Energy demand is climbing throughout the U.S. and is projected to grow over the coming decade, driven in large part by data center expansion, industrial production, electric vehicles, air conditioning, and other trends in electrification.
Anticipating decades of load growth, utilities are committing capital to expand and modernize their infrastructure. At the same time, the grid is becoming increasingly decentralized as more power is generated from renewable sources. New transmission lines are needed to move that electricity from where it is generated to where it is needed.
As energy infrastructure projects become more geographically dispersed and complex, utilities need integrated engineering support to navigate varying federal, state, and local development requirements.
Total Project Consulting
Our energy-focused team, which we refer to as our energy project management office (PMO), is positioning clients for success through a total project consulting approach. We have assembled a group of managers to harness cross-disciplinary expertise and experience across the organization and from strategic teaming partners.
Services such as surveying, property rights acquisition, civil engineering, permitting, and more are brought together by the energy PMO and coordinated through our local teams, allowing us to operate as a one-stop shop, managing whole projects, not just individual pieces. For clients, total project consulting provides better alignment among services, driving efficiency and accelerating project delivery by consolidating work activities under one umbrella, thus reducing the need to manage multiple consultants.
One example is an overhead transmission line project for a utility that stretched approximately 20 miles, involved at least five jurisdictions, and required coordination with railroads, pipelines, and other utilities. We managed the site civil and land components of the project, combining property rights and land acquisition with services such as permitting, traffic control, and environmental impact coordination.
Our philosophy is to start with yes and find ways to provide whatever our energy clients need to deliver reliable power both locally and regionally.”Lisa Betz and Trenton Newton
The effort ultimately required more than 200 permits and permissions, with our team facilitating property owner interactions and negotiations and leading permit processing. The entire project was organized, tracked, and reported through our proprietary product, DimensionalView®, which is a web-based mapping project management tool. This gave the utility’s management, design, and construction teams a consolidated view of progress, including real-time status for permits and land acquisition items.
The map-based platform provides quick access to coverage documents, improving communication across the project team and with agency inspectors and property owners, many of whom are also customers.
Supporting the Full Portfolio
Total project consulting also extends to our facilities work. Beyond their core transmission and distribution lines and substations, electric utilities also have infrastructure needs at their offices, customer service centers, and warehouses that are used to store materials and stage work.
At commercial utility sites, we are adding storage buildings and electric vehicle charging installations to support fleet conversions, while also advancing security upgrades. Additionally, we’re retrofitting facility rooftops with solar capabilities and helping reset electrical systems on service center campuses to create microgrid environments incorporating battery storage and grid interconnections.
With the team’s integrated capabilities, we can provide services to utilities across their whole project portfolio, whether it’s architecture, structural engineering, electrical and plumbing design, or security-related improvements. This includes site civil work encompassing surveying and environmental and cultural resource services. Through strategic teaming partners, we can also support high-voltage electric delivery, geotechnical engineering, and subsurface utility location. Our philosophy is to start with yes and find ways to provide whatever our energy clients need to deliver reliable power both locally and regionally.
Large utility projects may span multiple regions and require numerous disciplines and specialized partners. The energy PMO brings those resources together under a unified framework and acts as the client’s main point of contact—creating consistency in approach, management structure, tools, and delivery throughout a utility’s service territory.
About the Authors
Lisa Betz
