CWLP Geographical Information System

In June 2006, the American Public Power Association awarded CWLP its DEED Innovator Award in recog-nition of the utility's installation of a Geographical Information System and the role that system now plays in providing better service to Springfield electric customers and increasing the efficiency of utility operations.
In announcing the award, the APPA noted that the GIS has increased the efficiency of energy delivery and improved internal business processes, customer service, data accuracy, opera-tions and pole attachment revenue tracking. The GIS has made more data available to nearly all utility personnel, streamlined mapping abilities for the electric distribution facilities, and enabled the utility to improve its timeline for updating maps with accurate data and safeguard this important information in case of a disaster.
For a copy of the award announcement issued by CWLP, click here.

In conjunction with other City Departments, CWLP has been working to develop a GIS that would allow it to maintain a precise, computerized mapping of all in-field assets, including utility poles, transformers, power lines and meters. This information could be used to rapidly pinpoint the location of equipment that requires repair or upgrading and to site new system installations, as well as to more quickly identify the source of outages and other service problems or emergencies than has previously been possible.

Toward this end, in the fall of 2001, using global positioning technology, the utility began a months-long city-wide survey of all of its in-field property (see photo above). The information obtained during this audit has been entered into the GIS and used to create overlays to a base map of the city created from a series of aerial photographs.

In early 2003, CWLP joined forces with Sangamon County to create a new, county-wide GIS. The partnership benefits both sides economically—in part, by ensuring costs associated with developing and maintaining the system are not duplicated—as well as from an information gathering and sharing standpoint. Under terms of the agreement, the City’s total out-of-pocket commitment to the County is $400,000, with payments spread over four years. In addition, CWLP provides several Sangamon County facilities with telecommunications services at no monthly fee. If the utility had decided not to form this partnership with Sangamon County, it would have incurred an $800,000 expense in 2003 to perform the aerial photography and other work needed to create the GIS base maps and an additional $100,000 each year to maintain them.

The County is responsible for maintaining and updating the base maps. CWLP and other governmental agencies participating in the county-wide GIS are responsible for updating the overlays containing information specifically relating to their business or services.

CWLP uses the GIS in conjunction with several other new technologies installed by the utility—including a Customer Information System (CIS), Outage Management System (OMS), and Integrated Voice Response (IVR) system—to vastly improve the level of customer service and service reliability provided by CWLP. In addition, access to certain information from the County and other participating governmental agencies will make it easier and faster for the utility to site and construct new electric and water facilities and perform other routine and special services.