Stake It Once. Share It All.
Central Rural Electric Cooperative connects Bad Elf GNSS, Milsoft FieldSyte, and Esri GIS to move infrastructure plans from raw land to the entire organization.
“GIS is the center of our world.”
Cortney Branham
Director of Engineering Services
Central Rural Electric Cooperative
Every project starts with “where?”
Central Rural Electric Cooperative (Central) serves about 19,000 members and 25,000 meters across north-central Oklahoma. The member-owned cooperative manages roughly 4,300 miles of electric line and operates a growing fiber-to-the-home network.
Nearly every operational question begins with location. Where should a new pole go? Where will crews bury fiber? Where did a storm damage the system? Where should the right-of-way team clear vegetation?
Central once relied on paper staking sheets, handwritten notes, and printed map books that crews might receive only once a year. Today, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) sits at the center of the operation.
From raw land to a digital construction plan
Central's staking technicians meet community members before construction begins. They discuss planned homes, driveways, barns, meters, and other features, then design the electric service in Milsoft FieldSyte.
The technician drives physical stakes into the ground and uses Bad Elf GNSS to record where crews should install poles, underground electric lines, fiber, and related equipment. Construction teams receive a clear blueprint, while GIS staff gain an evolving as-built record.
When field conditions require changes, crews return redlines to the GIS team. Staff verify the work and update the cooperative's electric model. The information follows one connected path:
One record, available across the cooperative
Milsoft integrates with Esri ArcGIS Pro, allowing GIS staff to review each staking project before adding completed work to the authoritative model. An automated ArcPy process exports the updated Milsoft data into Central's enterprise spatial database each night. Published Esri map services then make the latest verified information available to employees on their iPads.
Instead of waiting for the next printed map book, field personnel begin each day with current digital information.
Why earlier GPS programs struggled
Central first tried using a large, expensive GNSS receiver. It was cumbersome, difficult to connect in parts of the service territory, and too costly to provide to every technician. Staff had to share it, and the unit often sat unused.
The cooperative later tested lower-cost devices, but those receivers did not stay connected and slowed fieldwork. Poor performance led to poor adoption.
Central learned that neither the most expensive nor the cheapest equipment automatically provides the best operational fit. The cooperative needed receivers that technicians would actually carry and use.
A receiver for every technician
Central selected Bad Elf after evaluating cost, portability, reliability, ease of use, and accuracy. The cooperative uses a mix of receivers, including Flex Mini and Flex units, to support different field requirements.
The smaller receivers are easy to carry with an iPad and simple to operate. Technicians can turn on the device, confirm the status indicators, collect the location, and continue working. The bigger Flex is used when absolute and relative accuracy is paramount.
Bad Elf's low-cost solution allows Central to move beyond a shared-device model. Technicians working throughout the large service territory can access a receiver without coordinating around one expensive unit.
The right accuracy for the asset
Central does not need the same precision for every feature. A 40-foot electric pole may only require a reliable foot-level location, while underground fiber demands tighter records.
Fiber cables are narrow, buried, and expensive to repair. A strike to a high-count fiber line can interrupt service and create major restoration work. Better records also help CREC avoid requesting an unnecessarily wide area locate when the cooperative already knows where the infrastructure should be.
Bad Elf GNSS gives Central flexibility to match the equipment and accuracy to the job. The goal is not maximum accuracy everywhere. It is dependable accuracy where it matters.
Spending member dollars wisely
Central's members own the cooperative. Revenue comes through their meters, and excess funds either support infrastructure or return to members. That structure makes technology selection especially important.
Cortney Branham, Central's Director of Engineering Services, advises other utilities to test equipment under actual field conditions and evaluate the full workflow. Connectivity, durability, portability, support, cost, and ease of use all matter alongside accuracy.
Central found that Bad Elf balanced those needs while providing responsive customer support.
Put GIS expertise at the centroid
Central credits its progress to specialized staff. The GIS team has formal geospatial training and then learns the electric and broadband business from utility professionals. Not the other way around.
This approach helps the cooperative understand what GIS can do instead of treating it as simple digital mapmaking. Central now uses spatial data to support staking, construction, outages, field communication, fiber expansion, and daily decisions.
Bad Elf GNSS records the position. Milsoft manages the project. Esri GIS shares the verified result. A physical stake marks one place in an Oklahoma field.
The digital record makes that location useful across the entire cooperative.