Perform network traces
An engineer in the Public Works Department has provided you with a design for a new service extension that must be added in a residential development. You'll run network traces to understand the current customer count and rated load downstream from a given protective device to help identify which phase to add the new service to.
Review the data
First, you’ll download and explore an ArcGIS Pro project package that contains the data for the tutorial.
- Download the Electric Utility Network project package.
A file named Electric_Utility_Network.ppkx is downloaded to your computer. The default location is the Downloads folder.
Note:
A .ppkx file is an ArcGIS Pro project package and may contain maps, data, and other files that you can open in ArcGIS Pro. Learn more about managing .ppkx files in this guide.
- Locate the downloaded file on your computer. Double-click Electric_Utility_Network.ppkx to open it in ArcGIS Pro.
Note:
The sample dataset provided in this tutorial is based on the Essential model from the Electric Utility Network Foundation.
The project contains part of the electric utility network for Lisle, Illinois.
- Sign in to your ArcGIS account.
Note:
If you don't have an ArcGIS account, see options for software access.
- In the Contents pane, click the arrow next to the Electric Device layer to expand it.
The subtype group layers for each asset group within Electric Device appear.
Utility network data is structured into relatively few layers, but classification is built within each layer using the Asset Group and Asset Type fields. The Asset Group field is also the subtype field for each layer. Subtypes are a method of subcategorizing layers that allows each asset group to behave more like independent layers. For example, each subtype may have different connectivity, relationship, or topology rules associated with it.
The map provided uses subtype group layers and tables that populate the map with a feature layer for each asset group. This allows each asset group to be symbolized and modified independently. Expanding the Electric Device layer will show the various asset groups that participate in the class.
- Expand the Fuse layer.
Fuse represents an asset group (subtype) for Electric Device. Classifying by subtype limits the number of layers, allowing for better performance.
Under Fuse, notice the unique symbol provided for each Asset Type value (for example, Overhead Bank, Station Bank, and so on). The various asset types of fuses represent a further refinement for classifying utility network features.
Note:
Learn more about the structure of a utility network and utility network feature classification.
Perform an upstream trace
Next, you’ll look at the subnetworks configured in the network and perform a trace. Most networks can be broken down into different areas based on the equipment that is supplying or regulating service. In the Utility Network, these areas are referred to as subnetworks and any feature that manages a subnetwork is called a subnetwork controller. These general terms are applied because the utility network can model many types of networks. Each network has its own definitions for the different types of subnetworks it manages. Each type of resource managed by a utility network is called a domain, such as electric in this case.
Most traces in the utility network rely on subnetworks. These subnetwork-based traces depend on this information because the system must know where the source (or sources) for a subnetwork is to perform upstream, downstream, isolation, subnetwork, and subnetwork controller tracing.
- On the ribbon, click the Utility Network tab. In the Subnetwork group, click Find.
The Find Subnetworks pane appears.
This pane displays a list of subnetworks with SubnetLine feature class geometry in the network. Subnetworks without geometry are accessible through filtering on the Subnetworks table. You can use this list to interact with subnetworks on the map or subnetworks table, perform subnetwork traces, and update subnetworks using the context menu. You can display a subnetwork so it stands out against a transparency on the map. There are six subnetworks in this utility network. You will work with the Essential 001 subnetwork.
One of the main capabilities of a utility network is tracing the network to discover connections and understand how resources flow.
- In the Find Subnetworks pane, right-click the Essential 001 subnetwork and choose Trace Subnetwork.
This action performs a subnetwork trace on the Essential 001 subnetwork using the subnetwork definition that was created for the Electric Distribution tier. The subnetwork definition controls various properties for all subnetworks in the tier and is used when performing subnetwork-based traces and updating subnetworks.
Note:
It is important to note that existing starting points or barriers placed in the map are ignored when the subnetwork trace is run from the Find Subnetworks pane.
- In the lower-right corner of the map, click Selected Features.
The map zooms to the extent of the selected features of the Essential 001 subnetwork.
