A paradigm shift in electric utility mapping

Over the last decade, the importance of mapping systems has become obvious to most electric utilities. During this period, there has been overwhelming support for mapping systems designs which place the mapping system, usually implemented as a geographic information system (GIS), as the center of the utility data and operations model. Many electric utilities have been unsuccessful in the implementation of this model. A paradigm shift is required to offer the possibility of successful implementations in some utilities. This shift places more emphasis on the engineering analysis applications as being the center of the utility data and operations model. An implementation of such a shift is discussed along with the advantages and disadvantages it provides.