A recently released National Transmission Planning Study from the U.S. Department of Energy conducted in collaboration with national laboratories NREL and PNN, concludes that the nation’s current electric transmission system will need to double to triple its 2020 capacity by 2050 to meet projected demand driven by clean energy integration and a shift to a net-zero economy. This exponential growth is vital to support massive renewable deployments, AI-powered data centers, electric vehicles, and federal decarbonization goals.
CHALLENGE
Over the last several decades, load growth has been relatively stable, so transmission projects have been manageable. Most new transmission projects were for grid hardening, not grid expansion. That is changing dramatically. Managing many transmission projects will challenge transmission owners. For example, a major utility responsible for building and maintaining transmission lines faced a growing problem.
As the volume of their transmission projects surged, the company realized their traditional approach to tracking construction progress, through weekly static reports, was no longer fit for purpose. These reports, while comprehensive at the time of creation, were often:
Delayed by several days, meaning upper management and key decision-makers were always looking at outdated information.
Out of sync with the fast-moving realities on the ground, where work could halt or accelerate depending on factors like weather, equipment availability, or landowner concerns.
Cumbersome to produce, requiring significant manual effort to compile, format, and distribute across teams.
This issue came to a head with a new set of transmission projects in a region fraught with additional layers of complexity. The area includes:
Cultural constraints: sacred Native American burial grounds and other significant heritage sites.
Biological constraints: wetlands, sensitive habitats, and species protections.
Landowner challenges: private landowners often had strong views on access, routing, and construction activity on or near their property.
These factors meant the stakes were higher than ever. The company needed real-time, accurate, and easily accessible construction data to ensure compliance, keep projects on schedule, and manage resources effectively.
SOLUTION
Recognizing the limitations of their legacy reporting processes, the utility turned to technology for a solution. Their answer? A real-time construction dashboard built on the robust foundation of ArcGIS Enterprise.
GIS Dashboards provides stakeholders with up-to-the-minute information.
Here’s how they tackled the challenge:
The GIS team optimized the new environment to handle real-time updates from multiple sources without performance lags. The team reconfigured older processes that didn’t align with the new architecture, requiring deep collaboration between GIS specialists, IT, and field teams.
The centerpiece of the solution was a dynamic dashboard leveraging ArcGIS Dashboards, designed to give upper management, project managers, and field supervisors instant visibility into project status. Key features included:
Live updates from the field: Construction inspectors and crews use ArcGIS Field Maps to mark tasks as complete, instantly pushing updates to the dashboard.
Detailed status tracking: Each critical component—foundation installation, structure delivery, framing, gate installation, and access road preparation—is monitored individually.
Photo verification: Inspectors attach images of completed work, so management can see progress without requesting additional reports or site visits.
Integrated data streams: The dashboard consolidates inputs from multiple subcontractors and teams, eliminating redundant reporting and ensuring a single source of truth.
Environmental and cultural tracking: The system records access routes, reroutes for landowner or cultural reasons, and areas of biological concern to ensure compliance and avoid penalties.
Perhaps the most transformative element was how the dashboard changed communication dynamics:
Everyone on the same page: All stakeholders, from subcontractors to executives, access the same up-to-date data.
Reduced email and meeting overload: With progress visible in real-time, there’s less need for status meetings or clarification emails.
Proactive management: Bottlenecks and delays are spotted early, allowing immediate corrective action.
RESULTS
Implementing the dashboard produced tangible, measurable improvements across several key dimensions: The system provided faster project delivery. Thanks to real-time visibility, the utility company can spot potential slowdowns immediately. Interventions happen sooner, keeping projects on track. Schedules are met or exceeded, even in challenging conditions. Contractors are held accountable, as progress (or lack thereof) is visible to all.
ArcGIS Field Maps ensures rapid access to construction progress.
The new processes enable smarter allocation of resources. Based on current progress data, field teams are directed to where they’re most needed. Tools and machinery can be staged and moved efficiently in response to real-time needs. Deliveries are scheduled to match construction progress, reducing waste and storage issues.
With sensitive cultural and biological constraints in play, compliance is non-negotiable. The dashboard has helped the utility avoid fines and legal challenges by ensuring reroutes and protective measures are documented and followed. It helped demonstrate accountability to regulators, landowners, and tribal representatives with detailed records and photo evidence. Finally, it ensures access routes and work areas align with environmental commitments.
The utility now enjoys more cohesive teamwork: Unified data supports unified action. The new processes resulted in less friction between field and office staff since everyone has visibility of the latest updates. It also reduced administrative burden, freeing teams to focus on high-value work rather than manual reporting.
BENEFITS
The benefits of this transformation go beyond individual projects:
Scalability: The system can support multiple simultaneous projects without additional setup.
Transparency: Senior leadership has unprecedented insight into day-to-day progress.
Efficiency: Processes that once took days—like preparing progress reports or validating work completion—now happen in minutes.
Flexibility: The platform can adapt to unique challenges on different projects, whether driven by geography, landowners, or environmental factors.
NEXT STEPS
Looking ahead, the utility isn’t standing still. It has already queued up three additional transmission projects that will benefit from the real-time dashboard. There’s strong interest in automating parts of the routing and compliance tracking process. However, the team recognizes that human oversight remains essential, particularly when dealing with unpredictable landowner concerns or sensitive cultural sites. Explorations are underway into AI and machine learning tools that could augment routing decisions and help flag potential compliance issues faster, without replacing the critical judgment of experienced managers.
The utility’s change management has improved how it delivers projects and sets a new standard for accountability, transparency, and efficiency in the utility sector.