The trace results in a selected set of features that participate in the Essential 001 subnetwork. The features are selected on the map and the number of selected features displays at the bottom of the map.
Next, you'll perform some common analytical tasks in the network using the data provided, starting with an upstream trace to discover protective devices upstream from a given point in the network. Upstream traces travel toward the subnetwork controller in source-based networks such as this one, and allow you to answer questions about features upstream from a given point in the network. In this example, you'll use the upstream trace to identify and return the first device that can be automatically operated to break a fault. Then, you'll use this feature to gain a better understanding of the downstream load placed on this device by phase. You’ll first zoom to an area where a service line extension was recently proposed.
- On the ribbon, on the Map tab, in the Navigate group, click Bookmarks and choose Jonquil Ave. (Extension).
The map zooms to the intersection of Jonquil Ave. and Main St.
This is the where the service extension will be added along Jonquil Ave. The overhead conductor along Main St. will serve as the starting point of the upstream trace.
- On the ribbon, on the Map tab, in the Selection group, click Clear.
- Click Select By Attributes.
The Select By Attributes pane appears. Here, you can build queries to select features based on their attributes.
- For Input Rows, click Electric Line\Medium Voltage Overhead Conductor.
Note:
After you click outside of the Input Rows parameter, the value will update to Medium Voltage Underground Conductor.
Next, you will build a where clause to select specific features.
- For Where, click the drop-down menu and choose Asset ID.
You will keep the is equal to operator and choose a value to complete the clause.
- Click the last drop-down menu and choose MV-Ovrhd-COND-5.
Note:
Make the Select By Attributes window wider to see the full attribute value.
When you run the tool, any features matching the selection criteria will be selected.
- Click OK.
The Medium Voltage Overhead Conductor / Overhead three Phase with an Asset ID value of MV-Ovrhd-COND-5 is selected.
- On the ribbon, on the Utility Network tab, in the Tools group, click the drop-down arrow for Trace and click Starting Points.
The Trace pane appears.
- In the Trace pane, click Add selected to add the conductor as the starting point for the trace.
At the top of the Trace pane, notice the Named Configurations tab. Named trace configurations allow you to create and store complex traces for your network that you can share with your ArcGIS organization or use to run common trace tasks. A named trace configuration has been created for you to perform the trace, rather than having to configure it from scratch.
- In the Trace pane, click the Named Configurations tab and click Upstream Protective.
This named trace configuration was configured to perform an upstream trace with a filter barrier and output condition defined to stop at and return the first device with a network category assignment of E:Protective.
- Click Run.
- At the bottom of the map, click Selected Features to zoom to the trace result.
The trace results return the first protective device, an overhead bank fuse.
You will use this fuse as the starting point for a downstream trace. This trace will help determine the load being placed on each phase of the system, downstream from this location. This will help you to determine which phase should supply power to the new services.
- To ensure that you are zoomed to the correct area, on the Map tab, click Bookmarks and choose Fuse (Overhead Bank) - MV-FS-101.
Note:
It is likely that your map extent didn't change or change much, as you should have already been zoomed to the proper fuse location.
The protective device returned by the previous trace is centered on the map. Since there are many coincident rows selected, you will clear the selection and select only the fuse.
- On the Map tab, clear the selection and click the Select tool.
Network features are often coincident with many other features. To ensure you only have the fuse selected, you will narrow down the selection using the selection chip, which allows you to choose which coincident features to select.
- On the map, click the fuse that is centered along the north/south conductor. Click the selection chip and choose Overhead Bank: MV-FS-101.
Now, only the fuse is selected and you will use it as the starting point for a downstream trace to determine customer load.
Perform a downstream trace
Next, you will perform a downstream trace from the selected fuse to return all the low-voltage services. Once you determine the services downstream of the fuse, you will use those to determine load by phase.
- On the ribbon, on the Utility Network tab, in the Tools group, click the drop-down menu for Trace and choose Starting Points.
