Project Highlights:
- Ameren
- 7,500+ circuit mi transmission
- 2.4M electric customers
- 900k+ natural gas customers
- 64,000 sq. mi service territory
Headquartered in St. Louis, Ameren provides electric and gas services to residents in Illinois and Missouri and manages over 7,500 circuit miles of electric transmission (ET) lines. As the first step in its grid modernization strategy of developing a ‘Network Model Manager’ for ET, the ArcGIS Utility Network initiative built the foundation for the new and advanced GIS functionality required to support modern grid management. The 10-month project included developing an ET Utility Network (UN) data model, migrating existing data, configuring the model, and integrating with legacy systems.
Ameren is one of the first utilities in the industry to go into full production with an ET UN model. This implementation serves as a significant milestone for the entire ET industry, positioning Ameren as an industry leader for its peer utilities to follow by example as they undergo their own advanced network modeling transformations.
Advanced Network Modeling Goals
Ameren’s legacy ET GIS was built on an outdated data model and lacked the connectivity required to support the utility’s long-range goal of modern network management. Additionally, Ameren’s workflow included entering data manually in multiple systems, leaving the utility open to human error and process inefficiencies. These factors created challenges for GIS editors around ensuring high data fidelity with topology, relationships, and validations.
To overcome these challenges, the project aimed to eliminate siloed network models, implement topology and relationship checks and validations, incorporate a higher level of internal substation asset data, and create a basis for leveraging the UN’s advanced functionality.
Meeting these objectives is helping Ameren reach its long-term goals of operating under one data system of record and increasing interoperability amongst systems.
Leading the Way for ET Network Modeling
To prepare for transition to Esri’s ArcGIS Advanced Network Management, Ameren first conducted its own research on the new model prior to partnering with UDC. This step built a solid foundation for understanding company data and business goals with the added benefit of empowering the utility to play an active role throughout all stages of the implementation process.
During the research phase, Ameren learned there were minimal ET UN implementations in the industry up to that point. The available UN models were therefore designed for distribution rather than transmission data. Without examples to go by, Ameren needed to determine how to successfully fit its unique non-spatial data elements and requirements, such as dampers, cross arms, and other overhead assets, into the UN model. Through a collaborative approach with Esri and UDC, Ameren was able to incorporate these data considerations into Esri’s base UN data models and new releases over the course of the project.
This concerted effort has provided a playbook for Ameren’s peer utilities beginning their ET UN migrations. Rather than starting from scratch as Ameren did, organizations can reference the updated models that resulted from this project for guidance in their own transformations.
Implementation Approach
Completing the first phase of Ameren’s Network Model Manager initiative in 10 months, the project began with a robust analysis of the existing data using UDC’s auto migration tool HEIDE. This process involved sitting down with the Ameren team to learn about the source data and system to identify potential UN targets and concluded with mapping the schema to a UN template.
Subnetwork rules and trace configurations were established through an iterative, automated process leveraging UDC’s custom Toolkit for ArcGIS Pro and HEIDE. The tools validated the data as the schema, attributes, and domains were mapped to the new model. The team worked in parallel with the iterations to resolve any emergent data issues that would not be compatible with the model requirements. The UN model was then integrated with Ameren’s existing systems, with new integrations built based on the data mappings.
Advanced Network Tracing
UDC leveraged Ameren’s structure data to set up the subnetwork controllers. With the subnetwork tracing functionality, users can now trace all assets on transmission lines, even assets without connectivity such as structures. Junction to junction associations were additionally used to support connectivity for network tracing. The associations connected Ameren’s devices in the GIS without adding physical lines, enabling traces to run seamlessly from transmission lines through stations without additional mapping symbology.
ArcGIS Web AppBuilder to Experience Builder
As part of the program, Ameren upgraded its transmission network viewer from ArcGIS Web AppBuilder to ArcGIS Experience Builder. UDC recreated the applications within Experience Builder, successfully migrating more than 80% of the original functionality. The remaining capabilities, previously delivered through custom Web AppBuilder widgets, were redeveloped specifically for the new platform.
The new viewer enables users to visualize and analyze the transmission network and share network views across the organization as needed, while providing greater flexibility for future enhancements through configurable out-of-the-box widgets and a modern application framework.
ET Utility Network Implementation Components
The features of the ET Utility Network Implementation project include:
- Assessing legacy infrastructure to confirm Utility Network readiness
- Configuring ArcGIS Enterprise, Utility Network services and version management
- Migrating transmission GIS data using HEIDE
- Creating junction-to-junction associations
- Providing guidance on application, scripting, and upgrade best practices
- Implementing Utility Network functionality, including tracing and containment
- Developing a new transmission network viewer using ArcGIS Experience Builder
- Updating existing system integrations
- Supporting deployment of migrated data and integration code into the enterprise environment
The ET migration and Esri Implementation project enabled Ameren to go from a non-networked data model to a fully connected ArcGIS Utility Network. With this shift, Ameren is now supported on the newest ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Pro releases. Other project implementation benefits include alignment with best practices, future system scalability, structured GIS data editing, higher data quality and completeness, a streamlined architecture, and increased security through authentication.
The next phases of Ameren’s grid modernization strategy include modeling internal substations within the GIS, aligning data across systems, and performing integrations. These steps are building a foundation for standardization that other Ameren businesses could potentially model in the future.
Learn more about Ameren’s journey to ArcGIS Utility Network in our joint Esri UC presentation – Implementing Advanced Network Modeling in Electric Transmission and read our answers to the audience-collected presentation questions.