April 01, 2009 -- Toronto, ON – ESRI Canada is pleased to announce that Guelph Hydro Electric Systems Inc. (Guelph Hydro) received the Innovation in Technology award on Wednesday, April 1st at the Small Utility Leader’s Forum in Cambridge, ON. This award was presented to Guelph Hydro in recognition of their innovative Web application and leadership among electrical utilities in Ontario.
Since 1999, Guelph Hydro has been helping other electrical utilities migrate away from their legacy CAD environment to the ArcGIS platform by providing data conversion and application support. Guelph Hydro effectively developed a number of custom applications in ArcGIS that allow electrical utilities to quickly standardize their systems and streamline day-to-day operations.
“Guelph Hydro has demonstrated exceptional innovation in their approach to streamlining internal and external operations using the latest in ArcGIS Server technology,” said John Houweling, Regional Manager, Ontario, ESRI Canada. “Their ability to standardize otherwise disparate systems and meet the Ontario Energy Board’s reporting requirements has effectively inspired fifteen of Ontario’s 93 electrical utilities to do the same.”
Guelph Hydro is one of the first electric utilities in Ontario to develop an internal Web-enabled application using the ArcGIS Server API for Flex. The application is being used for the delivery of several internal applications that link to their Customer Information System (CIS). Applications include an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) application that allows them locate and route service vehicles and Site Inspections – an ArcPAD field inspection application that enables a real-time awareness of current field conditions. In just a short time, their Web application has enabled a number of productivity gains and is helping to better facilitate yearly reporting requests to the Ontario Energy Board (OEB).
“We decided to develop this application using the ArcGIS API for Flex because it allowed us to combine a number of independent applications into a single, visually rich interactive map, query and display GIS,” explains Dan Amyot, Manager of Information Systems, Guelph Hydro Electric Systems Inc. “Out-of-the-box capabilities in ArcGIS Server made Web application development relatively easy. We plan to further extend our Web development capabilities to better serve our customers.”
“I am quite pleased to see how our development activities are helping other electrical utilities demonstrate service quality with indicators such as the OEB’s SAIFI and CAIDI,” said Neill Burdett, Communications and Operating Supervisor, Guelph Hydro Electric Systems Inc.
About Guelph Hydro
Guelph Hydro Electric Systems Inc. (GHESI) is the local electricity distribution company (LDC) for Guelph and Rockwood. They deliver electricity, maintain the lines to homes and businesses, provide 24-hour emergency service and ensure that they can always meet the electricity supply requirements of their customer community. They also provide electricity for customers who do not choose to contract with a licensed electricity retailer. For more information, visit:
www.guelphhydro.com
About ESRI Canada
Established in 1984, ESRI Canada is a Canadian owned company specializing in geographic information systems (GIS) solutions. ESRI Canada distributes the world's leading GIS software including solutions from ESRI Inc., Miner and Miner, I.S.M. International Systemap Corp. and Azteca. In order to provide organizations with complete industry-specific solutions ESRI Canada has established an extensive business partner program that includes more than 130 Canadian organizations. ESRI Canada also provides professional services including consulting, training, technical support, and enterprise GIS implementation. ESRI Canada is a leader in providing world-class enterprise GIS solutions for many industries including public works, land management, utilities, defence, public safety, business demographics, education, natural resources and transportation. ESRI Canada has sixteen regional offices across the country, with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit
http://www.esricanada.com/ or call 1-800-447-9778.
Media Contact:
John Waite
GIS Marketing Specialist
ESRI Canada
T: 416-441-6035 Ext 6375
E: Email Contact
W: www.esricanada.com
