Getting to Know Your Experts: Tom Helmer, Executive Solution Architect at UDC – [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Expert Interview]

With a finger on the pulse of industry evolution, Tom offers invaluable perspectives on the transformative role of GIS, emerging technologies like smart grids and AI, and the strategies guiding utilities toward effective modernization and digital transformation. Through collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and a commitment to embracing emerging technologies, Tom provides indispensable advice for professionals navigating the dynamic landscape of the energy industry.

Read on and enjoy!

Matt Chester: Tom, it’s been a while since your first expert interview on Energy Central and the industry has been moving faster than ever before, so catch us up. Can you share with us any recent developments or projects you’ve been involved in that are particularly exciting or groundbreaking within the utility sector?

Tom Helmer: I have been busy consulting with clients moving to the Esri ArcGIS Utility Network, looking at the vendor landscape for possible digital construction solutions, looking at the vendor landscape for possible enterprise content management solutions, applying the enterprise GIS and GIS technology platform stack to be responsive and compliant with the Leonel Rondon Safety Act for gas distribution companies, and generating ADMS & DERMS roadmaps.

MC: Given your extensive experience with GIS technology, how do you see it evolving and impacting the energy industry in the coming years? Has the progress in this area been keeping the pace you had expected, or is it stalling?

TH: Investments by GIS vendors are exceeding my expectations and have moved GIS into the enterprise software solutions category. Overall, this is impacting all of the energy delivery resource management lines of business at utilities.  GIS is becoming essential to multiple lines of business to support better planning, monitoring, and reporting on their work. GIS integrations with OT systems are providing timely operational awareness visualization to both internal management and external stakeholders that reveals and displays the as-operating status of the power grid. The enhanced level of interoperability provided by GIS is enabling utilities to move to a spatially enabled suite of compliance management programs, when integrated with their EAM systems, and is supporting zero data latency for reporting compliance status to their respective states’ PUCs.

MC: With the growing emphasis on sustainability and decarbonization, what role do you see emerging technologies such as smart grids, IoT, and AI playing in reshaping the energy landscape?

TH: Utilities are being given a choice to pursue model driven advanced ADMS applications or distribution state estimation driven advanced ADMS applications as a result of the advancements in line sensor technologies.  Either approach will allow utilities to deploy many of the ADMS advanced applications such as VVO to optimize the amount of injected energy needed to support the currently required load at the minimum voltage to remain compliant and with good power quality.  I am seeing advancements in DERMS+ technologies that may provide a faster path to decarbonization goals than ADMS assuming the utility’s customers will allow the utility to control their DER devices and trade its full renewable capacity in the green energy markets.  These products have included the use of AI technology to support their weather forecasting modules and market trading modules in the cloud to provide utilities a good view of whether they should be buying or selling green energy the next day and the next week.

MC: Collaboration and knowledge-sharing are vital in driving innovation within the utility sector. How do you think industry professionals can better collaborate and exchange insights to accelerate progress?

TH: We are seeing some of our IOU clients encouraging their partners to collaborate and exchange insights to accelerate their clearly stated goals for sustainable energy and hardened (undergrounded) operational environments and controlled by fast acting DA and SA devices to minimize the chance of wildfires.

MC: In your view, what are some of the key strategies or best practices for utilities looking to modernize their infrastructure and embrace digital transformation effectively?

TH: Upgrading to an enterprise GIS, graphical work design tool, digital field as-builting tool, ADMS, DERMS, and if late adopters – AMI.  These will setup the utility to maintain their as-built model with minimal latency required to drive the advanced ADMS applications if taking a model driven approach.  The advantage a model driven approach has over distribution state estimation is that it works with all substations and feeders regardless of whether any advanced sensors have been installed yet.  This provides good visibility for ADMS operators.  From an asset management point of view, look to adopt AI/ML to look at drone, fixed wing, and satellite imagery to generate asset condition and abnormally operating conditions (AOCs) along both transmission lines and distribution feeders.

MC: As the energy industry continues to evolve rapidly, what advice would you give to young professionals aspiring to build successful careers in this field, especially considering the diverse range of technologies and challenges they may encounter?

TH: Be open to working on as many digital upgrades and new deployments as possible.  Try to put in systems for the ops center, the enterprise, engineering, field workers, and inside of substations.  If allowed to rotate to the other side of business from energy delivery, then try to work on power trading and billing remediation systems if possible too.

________________________________________

Thanks to Tom for joining me for this interview and for providing a wealth of insights and expertise to the Energy Central Community. You can trust that Tom will be available for you to reach out and connect, ask questions, and more as an Energy Central member, so be sure to make him feel welcome when you see her across the platform.

The other expert interviews that we’ve completed in this series can be read here, and if you are interested in becoming an expert, you can reach out to me or you can apply here.