The starting point from the previous trace is still shown. You will clear that and add the selected fuse.
- In the Trace pane, click Clear All.
- Click Add selected to add the selected fuse as the starting point for the trace.
- Click the Named Configurations tab.
You will run the downstream customer load trace. This named trace configuration has been configured to perform a downstream trace with an output condition to return only customer services with a network category of E:Load - Customer.
- Click Downstream Customer Load - Downstream Trace and click Run.
The trace returns a selection of 116 low-voltage services. Next, you will configure and run a model using the selected features as the input to better understand the load distribution of these services by phase.
Identify customer count and load by phase
To place new services in an unbalanced system, phase must be considered. After identifying the protective device upstream from the location of the line extension, you are interested in knowing how many customers and how much load are below this device on the system. Using the result from the previous trace, you will run a downstream trace from the protective device (fuse) and answer these questions using a report generated from a model. To support this model, you will download the Utility Data Management Support toolbox and add it to your project.
- Download the UtilityDataManagementSupport.zip file.
Note:
Learn more about the Utility Data Management Support tools.
- Go to the Downloads folder and unzip the file to a folder on your computer, such as the Documents folder.
- In the Catalog pane, right-click Toolboxes and click Add Toolbox.
- Browse to where the downloaded file was stored (the Downloads folder), select it, and click OK.
The toolbox is now part of your project.
- In the Catalog pane, expand Toolboxes, open the UtilityDataManagementSupport toolbox, and double-click the Summary by Bits tool.
The Summary by Bits tool appears.
- For Input Records, choose Electric Device\Low Voltage Service.
The selection that was created from the downstream trace will be used as the input.
- For the other parameters, specify the following:
- For Bitwise Field, choose Phases Energized.
- For the first Bit Code row, choose 1, and for its Bit Description, type B.
- For the second Bit Code row, choose 2, and for its Bit Description, type C.
- For the third Bit Code row, choose 4, and for its Bit Description, type A.
- For Summary Fields, choose the long field that begins with ratedpower: AC Output Power, Light Watts.
- Accept the defaults for the remaining parameters and click Run.
The tool will process the 116 selected features that were returned from the downstream trace operation.
The tool runs successfully, but no result shows on the map. The tool creates a stand-alone table in the project geodatabase and in the Contents pane there is a table and a set of charts as the output.
- In the Contents pane, scroll down to the bottom of the layer list and locate the LowVoltageService_SummaryByBits table.
The table contains two charts that represent the customer count by phase and load by phase.
- Double-click the Phases Energized Count and ratedpower charts to open each.
The charts display the distribution of services supplied by Phase B and C and indicate that all load downstream of the fuse is placed on phases B and C, with no services currently being supplied by Phase A.
- Close the charts.
You have run two traces to gain a better understanding of customer load for a specific area of the network. Next, you will extend service to customers through Phase A along Jonquil Ave.
Add features to the network
A series of homes constructed along Jonquil Ave. have recently been completed and are requesting power. You will perform a line extension and install a service drop to satisfy this request. To make these updates to the utility network, you will use a preset editing template to create the various structure and domain network features to support the type of service that is being installed. Then, you'll create the structural attachment associations to model connectivity between your electric domain network features and the structure network.
You will extend an overhead conductor, create connectors, transformers, a low-voltage service line, and finally, low-voltage services.
Locate the area of interest
You will first locate the pole along the line from which you will be extending service. You will select the pole by its Asset ID value.
- Zoom to the Jonquil Ave. Primary Pole bookmark.
- In the Selection group, click Select By Attributes.
- For Input Rows, click Structure Junction\Electric Medium Voltage Pole.
- Build the query Asset ID is equal to E-MV-Pl-3462.
The medium-voltage pole with an Asset ID of E-MV-Pl-3462 is selected.
Now that you have located the pole, you will start the extension for the service drop from near this location.
Create a service drop
You have located the area along Jonquil Ave. that requires the new services. Next, you will use editing tools and a preset editing template to create the proper features.
