Reliability-first change analysis for energy operations
The Impact Intelligence Verification Graph Engine (VGE) maps change cascades across:
- Asset configurations and maintenance schedules
- Reliability workflows and safety gate hierarchies
- Inspection records and compliance evidence chains
- Outage risk models and spare pool allocations
Preview mode lets you model the downstream impact of schedule shifts, deferred maintenance, and policy updates before approval.
Reliability change impact
See what's affected by inspection or configuration changes:
- Assets, maintenance queues, and safety workflows
- Inspection schedules and interval dependencies
- Spare pool allocations across substations
Outage risk preview
Model reliability impact before committing changes:
- Outage probability shifts from schedule changes
- Mean time to repair and restoration estimates
- Deferred maintenance compounding effects
Compliance evidence impact
Surface compliance gaps before they become audit findings:
- Affected inspection records and safety acknowledgements
- Audit evidence chain integrity
- PRC-005 and PRC-027 interval compliance
Console preview
Change intelligence report
Seed change
Relay protection change: Bus differential relay scheme - 8 relays updated
Change impact
52 of 260 nodes (20%)
across 4 domains
Severity hotspots
4
critical
NRE estimate
$92K – $168K
likely $124K
Schedule delta
+30d
critical path
Impact cascade / sample path
Bus differential protection - 8 relays in scheme
via grid_topology
4 maintenance windows require rescheduling
via maintenance
6 NERC compliance records need update
via compliance
3 critical load paths affected
via power_flow
2 crew certifications require renewal
via workforce
1 another maintenance window overlaps this protection zone
- └─ MOC-3341 Transformer tap changer replacement - Substation 14 4 shared nodes engineering review
Verification pack / draft
- 8 relay setting re-validations
- 4 maintenance window reschedules
- 6 NERC compliance updates
- 2 crew certification renewals
Cost estimate: NRE $92K – $168K (likely $124K)
- ├─ Relay re-coordination study: $32K – $48K (8 relays, 3 protection zones)
- ├─ NERC compliance filing: $12K – $18K (protection system change report)
- ├─ Outage window: 6h scheduled outage for commissioning tests
- ├─ Schedule penalty: +30d delays next planned maintenance cycle
The problem
Infrastructure changes cascade through reliability systems invisibly
Asset replacements, maintenance schedule shifts, and policy updates affect inspection rounds, safety workflows, spare pool allocations, and compliance evidence simultaneously. Operations teams discover downstream impacts during outages - not during planning.
Hidden cost of blind changes
- A deferred maintenance decision increases outage probability across three substations with no advance modeling
- An inspection schedule change creates compliance gaps in safety documentation discovered during audit
- An asset replacement triggers spare pool reallocation that affects four other maintenance windows
Key capabilities
Active intelligence for energy & utilities changes.
Asset criticality mapping
The graph model ranks assets by operational criticality and maps dependencies between assets, maintenance schedules, and reliability targets.
Maintenance cascade analysis
Schedule changes and deferred maintenance decisions are traced through asset dependencies, spare pool allocations, and crew capacity constraints.
Outage risk modeling
Changes to inspection or maintenance schedules are scored for outage risk based on asset criticality, historical failure rates, and redundancy levels.
Safety compliance tracking
Changes that affect inspection evidence, safety acknowledgements, or compliance documentation are flagged with remediation requirements.
Grid topology traversal
Walk electrical grid dependencies to surface every impacted circuit, protection zone, and redundancy path across transmission and distribution networks.
Spare parts impact analysis
Detect when asset changes affect spare pool allocations, cross-site inventory, and emergency response readiness with lead time awareness.
Crew capacity constraints
Map which maintenance windows, inspection rounds, and field crew assignments are affected by schedule changes with certification requirements.
NERC compliance evidence
Assemble audit-ready evidence packs from existing records, highlight missing artifacts, and track sign-off status across impacted assets and their applicable reliability standards.
How it works
From change signal to verified action.
Seed the change
Define the proposed change - asset replacement, maintenance schedule shift, inspection policy update, or capacity reallocation.
Traverse the infrastructure graph
Domain providers walk dependencies across assets, maintenance queues, spare pools, safety workflows, compliance evidence, and grid topology.
Score reliability risk
Each affected asset and workflow receives a severity score based on criticality tier, redundancy level, historical failure rates, BES applicability, and CIP impact rating.
Detect scheduling collisions
Cross-change collision detection reveals when concurrent maintenance windows or crew assignments create overlapping resource conflicts that require triage.
Generate verification packs
Assemble safety acknowledgements, inspection updates, compliance documentation, and spare parts reallocation plans from existing records. Preview them before committing.
