AM/FM Project implementation at allegheny power

Abstract
In the wake of a corporate reorganization, Allegheny Power moved fast in the spring of 1996 to implement new AM/FM systems technology and to convert its distribution map data all within twenty months. Characteristic of the electrical utility industry today, competitive business realities demanded this aggressive schedule.

Allegheny Power re-organized three independent operating companies, West Penn Power, Potomac Edison, and Monongahela Power into a single Operations Business Unit. The AM/FM Team was assigned the task of converting the data from each Operating Company to a common AM/FM platform. West Penn Power Company maintained paper facility maps, Monongahela Power had deteriorating paper maps which were out of date, and Potomac Edison completely mapped the territory using AutoCAD. Allegheny Power selected conversion methodologies specific to each conversion source.

This paper describes the business forces behind this AM/FM project, the company’s approach to conversion methodologies and the specific techniques that compressed this critical-path activity.

Introduction
Competition has quickly pervaded the electric utility industry and forced many companies to change their traditional ways of doing business. What has come out of this situation, is the realization that only the strong and efficient operations will survive. Weaker companies will be bought out by the stronger ones. Facing this reality, Allegheny Power began a restructuring program with the objective of reducing operating costs by increasing internal efficiency, thereby improving earnings and strengthening the company’s financial position. Allegheny Power realized the need to review each internal process to see how it could be improved. Allegheny Power has always been a low cost provider of electric service, and a well managed company. Nevertheless, improvements had to be made to remain competitive.

Prior to reorganization, Allegheny Power was comprised of three independently operated subsidiaries, each with their own ideas. Reorganization brought about changes in both company structure and company processes. The inefficient processes were identified in the old system and objectives were established for their improvement in the new system. One of the areas of improvement that was identified was the facility records and mapping systems. Allegheny Power’s AM/FM Team was created during the reorganization to deal with this project. It had to satisfy a variety of users and user needs because various functions in our operations rely on the facility and mapping records. Users with specific needs include:

Field technicians using map prints to extend service to new customers
Engineers relying on circuit prints to plan system upgrades
Accounting Department personnel requiring facility records for financial purposes
Line crews referencing maps and data for service restoration

Historically, the three operating company structure caused huge discrepancies in the quality and methods of data storage between each of the companies. In order to become more efficient under the new single-company scenario, one method of maintaining records had to be determined. Each of the above functions had often relied on inaccurate data in the past. Because more than one process in the company relies on this data, its accuracy had to be improved, and it had to be easily accessible by them.

So, what else is new? Our story, to this point, could have been written by numerous utilities over the past several years because of the theme’s prevalence in our industry. What separates companies facing these issues, is how each one reacts to this situation. Allegheny Power’s response was to redesign our entire mapping and facilities management processes and implement the redesign in an extremely short time frame.

However, the reorganization plan mandated what needed to be accomplished, but it did not specify how. Our AM/FM Team had to create a strategy on how to meet the objectives established by the reorganization plan. The plan had to meet the time frame and had to produce the functionality necessary to improve service and efficiency.