerbased services from vendors such as Microsoft and others. As a result of this increased demand for spatial information and familiarity with Web-based applications, utilities will likely look toward Web-based applications and portals as a way to access spatial information and break down the geospatial silos. This will mean a greater opportunity for mashups, where utilities can combine various types of information such as asset location and real-time weather and view the information in a Web-based application such as Microsoft Virtual Earth. CONCLUSION As utilities focus more on understanding the grid and more people need access to information about the grid, access to spatial information will continue to become increasingly important. Utilities will need to consider ways they can better distribute spatial information to their personnel and automated systems so that both can make better decisions about the grid. All of these efforts are important for spatially enabling the intelligent grid, but since people are involved in the success of these efforts, utilities need to ensure that people will use these technologies. Utilities need to develop business processes that encourage people to look at spatial information when making decisions about the grid. Beyond just business process change, although maps and other spatial displays are inherently more intuitive, utilities also must ensure that personnel are
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comfortable with seeing spatial information and understand the elements that make up a map through software interfaces that are familiar and easy to use. Building stronger connections between spatial information sources not only will allow for better decisions today but also will provide better access for more advanced analytics in the future, enabling the intelligent grid of the future. ABOUT ENERGY INSIGHTS, AN IDC COMPANY Energy Insights, an IDC Company, provides energy industry executives with research-based advisory and consulting services that enable energy companies to maximize the business value of their technology investments, minimize technology risk through accurate planning, benchmark themselves against industry peers, adopt industry best practices for business/technology alignment, make more informed technology decisions, and drive technology-enabled business innovation. Energy Insights is based in Framingham, MA, and operates throughout the world utilizing IDC's network of global facilities. IDC is the foremost global market intelligence and advisory firm with more than 1,000 analysts in 110+ countries. IDC forecasts worldwide markets and trends to deliver dependable service and client advice. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research, and exposition company.

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