Estimate outage impact
Outage probability, mean time to repair, and customer impact computed with min/likely/max uncertainty bands based on historical reliability data.
Act or iterate
Apply the change with idempotency keys to persist verification packs, or adjust parameters and re-run the analysis in preview mode.
Hybrid graph model
VGE traverses your existing operational schema with no data migration required. The engine analyzes dependencies across asset hierarchies, maintenance schedules, grid topology, and inspection records in a unified reliability impact model.
Virtual edges
Inferred dependencies from asset hierarchies, grid topology, protection zones, and maintenance schedule sequences.
Explicit edges
Tenant-defined dependencies with rationale and supporting context, e.g., linking a transformer to specific spare pool allocations or crew certifications.
Policy edges
Rules mapping reliability frameworks (NERC CIP, IEEE, utility-specific standards) to required validation work for each change type.
Energy & Utilities impact scenarios
Real change scenarios in energy & utilities.
Impact Intelligence adapts to your domain’s change patterns, compliance frameworks, and verification workflows. These are representative output examples from the VGE computation pipeline.
Energy & Utilities
Maintenance windows affected · Spare pool changes · Inspection updatesTrigger
Asset replacement
Impact
Maintenance schedules, spare pool allocations, inspection protocols, custody records
Verification Pack
Replacement impact summary, updated maintenance plan, custody transfer evidence
Metrics
Maintenance windows affected · Spare pool changes · Inspection updates
Energy & Utilities
Assets affected · Outage risk delta · Compliance gapsTrigger
Maintenance schedule shift
Impact
Asset reliability scores, crew capacity, outage windows, compliance evidence
Verification Pack
Schedule impact report, reliability risk assessment, compliance gap analysis
Metrics
Assets affected · Outage risk delta · Compliance gaps
Energy & Utilities
Sites affected · Inspection frequency change · Documentation updatesTrigger
Inspection policy update
Impact
Inspection rounds, safety documentation, field crew assignments, evidence trails
Verification Pack
Policy change summary, updated inspection schedule, training requirements
Metrics
Sites affected · Inspection frequency change · Documentation updates
Energy & Utilities
Sites affected · Redundancy level change · Response time impactTrigger
Capacity reallocation
Impact
Load distribution, redundancy levels, outage response readiness
Verification Pack
Capacity analysis, redundancy impact report, response plan update
Metrics
Sites affected · Redundancy level change · Response time impact
Energy & Utilities
Assets requiring re-inspection · Documentation gaps · Compliance timelineTrigger
Regulatory requirement change
Impact
Inspection frequency, documentation standards, evidence retention requirements
Verification Pack
Regulatory gap analysis, evidence remediation plan, compliance timeline
Metrics
Assets requiring re-inspection · Documentation gaps · Compliance timeline
Impact Intelligence for Energy & Utilities
Operational scale that makes impact analysis possible.
VGE runs on tenant-owned data: schema depth, API breadth, and deterministic telemetry that keeps change reviews consistent.
Domain providers
15+
5 cross-industry baseline + 10 domain-specific providers (composition structures, compliance, verification, 3D/geometric, procurement, inventory, capital assets, execution chains), each self-describing with SemVer and cost tiers.
Sync analysis
≤2s
Typical graph traversal (≤1K nodes) with batch-first providers and per-request caching.
Async analysis
≤30s
Complex traversals (≤10K nodes) with optional Redis acceleration and per-provider timing.
Impact demo
Impact Intelligence for Energy & Utilities
Preview change impact, severity scoring, and verification packs before approvals.
Change impact
52 nodes
Projected change
Severity hotspots
4
Projected change
NRE estimate
$124K
Projected change
Schedule delta
+30d
Projected change
Sample finding
See what's affected by inspection or configuration changes:
Impact cascade
Seed the change
Virtual edges
Explicit edges
Policy edges
API preview
Schema-stable endpoints for impact intelligence.
Impact Intelligence is designed as a tenant-owned API surface with preview-first semantics, deterministic run snapshots, and export-ready results.
Preview vs apply
Every request can run in preview mode to generate impact results without mutating data. Apply mode uses idempotency keys to persist verification packs safely.
View developer docsPOST Start reliability impact run
Seed a new analysis for an asset change, maintenance schedule shift, or inspection policy update. Preview mode is the default.
POST /api/v1/change-controls/{id}/impact/runThe ChangeControl record (created separately) carries the change details: protection relay firmware upgrade SEL-351-7 → SEL-351-7R for substation assets across Northfield 138kV, affecting protection schemes, SCADA telemetry, and maintenance order MO-2026-0398.
