How Technology Reduces Utility Damages: Connexus Energy's Results With KorTerra

The utility industry has dealt with damage prevention complexity for decades. As construction volumes climb and underground infrastructure ages, the risk of utility strikes keeps growing. For professionals in the damage prevention space, these challenges are familiar.

What's changing is how technology addresses them. Digital ticket management, automated screening, and map-based routing are reshaping how utilities handle everything from 811 ticket processing to field locates, replacing manual workflows with systems that scale.

How Digital Ticket Management Replaces Manual Damage Prevention Processes

Utility damage prevention has traditionally run on manual processes with plenty of room for error. As excavation activity increases, those manual workflows can't keep pace with the volume.

How did Connexus Energy reduce unnecessary locates? Connexus Energy processes over 50,000 One Call tickets annually. Their challenge wasn't understanding the risks. It was handling the volume and complexity efficiently. After switching to KorTerra's ticket management system, they eliminated unnecessary locates by screening tickets before dispatch, saving both time and field resources.

That shift from manual ticketing to automated digital screening reduces human error and ensures field crews are dispatched to the right jobs. The return is measurable: fewer unnecessary truck rolls, faster and more accurate locates, and better allocation of locate crews across the service territory.

How Automated Routing Improves Locator Efficiency and Reduces Costs

One of the most immediate benefits of locate management technology is improved field efficiency, specifically in how locators are routed and dispatched. Manual routing based on outdated maps or scattered job lists wastes hours every week. Map-based routing and integrated digital tools let crews cover more ground in less time with fewer miles driven.

What efficiency gains did Connexus Energy see with KorTerra? Real-time mapping and route optimization tools saved each Connexus locator over an hour per day. Those efficiency gains translated directly into cost savings, but more importantly, they freed the team to focus on high-priority, high-risk locates without sacrificing accuracy on routine work.

Automation in locate operations is more than a time-saver. It's a capacity multiplier. By optimizing routes, eliminating manual dispatch errors, and giving locators visibility into all their jobs in one view, utilities increase their locate capacity without a proportional increase in headcount.

How Real-Time Communication Prevents Utility Strikes and Project Delays

One of the most persistent problems in damage prevention is communication breakdowns, both internally between office and field teams and externally with contractors and excavators. Any gap in communication can lead to project delays or, worse, a utility strike.

How does KorTerra improve communication between locate teams and contractors? KorTerra's two-way communication tools, used by Connexus Energy, created a direct information channel between internal teams and contractors. Real-time data exchange gave both sides visibility into ongoing projects and eliminated the delays caused by missed calls, unclear ticket notes, and outdated status information.

For organizations that already understand how critical fast, clear communication is to damage prevention, the value is obvious. Whether it's resolving an excavator's question in the field or making sure every stakeholder sees the same current ticket status, integrated communication tools make the locate process faster and more reliable.

What Financial Impact Does Damage Prevention Technology Deliver?

Efficiency and accuracy don't just prevent damages. They reduce operating costs. How much did Connexus Energy save with KorTerra? Connexus Energy's investment in KorTerra's platform resulted in over $26,000 in annual savings, driven by fewer unnecessary locates, optimized resource use, and reduced time spent on manual processes.

For utilities that have already invested in damage prevention protocols, technology offers a way to get more out of those existing programs and see measurable returns. The cost of not adopting these tools, in damages, overtime, and rework, often exceeds the investment within the first year.

How Emerging Technologies Will Shape the Future of Damage Prevention

The role of technology in damage prevention is expanding. AI-driven analytics, machine learning, and advanced GIS mapping are the next layer of capability that will change how utilities identify and prevent damages before excavation begins.

Many utilities have already implemented automated ticket screening and digital communication tools. The next step is AI-powered predictive analytics that flag potential risk based on historical damage patterns, facility proximity, and dig site characteristics, moving damage prevention from reactive response to proactive identification.

Advancing GIS technology also opens the door to more accurate, real-time mapping of underground utilities. These tools push the industry toward a future where damage prevention decisions are made on data, not assumptions.

Why Investing in Locate Technology Is a Competitive Advantage

The case for technology in utility damage prevention is settled. Connexus Energy's results demonstrate the efficiency, cost savings, and safety improvements that come from replacing manual processes with a purpose-built locate management platform.

As infrastructure demands grow and safety regulations tighten, the utilities that adopt digital tools for ticket management, field routing, and stakeholder communication will be the ones that reduce damages, retain contracts, and operate at lower cost. Investing in locate technology isn't just about preventing the next utility strike. It's about building an operation that performs at scale.

About KorTerra, Inc.

KorTerra is the leading provider of damage prevention software, protecting billions of dollars in underground infrastructure. For over 30 years, the leading stakeholders in gas distribution, pipeline operation, telecommunications, electric distribution, contract locating, and city, county, and state governments have trusted KorTerra as their damage prevention solution. KorTerra helps mitigate risk and ensure the safety of field personnel by providing secure software platforms for processing 811 locate tickets, tracking and reporting asset damages, meeting regulatory compliance, and more. Explore additional solutions at korterra.com and follow KorTerra on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Paige Nygaard – KorTerra, Inc.
952.368.1911
marketing@korterra.com