Gridlock Scout

A map that helps neighboring utilities find opportunities to coordinate planned grid construction.

Inspiration

Power lines do not stop at state borders, but construction plans are often published utility by utility. The challenge asked us to compare projects from Dominion Energy South Carolina and Georgia Power, whose service areas meet near the Savannah River. Better regional planning matters. We wanted to turn separate public plans into a practical starting point for collaboration.

What we built

Gridlock Scout places both utilities’ planned projects on an interactive map. It ranks pairs whose closest mapped points are within 40 km. Selecting a pair shows its distance, each project’s published date, and a possible reason to coordinate. Users can inspect individual projects, switch map layers, and reveal older published targets.

A Gemini-powered assistant answers questions about a selected project or pair using public planning records. It can also retrieve current weather and area information, including tree-canopy samples, elevation, active weather alerts, and recent reported fire events.

We added an editable estimate for a possible shared regional survey:

$$ S = 2C_{\mathrm{separate}} - C_{\mathrm{joint}} - C_{\mathrm{coordination}} $$

For example, two separate $20,000 surveys compared with a $28,000 joint survey and $5,000 in coordination costs produce a possible saving of $7,000. These are illustrative assumptions, not published utility costs or guaranteed savings.

How we built it

We combined projects from the challenge workbook and public utility sources into a 14-project catalog. Each record includes its source, published date, mapped location, and a note about location accuracy.

A TypeScript matching routine compares points and line segments to find the closest mapped distance between projects. It filters pairs at 40 km and ranks the results. We built the interface with React and Leaflet, then connected server-side routes to Gemini and the live data services.

Challenges we faced

The biggest challenge was interpreting incomplete public plans. Some locations are broad area markers or straight-line approximations rather than surveyed construction routes. Published in-service targets also do not tell us when crews will actually be working.

One Augusta pair initially appeared to be 39.9 km apart. After checking Georgia Power’s preliminary route information, the mapped distance became about 46 km. We removed that pair from the under-40-km list.

What we learned

A nearby project pair is a lead to investigate, not proof that the utilities can share crews. When dates are far apart, exchanging terrain surveys, access information, permits, or route data may still be valuable. Exact work sites and construction windows must be confirmed before making coordination decisions.

Gridlock Scout makes those leads visible and gives planners better questions to ask each other.