Request
{
"detect_collisions": true
}Response
{
"schema_version": "vge.graph_result.v1",
"run_id": 671,
"nodes": [
{
"node_ref": {
"resource_type": "protection_relay",
"resource_id": 671001,
"display_name": "SEL-351-7 / Northfield Bay 3",
"display_code": "NF-138-RLY-003",
"status": "Active - Protection Scheme A",
"tags": [
"NERC PRC-005",
"138kV",
"Bus Differential"
]
},
"severity": 0.94,
"depth": 1
},
{
"node_ref": {
"resource_type": "protection_scheme",
"resource_id": 671040,
"display_name": "Northfield 138kV Bus Differential Scheme",
"display_code": "PS-NF138-BD-01",
"status": "Coordination Study Required",
"tags": [
"NERC PRC-027",
"Zone 1",
"Pilot Channel"
]
},
"severity": 0.91,
"depth": 2
},
{
"node_ref": {
"resource_type": "scada_point",
"resource_id": 671080,
"display_name": "SCADA Telemetry - NF Bay 3 Relay Status",
"display_code": "SCADA-NF-003-RLY",
"status": "Remapping Required",
"tags": [
"NERC CIP-010",
"DNP3",
"Real-Time"
]
},
"severity": 0.87,
"depth": 2
},
{
"node_ref": {
"resource_type": "maintenance_order",
"resource_id": 671120,
"display_name": "MO-2026-0398 - Relay Testing Window",
"display_code": "MO-2026-0398",
"status": "Reschedule Required",
"tags": [
"Outage Window",
"Q2-2026",
"Crew-Certified"
]
},
"severity": 0.82,
"depth": 3
}
],
"edges": [
{
"source": {
"resource_type": "asset",
"display_code": "NF-138-XFMR-01"
},
"target": {
"resource_type": "protection_relay",
"display_code": "NF-138-RLY-003"
},
"edge_type": "PROTECTED_BY",
"provider": "grid_topology",
"label": "Bus differential protection - 8 relays in scheme"
},
{
"source": {
"resource_type": "protection_relay",
"display_code": "NF-138-RLY-003"
},
"target": {
"resource_type": "protection_scheme",
"display_code": "PS-NF138-BD-01"
},
"edge_type": "MEMBER_OF",
"provider": "grid_topology",
"label": "Coordination study links relay settings to scheme parameters"
},
{
"source": {
"resource_type": "protection_relay",
"display_code": "NF-138-RLY-003"
},
"target": {
"resource_type": "scada_point",
"display_code": "SCADA-NF-003-RLY"
},
"edge_type": "TELEMETERED_BY",
"provider": "scada",
"label": "DNP3 mapping - relay status, trip counters, fault records"
}
],
"stats": {
"node_count": 52,
"edge_count": 87,
"provider_counts": {
"grid_topology": 24,
"maintenance": 14,
"compliance": 9,
"scada": 5
},
"truncated": false,
"collisions": {
"collision_count": 0,
"collision_severity": "NONE"
}
}
}GET Retrieve reliability change impact
Get the full impact graph with severity scores, asset criticality tiers, and affected maintenance windows.
GET /api/v1/change-controls/{id}/impactGET Trace reliability proof path
Explain why a specific maintenance window, inspection round, or spare pool is impacted, auditable at every graph hop.
GET /api/v1/change-controls/{id}/impact/explain?node_key=protection_scheme:671040:headResponse
{
"run_id": 671,
"target_node_key": "protection_scheme:671040:head",
"path_node_keys": [
"asset:671:head",
"protection_relay:671001:head",
"protection_scheme:671040:head"
],
"path_edges": [
{
"edge_type": "PROTECTED_BY",
"provider": "grid_topology",
"label": "Northfield 138kV transformer protected by SEL-351-7 bus differential relay"
},
{
"edge_type": "MEMBER_OF",
"provider": "grid_topology",
"label": "Relay firmware change invalidates coordination study - scheme parameters require re-verification per NERC PRC-027"
}
],
"notes": "2-hop path: substation asset → protection relay → protection scheme. Firmware upgrade changes relay timing characteristics, requiring coordination study re-run and NERC PRC-027 compliance re-verification."
}GET Detect cross-change collisions
Find where concurrent maintenance windows or crew assignments create overlapping resource conflicts.
