Hydro Ottawa Streamlines GIS Data & Outage Management
Needing to unify disparate data from five different utility providers, Hydro Ottawa implemented Hexagon’s GIS and outage management solution to seamlessly harmonize enterprise wide data, reduce restoration times, and improve customer service.
The Challenge
Hydro Ottawa Limited is responsible for the safe, reliable delivery of electricity to more than 300,000 residential and business customers. The utility company was formed in 2000 after the merger of five municipal utilities within Canada’s capital city.
The merger created a disjointed collection of data and systems. Each utility provider used different data, drawings, recording systems, and mapping standards, making data between utilities inconsistent and incompatible. Hydro Ottawa sought a solution that could seamlessly integrate and harmonize utility data into a single source of truth. The solution also needed to create a standard mapping system, provide easier access to asset data, and allow for the development of a successful outage management and mobile workforce system.
The Solution
Hydro Ottawa selected Hexagon’s Safety & Infrastructure division to provide an integrated data management solution with geographical information system (GIS) and outage management capabilities. Powered by Hexagon solutions, Hydro Ottawa can integrate and harmonize its disconnected utility data while reducing restoration times and improving customer service.
The utility can now aggregate, standardize, and centralize all of its disparate data sources. The Hexagon solution created seamless workflows that support daily planning, design, construction, operational, maintenance, and emergency response activities. It also allows Hydro Ottawa to manage all data related to construction design within the GIS, keeping network plans and models current.
With Hexagon’s outage management system, Hydro Ottawa dispatchers and operators can quickly identify affected customers, the cause of the outage, and the action needed to restore service. The solution has also automated customer notifications, as well as service disconnections and reconnections. Field workers can use mobile devices to view the distribution network, access outage information, and resolve work orders.
Through the seamless integration of Hexagon’s solutions, Hydro Ottawa has streamlined its network data management, improved outage management capabilities, and increased its operational efficiency.