New Horizon Electric Cooperative
Davey Resource Group provided data deliverable to the South Carolina power distributor, helping them map out transmission lines to ensure reliability.
The Challenge
New Horizon Electric Cooperative is a service provider of substation design, project management, construction, maintenance, and testing for the five distribution cooperatives in upstate South Carolina. These five power companies serve over 190,000 customers throughout the area, which makes reliable power even more important.
In order to ensure reliable electric service, New Horizon partnered with Davey Resource Group, Inc. (DRG) to perform a field inventory of transmission lines connecting all substations within the New Horizon distribution cooperative footprint. Accurate inventory data helps power distributors visualize the location of transmission facilities to keep track of how each substation is connected and manage how the power is distributed.
The Solution
DRG field technicians collected data at each transmission station using Futura GIS, a GIS software application that helps utilities manage their assets. Once the data was collected, Davey’s GIS team performed quality control on the data and put the deliverable in New Horizon’s preferred format of Futura GIS.
The Results
The field inventory started in January 2020 and lasted four months. DRG’s technicians collected data on 143 miles of the transmission line, 21 breaker stations, and 95 substations.
Once the inventory was complete, New Horizon was able to build a connectivity model to help them manage infrastructure and connect their data to the electric cooperatives they serve, which can help them identify potential outages or restore power quickly.