GET /api/v1/change-controls/{id}/impact/collisionsResponse
{
"collision_count": 2,
"colliding_change_ids": [
668,
673
],
"collision_severity": "HIGH",
"top_overlapping_nodes": [
{
"node_key": "maintenance_order:671120:head",
"severity": 0.88,
"change_ids": [
671,
668
],
"display": "MO-2026-0398 Relay Testing Window - overlaps with CC-668 (switchgear insulation replacement at Northfield 138kV)"
},
{
"node_key": "protection_scheme:671040:head",
"severity": 0.85,
"change_ids": [
671,
673
],
"display": "PS-NF138-BD-01 Bus Differential Scheme - overlaps with CC-673 (transformer tap changer recalibration affecting same protection zone)"
}
]
}POST Generate verification pack
Generate safety acknowledgements, inspection updates, and spare parts reallocation plans in preview or apply mode.
POST /api/v1/change-controls/{id}/verification-pack/generateRequest
{
"mode": "preview"
}Response
{
"proposed_validations": [
{
"validation_type": "inspection",
"validation_meta": {
"description": "Protection relay acceptance testing - SEL-351-7R firmware validation across 8 relays in Northfield 138kV bus differential scheme per NERC PRC-005",
"affected_nodes": [
"protection_relay:671001:head",
"protection_relay:671002:head"
],
"test_standards": [
"NERC PRC-005-6 Table 1",
"IEEE C37.90",
"SEL-351-7R Application Guide"
]
}
},
{
"validation_type": "data_validation",
"validation_meta": {
"description": "Protection coordination study re-run - firmware timing characteristic changes require re-verification of zone settings and scheme parameters",
"affected_nodes": [
"protection_scheme:671040:head"
],
"regulatory_basis": "NERC PRC-027-1 R1"
}
},
{
"validation_type": "automated_test",
"validation_meta": {
"description": "SCADA DNP3 point remapping - new firmware register addresses for relay status, trip counters, and fault event records across 5 telemetry points",
"affected_nodes": [
"scada_point:671080:head"
]
}
},
{
"validation_type": "checklist",
"validation_meta": {
"description": "Outage safety plan - de-energize Northfield Bay 3 during relay replacement, verify backup protection scheme activation, issue switching order SO-NF-2026-041",
"affected_nodes": [
"maintenance_order:671120:head"
]
}
}
],
"proposed_external_acknowledgements": [
{
"target_type": "RELIABILITY_COORDINATOR",
"target_id": 3401,
"reason": "Outage window notification required per NERC IRO-017 - Northfield 138kV bus differential protection unavailable during relay firmware upgrade"
}
]
}POST Estimate outage impact
Estimate NRE costs (asset changes, documentation updates, replanning) and recurring impact (maintenance cost deltas, outage probability changes) with min/likely/max uncertainty bounds.
POST /api/v1/change-controls/{id}/cost-estimateResponse
{
"estimate_id": 2087,
"impact_analysis_run_id": 671,
"line_items": [
{
"cost_driver_type": "nre",
"description": "Protection relay acceptance testing - 8 SEL-351-7R units, NERC PRC-005 compliance verification, trip timing and fault record validation",
"quantity": 8,
"unit_rate": 4200,
"cost_phase": "nre",
"min_cost": 28000,
"likely_cost": 33600,
"max_cost": 42000,
"confidence": 0.88
},
{
"cost_driver_type": "nre",
"description": "Protection coordination study re-run - Northfield 138kV bus differential scheme, zone settings re-verification per NERC PRC-027",
"quantity": 1,
"unit_rate": 38000,
"cost_phase": "nre",
"min_cost": 32000,
"likely_cost": 38000,
"max_cost": 48000,
"confidence": 0.78
},
{
"cost_driver_type": "nre",
"description": "SCADA DNP3 point remapping and validation - 5 telemetry points, control center database update, historian re-configuration",
"quantity": 5,
"unit_rate": 3800,
"cost_phase": "nre",
"min_cost": 15000,
"likely_cost": 19000,
"max_cost": 24000,
"confidence": 0.82
},
{
"cost_driver_type": "nre",
"description": "Switching order preparation, safety plan development, backup protection scheme activation, and reliability coordinator notification per NERC IRO-017",
"quantity": 1,
"unit_rate": 22000,
"cost_phase": "nre",
"min_cost": 18000,
"likely_cost": 22000,
"max_cost": 28000,
"confidence": 0.85
},
{
"cost_driver_type": "nre",
"description": "NERC PRC-005 maintenance interval documentation update, protection scheme one-line diagrams, relay settings database revision",
"quantity": 1,
"unit_rate": 11400,
"cost_phase": "nre",
"min_cost": 8500,
"likely_cost": 11400,
"max_cost": 15000,
"confidence": 0.8
},
{
"cost_driver_type": "recurring",
"description": "Per-cycle maintenance cost reduction - SEL-351-7R extended self-test interval reduces annual relay testing labor",
"quantity": 1,
"unit_rate": -1800,
"cost_phase": "recurring",
"min_cost": -2200,
"likely_cost": -1800,
"max_cost": -1200,
"confidence": 0.72,
"justification": "If the upgraded SEL-351-7R and its monitoring/alarming implementation qualifies as 'monitored microprocessor' under PRC-005-6 Table 1, the maximum maintenance interval extends from 6 years to 12 years"
