April 28, 2016

Futura Selected to Serve Members across Appalachian Foothills

Futura Systems’ Advanced Analytics Selected to Serve Members across Kentucky’s Appalachian Foothills

Grayson RECC will add three new software tools to monitor grid asset conditions, improve reliability and responsiveness

Grayson Rural Electric Cooperative, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative that distributes power to 15,000 members across northeastern Kentucky,  has selected mapping and analytics software from Futura Systems.

The tools, FuturaGIS, FuturaStake and Catalyst, will integrate with Grayson RECC’s existing software for customer billing (CIS) from Futura parent company SEDC. Grayson RECC plans to launch the new software this summer.

“We wanted to build on the success we’ve had using SEDC’s business software to ‘do more with less,’ serving our members efficiently with a lean team empowered by customized software solutions,” said Andrea McCleese, technical services supervisor at Grayson RECC.

The core Esri ArcGIS-based mapping and staking tools FuturaGIS and FuturaStake selected by Grayson RECC offer utility-specific functions including field-accessible editing tools for energy assets and turn-by-turn directions for service technicians. They aim to increase efficiency and responsiveness for Grayson RECC’s field technicians as they map and service the utility’s 3,500 miles of powerlines.

The addition of Futura’s Catalyst WebMap will bring several CIS and GIS data together in one map view, applying analytics to reveal ways Grayson RECC can use the information to better serve members. For example, it can display lightning strikes together with outage locations, revealing better locations for outage detection points or lightning arrestors. It can look at AVL (automated vehicle locator) data along with work order data to find the closest truck to a service call.

“Each time we provide Futura GIS solutions to a new utility, we’re also inspired to see the ways co-ops like Grayson find to unlock efficiencies and tailor services to their members, particularly when the software deploys together with SEDC business solutions,” said Futura COO Adam Dinges.

Learn more about Grayson RECC by visiting their website at http://www.graysonrecc.com/.