- On the ribbon, click the Edit tab. In the Features group, click Create.
The Create Features pane appears. Here, you can designate which feature or subtype that you want to create and choose the best editing tool.
- In the Create Features pane, in the search field, type service drop.
- Under Electric Device: Low Voltage Service, click the Service Drop template.
- Right-click the Service Drop template and choose Properties.
The Template Properties: Service Drop window appears.
- Click the Features tab.
Here, you can see the various feature classes and attributes that will be populated by this template.
- Click one of the Low Voltage Premise LV features.
Notice that the Phases Normal and Phases Energized attributes are set to phase a, which is the appropriate phase for the new services to be added.
- Click OK.
- On the template, verify that the Point tool is selected.
- On the map, place the preset template so that the westernmost conductor is close to the selected pole.
- Click to add the service drop.
The features from the preset template are created and dirty areas are created to reflect the edits made. Dirty areas are parts of the network that have been edited, but not yet validated. For now, you’ll leave the dirty areas and ensure that the features are properly snapped to the existing network.
- Close the Create Features pane.
Set snapping and extend a line
To ensure connectivity between the service drop you added and the existing network features, you will snap the conductor placed by the template to the attachment feature along the existing electric conductor. Before editing further, you’ll first verify that the snapping environment is properly configured.
- On the ribbon, on the Edit tab, in the Snapping group, click the lower half of the Snapping button.
- Verify that Snapping is enabled, as well as the first four snapping options: Point, Endpoint, Vertex, and Edge.
- Navigate to the bookmark called Snapping-Main St. and zoom out a little so you can see the service drop you added and the E-MV-Pl-3462 pole.
Currently, all the features that are part of the service drop are selected. You will select just the overhead conductor to you can extend it.
- On the map, select the overhead conductor, to the right of the fuse, that is part of the new service drop.
- On the Edit tab, in the Tools group, click Edit Vertices.
The vertices for the selected overhead conductor appear.
- Click the green vertex of the line and drag it to snap to the Medium Voltage Attachment junction feature, which is coincident with the pole.
- On the floating editor menu at the bottom of the map, click Finish.
Another dirty area for the line extension appears.
The Electric Medium Voltage Pole is the structure that supports the features you just connected.
Modify network associations
Most of the structural attachment associations have already been configured because you used the preset template, but one association must still be set. Next, you will manually update the associations between network features.
- Zoom in to the western junction on the service drop features that you placed.
- With the Select tool, select the primary pole for new service drop that you created.
Note:
The pole to select is the easternmost point that is not attached to the network.
- On the ribbon, on the Utility Network tab, in the Associations group, click Modify.
The Modify Associations pane appears.
- Click Load selected to load the selected pole feature as the Active Item.
- Click the Attachment tab and expand Attachments.
You will select the transformer that is attached to the pole, and the medium-voltage attachment feature that models the poles connection to the overhead conductor.
- In the Modify Associations pane, under Attachments, click the select tool.
- On the map, click the transformer from which this service extends. On the selection chip, click the drop-down arrow and under Transformer, choose Overhead Single Phase - MV->LV: .
Note:
Since there are many features that are coincident, the selection chip appears and allows you to choose which feature you want to select.
The transformer is added as an attachment.
Next, you will add the medium-voltage attachment.
- In the Modify Associations pane, click the select tool, and on the map, snap to and click the Medium Voltage Attachment:Point (this is the westernmost point) and in the selection chip, choose or verify that Overhead is selected.
The Medium Voltage Attachment is added to the list of attachments for the pole. Next, you will apply the associations.
- On the map, clear the selection and click Apply to create the structural attachment association.
The association was created and while you cannot see it due to the other dirty areas, another dirty area was created due to the modification of the feature's connectivity. Next, you will validate the edits you have made to ensure that there are no errors.
- Zoom out so that all dirty areas are inside the current extent.
- In the Contents pane, expand the ElectricNetwork Utility Network layer.
