Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE), an Exelon company, recently joined a webinar panel hosted by ZPryme to discuss going “From Smart Streetlights to Smart Streetlight Operations”. BGE is in the midst of deploying over a quarter-million smart streetlights across its entire service territory. One of the key lessons they’ve learned was how smart lighting deployment presents a unique opportunity to transform operations, go paperless, build data quality into field workflows and work smarter than ever before possible. 

“We realized very early on  that there’s a lot more that goes into smart streetlighting deployment and strategy than just screwing photo controls on top of existing light locations. There are a lot of systems and data involved; and in some cases, data that’s inaccurate and that needs to be accounted for.”  

– Eric Barger, Principal Project Manager, Exelon Baltimore Gas & Electric

TerraGo has helped BGE accelerate the deployment of smart nodes, which also includes the capture of essential data during the course of the installation workflow.  During optimal scenarios, BGE field crews can hit a speed of 6 minutes or less to fully complete a smart streetlight installation including all required data collection and photos. This speed translates directly into faster realization of smart lighting benefits and establishes data quality that will improve future operations. 

One of BGE’s most quantifiable benefits is the ability to use TerraGo software to reduce operations and maintenance (O&M) costs during installation, leveraging the capital investment of the deployment program. Typically, surveying and auditing requires a large O&M investment. In this case, theTerraGo software provides the ability for BGE crews to audit the system, capture photos and correct those records, all during the course of a very efficient, guided installation workflow. 

Whether performing surveys, or installs or maintenance, BGE is now able to automatically update and sync all the asset records related to the streetlight infrastructure, spanning their back-office platforms, asset management, GIS and SLV systems. With elimination of manual data entry, QR code scanning, data validation, proximity detection and numerous other quality controls, TerraGo is helping BGE dramatically improve data quality today which translates into greater operational efficiency and lower costs in the future. 

“There is no paperwork needed for smart lighting deployment, inventory management, installation or maintenance.  At every step we are using the TerraGo application to track the process, the inventory, the work and the data.  We know exactly what work is done by whom, where smart nodes are located and that the correct data is being charged back to our asset records management system. TerraGo is just an incredible platform that has really lived up to  our expectations.”

– Eric Barger, Principal Project Manager, Exelon Baltimore Gas & Electric

Once smart streetlight controls are deployed, the lights work smarter. With BGE’s data quality-driven processes and TerraGo’s configurable software, the people are now working smarter too. The real-time visibility of the smart lighting network, paired with TerraGo field applications, helps BGE optimize operational efficiency and maximize numerous benefits for BGE – and the communities it serves.

To learn more about BGE’s approach to smart streetlight operations, you can read the full case study here.

Or watch the webinar with BGE here.