Introduction
Asset management for an electric utility has always been a critical variable in the formula leading to reliability and profitability. Conceptually, asset management is simple; namely, the practice of managing assets for the purpose of fulfilling the utility’s long-term mission and goals while meeting short-term performance objectives. The specific mission, goals and objectives vary from utility to utility but can be summarised this way: “Deliver electricity to customers with minimal interruptions and maximum profit.” In reality, this statement is always finished with, “…while keeping the government regulators satisfied.” Each year, utilities fulfill this mission to one degree or another, some by delivering outstanding reliability, others by delivering outstanding shareholder value and bottom-line profitability. The question each utility needs to ask, regardless of their performance in the prior year, is, “How can we improve in fulfilling our mission?”

There are countless tools and techniques that are used to efficiently manage assets. One such tool that is “coming of age” is Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For many years, utilities have made use of GIS for Automated Mapping/Facilities Management (AM/FM) where the location of distribution system components can easily be identified from the convenience of a workstation. GIS has proved itself to be invaluable in making daily operations more efficient for personnel who are engaged in the activities necessary to keep the distribution system functioning. Sophisticated outage management systems are a recent domain for GIS systems. As computing horsepower has increased exponentially, GIS can now quickly wade through mass quantities of data and provide answers to more strategic level questions such as:

• Where can I expect to see excess capacity appear as manufacturing declines in my service territory?

• Where do I have a high concentration of sensitive customers and which circuits could I re-configure to increase their reliability?

• Which circuits have enough reserve to deliver power to a redevelopment zone in an urban region of my service territory?

• Which over-utilised circuits serve customers that will be most likely to participate in DSM programmes?

GIS gives insight into the answers of these questions and many others where spatial relationships are key. GIS also paints a picture of utility assets and customers that can’t be gleaned from tables or charts. This article aims to provide insight into the potential for using GIS for strategic level analysis and planning. It also will relay some of the challenges that exist in attempting to make this type of analysis really happen.