The Dirty Areas sublayer contains five kinds of dirty areas. In this tutorial, you have only encountered the second type: Dirty, which indicates that an edit has occurred that is not yet reflected in the network topology.
Every utility network has a network topology. It maintains the connectivity of features to ensure that the commodity (in this case electricity) can flow correctly through the utility network. The network topology is what allows you to perform traces and integrity checks on the data against a collection of rules.
Next, you’ll validate the recent edits to the network topology to include the new features. This will remove the dirty area.
- On the ribbon, click the Utility Network tab, in the Network Topology group, click the lower half of the Validate button and choose Current extent.
On the map, the feature no longer has dirty areas and is clean.
You have validated the edits, but still must save them.
- On the Edit tab, in the Manage Edits group, click Save.
- Click Yes to save all edits.
You have modified the structural attachment associations between the network and the features that you added, and updated the network topology through validation of the edits.
Rerun the downstream trace
With the new services created, you will rerun the earlier downstream trace to see how the load is now distributed from the selected device upstream of your extension.
- Navigate to the Fuse (Overhead Bank) - MV-FS-101 bookmark.
- On the map, select the fuse that is centered along the north/south conductor. In the selection chip, under Fuse, choose Overhead Bank: MV-FS-101.
You will once again use this fuse as the starting point for the trace to determine customer load.
- On the ribbon, on the Utility Network tab, in the Tools group, click the drop-down menu for Trace and choose Starting Points.
- In the Trace pane, click Clear All and click Add selected.
Note:
The same fuse may still be added as the starting point from the last trace. - Click Named Configurations, click Downstream Customer Load - Downstream Trace and click Run.
The trace now returns a selection of 123 low-voltage services downstream of the protective device due to the seven features that you recently added. Next, you will run a tool using the selected features as the input to better understand how the load distribution by phase has been impacted by your edits. Since you already ran the tool with the correct parameters, you will open it from the geoprocessing history to facilitate the process.
Note:
If the Geoprocessing pane is still open, the tool should still have the correct parameters and you can run it from there.
- On the ribbon, on the Analysis tab, click History.
- In the History pane, double-click the Summary by Bits tool.
The tool opens with the same parameters that you used earlier. Notice now that it will process the 123 features that are selected from the downstream customer load trace.
- Click Run.
The tool runs successfully, but no result shows on the map. The tool overwrites the previous run of the tool to create a stand-alone table as the output. You can view the table from the Contents pane.
- In the Contents pane, scroll down to the bottom of the layer list and locate the LowVoltageService_SummaryByBits table.
The table contains two charts that represent the customer count by phase and load by phase.
- Double-click the Phases Energized Count and RatedPower charts to open each.
The services added to Phase A are now represented, displaying a slightly more equitable distribution of load across all three phases.
- Close the charts.
You used editing tools to extend services to customers in a part of the network with new construction. You then ensured connectivity by snapping the new overhead conductor to the existing overhead conductor in the network. Next, you created structural attachment associations to model the structural connectivity between the pole and the electric domain network features. After that, you validated the network topology and saved the edits. You also added a service drop structure to a part of the network where new service is being added. Then you ensured connectivity by snapping the structure to the existing network structure. While snapping ensures connectivity, other network features are connected through associations. As a result, you modified associations to connect a new structure to domain network features. After that, you validated the topology and saved the edits to complete the editing on the network. Lastly, you ran the downstream customer load trace again to show how the new services have been added to Phase A to create a more equitable distribution of customer load.
Update the subnetwork
You have created seven new services along this extension, but they are not yet part of a subnetwork. To ensure proper trace results and to support other network functionality, you will update the subnetwork to include the new service extension.
Assign new features to a subnetwork
Looking at the overhead conductors in the extent you just edited, you can see that labeling has been defined which communicates the subnetwork name and the phases energized for each conductor.
- Navigate to the Jonquil Ave. (Extension) bookmark.
