Successfully integrating multiple utilities and supporting technologies
Scott Dahlstrom
Maps and Records Supervisor, Jackson Utility Division
185 Meadow, Jackson TN 38302
(901 ) 422-7390
(901 ) 422-7584 (fax)
sdahlstr@jud.com
Adley Harms
Senior Consultant
UGC Consulting, 6200 S. Syracuse Way, Suite 222
Englewood, Colorado 80111
(303) 773-6166, (303) 773-6618
Adley.Harms@cvg-grp.com
Abstract
Although your utility may serve 50,000 customers rather than 500,000, its GIS can be every bit as
sophisticated and productive as that of the larger utilities. The GIS being implemented at Jackson
(Term.) Utility Division (which serves residents of Jackson and Madison County mid-way between
Nashville and Memphis) illustrates the point. The GIS being implemented at JUD includes core
utility GIS functionality and is fully integrated with the Customer Information System (CIS)
residing on an IBM AS/400. The presentation wil I offer an overview of the GIS and related
technologies at JUD, and will review the system’s functionality as it is configured for four
differentutilities electric, gas, water, and wastewater. The presentation will also review the
processes behind implementing a project of this scale, including developing executive support,
addressing funding considerations, leveraging existing technology investments, and achieving
“big system”objectives at a smaller scale.
Introduction
Jackson Utility Division OLJD) bawd in Jackson,Tennessee,is a municipal utility that provides
service to 28,000 electric, 22,000 gas, 27,000 water, and 22,000 wastewater customers. Jackson
Utility Division’s vision is that its GIS wil I become the information technology “nerve center” of
JUD’S operation, not just an engineering mapping tool. In other words, GIS will be the enabling
technology that will help all JUD departments improve their ability to achieve their mission of
providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective utility setvices to the Madison County community.
JUD’S vision for GIS extends beyond the utility division to include the City ofjackson and
Madison County. In fact, ) UD envisions the GIS as expanding to be the geographic and facility
recordkeeping system for all City and County users.
Clearly, this is a “big utility” system in every sense of the word. In fact, JUD management
identified the following as major objectives of GIS:
- GIS must improve productivity
- GIS must provide a corporate-wide solution to facilities mapping and recordkeeping
problems, reduce data redundancy and improve corporate data access using PCs
- GIS full implementation must be proven to be cost-justified
- GIS must support the achievement of the following corporate goals:
- Improve the quality of customer service
- Lower operating costs
- Remain competitive in an open access market
- Improve the integration of corporate data and allow transparent GIS access to data
- on the existing AS/400 system
- Maintain a stable financial position
- Maintain system reliability, quality and safety of services and products and
improve the utilization of assets
- GIS must provide quick access to current facilities and work-related data for emergency and
daily work decision support
- GIS should help JUD avoid certain costs
- GIS must help provide for regulatory compliance
- GIS should demonstrate enough functionality to result in a commitment from the City and
the County to join JUD in the development of a common GIS that eliminates the existing
duplicate mapping efforts and improves communications between JUD, the City, and the
County
From a technical perspective, JUD’S GIS is a UNIX-based solution that integrates the gdsNe~M GIS
and network modeling software from Graphic Data SystemsCorporation, with Oracle as the
attribute data repository. The GDS and Oracle software reside on seven HP workstations which
are used as data and GIS compute servers. PCs access the GIS using Reflections X-window
emu Iation software. The electric, gas, water, and wastewater faci Iities data, converted by MSE
Corporation, is placed relative to an accurate county-wide, 550-square-mile, digital
orthophotography landbase created by Analytical Surveys, Inc. using airborne GPS technology.
The Iandbase is, on average, accurate to within 3 feet absolute accuracy in urban areas and 7 feet
in rural areas. The Oracle Gateway product provides the software link to the customer, meter,
and work management data stored on JUD’S IBM AS/400. Corporate-wide access to GIS and
other corporate systems is extended via Ethernet and token-ring local area networks (LANs) and a
fiber-optic wide-are network (WAN).
Core software configuration provides the GIS basics of land and facility data maintenance, system
navigation, mapping, reporting, data query, and job management. Existing custom software
includes batch plotting, address range to map number reports, work sketch generation, work
design and estimating, subdivision file import (DXF) and geopositioning, and several data
maintenance forms. Future plans call for developing trouble call entry and display applications
and integrating with JUD’S SCADA and three separate engineering analysis programs (Stoner,
Cybernet, Windmil). Management consulting, software configuration, and application
customization were completed by UGC Consulting.
A small utility can spend nearly as much or more money per customer as a large utility to
implement GIS system functionality. Therefore it is imperative that a small utility carefully
examine what it truly needs and what provides the most benefits, as opposed to what it would
like to have. The process followed by J(JD in implementing GIS focused from the very beginning
on corporate-wide user and management requirements and financial and strategic business goals.
JUD’S phased GIS implementation process is as follows:
- Conduct a Feasibility Study
- Implement a Pilot Project
- Full Implementation
- Initial focus on data conversion, data maintenance, and GIS basic functionality
- Implement functionality that addresses key business needs
