Network Waitaki transformed their GIS from a legacy desktop-based system into a modern, easy-to-use single source of truth which is now used across the entire organisation. The migration enabled improved network visibility, real-time access in the field, and more efficient management of the network overall. 

The Situation 

Network Waitaki is an electricity distribution business servicing the North Otago region. In 2022, the network’s GIS system reached the limits of what it could support for a growing digital utility. While still functional for core operations, it wasn’t designed to meet the organisation’s future needs, posing a challenge to Sahil Bhouraskar and his Network Information team. The transition to the Utility Network was essential to overcome current limitations and bring their GIS into the next generation.

“There was no easy way to put all our network information sources in one place,” Sahil recalls. Without integrations or browser-based options, other teams wanting information from the GIS had to use the desktop software, ArcMap. “It was a bit clunky to use, it assumed that the user knew how to use the software.” 

With Esri Geometric Network set to be retired in 2026, they decided to migrate to the new ArcGIS Utility Network, and approached Seamless to assist. The project was a collaboration between Seamless, Network Waitaki, and a third organisation, Geovolve (bringing expertise in Utility Network implementation). With the Utility Network in place, the GIS evolved from a specialised tool used by a few, to a business-wide platform supporting every team. 

Outcomes for Network Waitaki

One streamlined source of truth across the organisation

With the Utility Network implemented, Sahil’s team can create web apps for the rest of the organisation, and control access at a granular level. Other teams are also able to access the GIS on the web, for a more lightweight, user-friendly experience. Sahil’s team can create user-specific maps, customising the look and feel with widgets to make the experience even easier. 

“Now I can say that outage managers, planners, engineers, asset maintenance teams, field teams, customer service, everyone uses GIS across the business, in some way or other,” says Sahil. “It’s a big change.”

Enhanced accuracy and reduced manual workload 

The Utility Network’s capabilities have enhanced data accuracy and reduced manual workload across multiple teams. 

In the Network Information team, built in rules for data validation means higher precision. Any network connectivity errors are flagged by the system, so the users will be prompted by the system to fix connectivity errors as they happen. “So, what we have is an analysis-ready model that is self-regulating. It’s more accurate and the models are more reliable. You can rest assured that your analysis results or your tracing results are going to be consistently accurate,” says Sahil.

The outage planning team has also seen improvements, streamlining a previously manual process to save tens of hours each week.

Using a web app created by Sahil’s team, they are able to simulate a network outage and trace the network for a list of affected customers to input directly into the outage management system, as well as the system that notifies customers of the impact. Previously, the team would manually copy and paste data from property connections (called ICPs) and any other relevant data into an Excel sheet.

“This allows us to manage our outages with enhanced capability. It gives us more visibility and accuracy, meaning we can provide a better service to our customers,” says Sahil. 

Proactive network planning with the full picture

The engineering team can also access other data in the GIS. “Apart from network information, we also bring in land parcels and council information, all in one map. We have a plethora of environmental information, so people can now view that information. For example, if there are flood plains and they’re working within that area, they know to consider certain design decisions differently,” says Sahil.

The GIS also serves as their connectivity model feeding other business critical systems like DIgSILENT PowerFactory, a load flow analysis tool used by the network planning team. Previously, the team followed a more manual process in PowerFactory, replicating network capacity information from the GIS. This was time consuming and efforts to automate with custom scripts were hard to manage and update. 

The new GIS platform has allowed them to simplify these processes, empowering the Network Planning team to run analyses on models that are more up to date. The Utility Network also enables high fidelity modelling down to terminal and node level.

Self-service data for consumers

“One byproduct of exposing GIS more to the business is that the business is starting to understand the value of public facing maps,” says Sahil.

Consumers often want to know things like how much capacity is on the network or how much they can export into the network if they were to connect solar or a wind farm. This is now possible as a result of the GIS – PowerFactory data exchange.

“It allows them to self-serve some of that information and takes the load off the Network Waitaki Team,” says Sahil. 

Network Waitaki has now added network capacity maps and hosting capacity maps to their website for their customers to access. “It allows them to self-serve some of that information and takes the load off my team as well,” says Sahil.

They also have a publicly available outage map that consumers can use to check upcoming planned works in their neighbourhood. In the past, a map of this capability would have required significant custom development, or could have been deprioritised due to the technical barriers associated with the legacy GIS platform.

The new platform enables teams to access network information on mobile devices while in the field. Previously, field crews used a variety of other methods including paper maps and local knowledge. “We have people who have been there for 30 years — they would just know what to do,” says Sahil.

But with GIS tools accessible in the field, “that had a massive impact on the efficiency of our teams.” The field crews can also record changes in the GIS while in the field now, and verify information beforehand. “It improves spatial awareness and gives the user more confidence around looking up assets and looking up exactly what will be affected if they open or close a switch.”

This allows their Asset Management team to assess inspections and prioritise work, all while introducing efficiencies along the way. 

The system also benefits other teams: “We are able to capture all our inspections with it and bring all that data back in a digital format,” says Sahil. “I can look at all the inspection photos within the GIS — I don’t even have to leave the office anymore to see what that transformer looks like.”

“The engineering team tells me it’s one of the best features of the GIS. In the past if they had to look at the inside of a fuse box, they would have to drive there and check it themselves. But now they can click on the fuse box and see all the pictures and exact internals.”

“Pictures are worth a thousand words and that’s really true in our business,” adds Sahil.

Process

The project was a collaboration between Seamless, Network Waitaki, and Geovolve.

“We were looking for a migration partner that could help us. We were hoping to take an exploratory approach and understand what the future state would look like. We wanted someone who would work with us rather than go away, build something and give it back to us,” says Sahil. “Seamless was happy to work with us, to work within our systems, our budget, and time frames.”

Internally, Sahil had to bring the business together to define what different teams wanted from the new system. “Geovolve and Seamless helped us guide these workshops and conversations along.”

What’s next for the team at Network Waitaki?

Now that the GIS is consistently used across the organisation, the vision is to use the GIS as the connectivity model. “It gives us a more robust connectivity model and it’s more reliable, which allows us to operate our network more efficiently.”

“We do it once and we do it right, and then it feeds out into other systems. That’s where FME plays a part, integrating between the systems,” adds Sahil.

For example, it will enable a smoother move to an advanced distribution management system (ADMS), which is a future project for Network Waitaki. This will deliver significant advancements in network management, including smarter outage response, improved switching operations, real-time situational awareness, and the ability to optimise the grid more effectively. 

One outcome of this is that they will be able to display unplanned outages as soon as they occur, on the publicly available map. “Being able to convey this information in a timely manner is important for us.”

“I’m very stoked about how much uptake the GIS has seen in the business, and there’s no plan to slow down. We’ll keep building on it more and more,” says Sahil. 

About Network Waitaki

Network Waitaki is an electricity distribution company serving approximately 14,000 customers across the North Otago region, with its headquarters in Oamaru. They are the fourth smallest electricity distribution business in New Zealand, and due to their size and an extensive geographic footprint relative to its customer base they face some unique operational challenges.