GITA Honours

The Distinguished Service award is bestowed on individuals whose extraordinary personal contributions have added to the success of GITA. J. Peter Gomez is the manager of Information Requirements within the Asset Management organization of Xcel Energy and has been an active member of GITA for more than 17 years. During that time, he has served the organisation as a member of the Education Committee, Outreach Committee, Awards Committee, ExecuNet Planning Committee and as chairperson of the ExecuNet Conference in 2001, which achieved the highest attendance for this event at the time. Gomez has presented numerous papers at GITA events worldwide and was recognized with a speaker award at GITA's Annual Conference in both 2005 and 2008.

Gomez spent seven years as a member of GITA's Board of Directors and served as president of GITA-North America in 2005. He currently is an active member of the Past President's Advisory Council and continues to participate in GITA's efforts focused on the support of critical infrastructure protection.

The Excellenace award recognises the dedication, insight, and high degree of initiative in the outstanding application of geospatial technology. The SECO Energy Board of Directors approved a GPS project to develop a GIS the summer of 1996. The electric distribution facilities and road network inventories began in 1997 and finished in 2000. In October 2001, SECO Energy selected the GE suite of products as its engineering and operations solution with the following goals: utility solution operational at a utility today; solution scalable and responsive; delivery of solution on time and on budget; and minimal overall application integration costs.This suite of products enables SECO to efficiently design, construct, and energize new facilities. By combining many data elements into one cohesive information source, the advantages related to ease of access, speed, accuracy and employee/customer acceptance have all been radically enhanced. New opportunities continue to expand the use of GIS technology in improving overall business operations and customer satisfaction.

Xcel Energy's initial exposure to using geospatial technology began in the PSCo (Public Service of Colo.) jurisdiction back in 1983. A multitude of work practices have been enhanced and additional systems integrations implemented to realize significant benefits at Xcel Energy. Linking IT systems improve service and customer contact, and enable efficient emergency response.