Notice that the north/south overhead conductor is labeled Essential 001, but the overhead conductor for the new service that you added is labeled Unknown.
- Using the Explore tool, click the Medium Voltage Overhead Conductor that you placed on the map.
A pop-up appears for the conductor.
Notice that the lines you just placed show a Subnetwork Name of Unknown while the conductor to the west from which you extended service displays Essential 001. You will now update the subnetwork so that this new service is recognized as participating in the Essential 001 subnetwork.
- Close the pop-up.
- On the ribbon, on the Utility Network tab, in the Subnetwork group, click Find.
The Find Subnetworks pane appears. By default, the Find Subnetworks pane displays subnetworks found within the current extent. Essential 001 displays a status of Dirty because edits were made to features in this subnetwork through the introduction of a midspan vertex when you extended overhead conductor along Jonquil Ave. A dirty subnetwork indicates that edits to the subnetwork have been validated but have not yet been processed by the update subnetwork operation.
Note:
If Essential 001 is not displayed in the subnetwork grid at the top of the pane, pan the map extent back to your recent edits.
- In the Find Subnetworks pane, right-click Essential 001 and choose Update Subnetwork.
Note:
If Update Subnetwork is not enabled, check to ensure that you have saved your edits.
The features that you created are updated to participate in the subnetwork, the subnetwork name and attributes are updated, and the SubnetLine feature class geometry is updated.
With these new services added to the subnetwork, you can now see the subnetwork name and associated labels have been updated to reflect participation in the Essential 001 subnetwork.
You can also access updated information for features that participate in the subnetwork using summaries on the SubnetLine feature class.
The SubnetLine feature class is a read-only, system-provided feature class that is updated when the update subnetwork operation is run. All valid lines defined in the subnetwork definition for the tier returned by the trace performed during update subnetwork are aggregated to comprise a single feature for each subnetwork. This layer is used to aid visualization and output summary information about the subnetworks. Summaries are an optional component of the subnetwork definition’s subnetwork trace configuration that allows you to gather additional information about a subnetwork and store it in an attribute of the SubnetLine feature class. Using this capability, you can get a summary of how many customer services exist for a particular subnetwork, or access information similar to that you gathered on downstream load for the entire subnetwork.
A summary has already been configured for you on the SubnetLine feature class for this tier to calculate the total service load (in watts) for a given subnetwork.
- Clear the selection.
- In the Contents pane, expand the Electric SubnetLine layer.
- Right-click Electric Distribution and click Attribute Table.
The attribute table appears.
- In the Electric Distribution table, click the row that contains the Essential 001 subnetwork to select it.
- In the lower right corner of the map, click Selected Features.
The map zooms to the selected SubnetLine record representing the Essential 001 subnetwork.
- In the table, right-click the Essential 001 record and choose Pop-up.
Note:
You must click the record number, not any of the attributes, to get the correct context menu to appear.
The Pop-up window appears.
- In the Pop-up window, scroll down to the Service Load (Watts) field and the total service load on the Essential 001 subnetwork.
The Service Load (Watts) value has been updated to include the additional 1400 watts load introduced by the service you placed. Additional summary fields could be created to return a summary by phase for the entire subnetwork like that you gathered from running the Summary By Bits operation.
- Close the Pop-up window and save the project.
You have successfully assigned the new services to the proper subnetwork and verified that the new features are supplied from Phase A to balance the load.
In this tutorial, you familiarized yourself with some of the basic capabilities of the utility network. You performed traces to help understand and answer questions about the network's status through reports, which helped to illustrate the current load being placed on different phases downstream of a protective device. You placed features and created structural attachment associations to perform a service line extension, which brought power to a new customer. Finally, you evaluated summaries configured on the SubnetLine feature class to return subnetwork information and performed an update subnetwork operation to incorporate the geometry from the edits, update attributes to reflect participation in the subnetwork, and update the summary attribute on the SubnetLine feature class. You are now prepared to build on this knowledge and learn more about how you can apply these utility network capabilities to your data and workflows.