Waterbridge Consulting

Geointelligence for the Intelligent Utility.

Improved decision support is a cornerstone to realize the vision of the Intelligent Utility. Utilities require more information, more frequently – integrated from the field to the back office. Across the industry, utilities, vendors and systems integrators are working together to build the information ecosystem. From SCADA-based sensors in the substation and on the feeder providing dynamic, time-series telemetry such as oscillography and power quality to smart meters measuring power demand in real-time and making the customer relationship a two-way conversation. The common unifying element is the underlying geospatial foundation – asset location, network topology, socioeconomics, demographics, weather, climate and land usage enable analytics to synthesize information from this mass of data. Erik Shepard, PhD offers services as Principal of Waterbridge Consulting to provide consulting, strategy, project management and subject matter expertise to help utilities plan and execute transformational geospatial investments that enable utilities to realize their Smart Grid vision.

Dr. Shepard is currently contracted to Hydro One to support the Advanced Distribution System (ADS) project, which is focused on improving efficiency, reliability and planning, and enabling integration of distributed generation and renewables, and to support implementation of the five-year strategy to build GIS as a foundational platform for next-generation utility programs with investments in data acquisition, system consolidation, SOA, mobility and EAM. He is providing subject matter expertise for geospatial data, integration and interoperability and leading the ADS team focused on data change to ensure that processes and roles are sufficient for management of the DMS network model, protection and controls settings, SCADA and ICCP gateway configurations, and customer load profiles. He is also leading the multi-year investment comprised of both data acquisition and system consolidation activities to produce and sustain the geospatial network and asset model from field collected assets, designs, operations/outage data, smart meters and substation schematics. This project, now in its final phase, is a key data source for ADS. In addition to providing project management, Dr. Shepard also led the effort to develop the business case and regulatory filings that secured capital funding for this project. He supports the continuing evolution of the GIS strategic plan beyond the initial five-year investment, including the development of strategy to leverage the geospatial investment for business analytics through geoanalytics and geovisualization.

Dr. Shepard has provided support to SSP Innovations, LLC with project management and consulting for geospatial/asset management, graphic work design and engineering, outage management, distribution planning, and mobile dispatch for clients including SHECO, GP&L and MLGW. He has also provided subject matter expertise on utility systems integration to EPIC Engineering & Consulting Group to assist them in securing an NSF ITR Small Business grant that will provide seed money for product development.

Experience

Dr. Shepard has more than 20 years of experience with information and information systems on architectures ranging from then-state-of-the-art mainframes and workstations to current web-based cloud computing models. He has worked with more than 30 utilities in North America ranging from small rural utilities and cooperatives to large investor owned utilities. He has experience across the lifecycle of the enterprise from business case development to implementation and project management. Dr. Shepard is familiar with both transmission and distribution sides of the utility operation, as well as generation and capacity markets. Dr. Shepard has been published and spoken numerous times, and is the author of the GeoWorld column "Where It's About Time", which focuses on spatiotemporal information systems.

Outside of utilities, Dr. Shepard has experience in various domains including transportation, health, environment, economic development, and demographics. His work has been used by organizations including the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Geological Survey and the United States Census Bureau. He has previously held tenure with Enspiria Solutions (now a part of Black & Veatch) and with Telvent Miner & Miner. Dr. Shepard also established and led a self-sustaining practice focused on GIS applications development and data warehousing as a core competency for the University of Georgia Office of Information Technology Services.

Knowledge

Dr. Shepard holds a PhD and Master of Science in Geography from the University of Georgia. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, also from the University of Georgia. Dr. Shepard is a designated US National Expert in CIM for Distribution (IEC TC57 WG14) and a MultiSpeak certified systems integrator.