Every Piece of the Puzzle: How to Make Smart Decisions When Choosing End-to-End Grid Management Solutions

The complexity of the modern grid is intensifying, and the volume of data across the network is growing at an unprecedented rate. Yet many utilities and distribution system operators (DSOs) are plagued with disconnected, incomplete, or invalid data. Information is one of your most valuable assets – only if it’s validated, secured, analyzed and accessible to decision-makers in real time. It’s more necessary than ever to assemble a unified, complete, and accurate electric network model.

A network map is just a starting piece

The typical network documentation in a generic Geographic Information System (GIS) isn’t enough. By relying on historical map data that was created with no standards, controls or quality rules, network documentation tends to be disconnected, incomplete, often lacks data integrity, and can be electrically invalid.

Your as-built model data is the foundation of your connected network digital twin, with the potential to help reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and support advanced analytics for a more accurate understanding of your grid. Begin by setting the foundation for your grid modernization with a network-based geospatial model. You need a geospatial network modeling solution with applications that support your operational workflows to ensure the network model is always up to date, detailed and shared with your analytics and operational systems across the enterprise.

The pieces need to fit together – tear down siloes in your business

Utility operations have traditionally been siloed into specialist teams – including planning, engineering, construction, operations, vegetation management, network maintenance, and field service and restoration – which leads to disconnected and redundant data, inefficient workflows, and reduced productivity. What’s more is that across the enterprise, teams are using different software systems including GIS, SCADA, distributed energy resource management (DERM) and advanced distribution management solutions (ADMS), but data integration may not be occurring.

By adopting a shared network model integrating GIS and ADMS, cooperation among departments becomes simpler. The grid data itself becomes an information asset that can be leveraged across the enterprise to drive more effective, collaborative decision-making and faster progress.

The puzzle isn’t complete until energy is distributed in an efficient, reliable modern grid

With distributed energy resources (DERs) and renewables making grid management more challenging, you need distribution management solutions that go beyond the traditional bounds. The traditional power engineering paradigm has been upended, and now in some geographies more energy is being fed directly at the Distribution level than there is at the Transmission level. Across the grid, utilities must incorporate an increasing share of renewable energy sources (solar and wind) and adjust to rising numbers of electric vehicles, battery storage, heat pumps, and new types of controllable load devices to continue providing reliable power.

In this power generation environment, utilities must manage DERs and renewables at scale rather than a special project or pilot program or risk being overwhelmed. To effectively orchestrate DERs and renewables, an ADMS provides reliability, productivity, and efficiency through a modular architecture, adaptive algorithms and predictive analytics. With software that supports your journey toward predictive and autonomous operations, you can optimize the distribution grid to meet modern demands.

Put the pieces together

When your data is collected, integrated, and managed by an end-to-end system with native interoperability – or integration across AEMS, ADMS, GIS, Mobility and Analytics, you gain true visibility and control to optimize the grid.

An ADMS solution with native interoperability can:

• Connect operational teams for maximum agility and responsiveness.
• Reduce operational costs through improved maintenance and reliability.
• Enhance safety while reducing risk and meeting regulatory requirements.
• Proactively adapt to industry shifts, such as distributed energy resources (DERs), multidirectional flows, renewables, and innovations still to come.
• Overcome complexity and increasing demand while maintaining a standard of service.
• Gain a single source of truth across the enterprise.

The electrical grid is changing at a world-record pace, and your company must move with it. With a single source of truth about the assets that make up your electric grid network, each business and operational function has consistent and shared information needed to make the right decisions quickly.

Your organization must innovate to improve the customer experience, meet Net-Zero targets, and modernize the grid – starting with choosing the right end-to-end grid management solutions. GE Digital Grid is the only utility partner to deliver seamless interoperability across GIS, OMS, and ADMS, enabling workflow-driven integration across the entire enterprise.

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