}
],
"nre_range": {
"min": 101500,
"likely": 124000,
"max": 157000
},
"recurring_range": {
"min": -2200,
"likely": -1800,
"max": -1200,
"currency": "USD",
"description": "Per-cycle recurring maintenance cost reduction from extended relay self-test intervals"
},
"schedule_impact": {
"min_schedule_days": 21,
"likely_schedule_days": 30,
"max_schedule_days": 45,
"critical_path_nodes": [
"protection_scheme:671040:head"
]
},
"confidence": 0.82,
"confidence_notes": "Estimate calibrated from your operational data. Coordination study duration and relay availability are the primary uncertainty drivers.",
"justification_summary": "Protection relay firmware upgrade SEL-351-7 → SEL-351-7R drives $124K NRE (relay acceptance testing across 8 units, coordination study re-run, SCADA remapping, outage planning, NERC documentation updates) with a $1,800/cycle recurring maintenance savings from extended self-test intervals. Coordination study completion is the critical path at 30 days."
}GET Export reliability graph
Export the full impact graph as JSON, CSV, or GraphML for integration with CMMS platforms or asset management systems.
GET /api/v1/impact-analysis-runs/{run_id}/export?format=graphmlPreview endpoints reflect the planned VGE surface. Final routes may adjust as the engine deploys to production.
FAQ
Common questions about Impact Intelligence for energy & utilities.
How does Impact Intelligence rank asset criticality?
Assets are tiered by operational criticality based on redundancy levels, historical failure rates, downstream dependencies, service impact, BES applicability, and CIP impact rating. Higher-criticality assets receive more conservative risk scoring for proposed changes.
Can it model outage risk before schedule changes?
Yes. Maintenance deferrals and schedule shifts are scored for outage probability based on asset criticality, time since last maintenance, historical failure patterns, available redundancy, and protection zone topology. Results include uncertainty ranges.
How are multi-site dependencies handled?
Assets, spare pools, crew capacity, and grid topology are modeled with site-specific edges. A change at one substation surfaces resource conflicts, spare pool impacts, crew scheduling dependencies, and protection zone effects across all connected sites.
Does it track compliance evidence completeness?
Yes. Inspection records, safety acknowledgements, maintenance evidence, and NERC compliance documentation are tracked as graph nodes. Changes that create evidence gaps or invalidate existing documentation are flagged with remediation timelines and audit risk scores.
What happens when a spare part becomes unavailable mid-change?
VGE detects the spare pool constraint as a change signal and computes the downstream impact: affected maintenance windows, cross-site inventory transfers, lead time delays, and emergency response readiness. The resulting verification pack highlights procurement and reallocation tasks with lead time context.
Can VGE preview grid topology impacts before asset changes?
Yes. Grid topology providers traverse circuit dependencies, protection zones, and redundancy paths. An asset change surfaces every affected circuit breaker, relay setting, load transfer scenario, and backup configuration with reliability metrics.
How are crew certifications and capacity constraints handled?
Crew providers map safety certifications, capacity limits, and training requirements to maintenance windows and inspection rounds. A schedule change surfaces crew conflicts, certification gaps, and capacity overruns with retraining timelines.
How does Impact Intelligence handle CIP-010 configuration change management?
When a change affects BES Cyber System configurations - relay firmware, SCADA point mappings, or EMS database entries - policy edges enforce CIP-010 requirements: baseline comparison, vulnerability assessment scope, and 35-day compliance window tracking. The verification pack flags which assets require updated baselines and which changes trigger a full vulnerability assessment.
Does PRC-005 maintenance interval classification affect impact scoring?
Yes. Protective relay nodes carry their PRC-005-6 classification - unmonitored (6-year maximum interval) or monitored microprocessor (12-year maximum interval, contingent on meeting defined monitoring attributes). When a relay upgrade changes this classification, Impact Intelligence recalculates downstream maintenance schedule impacts and flags documentation updates for the new interval basis.
Does it integrate with existing CMMS or asset management systems?
Impact Intelligence runs on your EquatorOps operational data. Results export as JSON, CSV, or GraphML for integration with CMMS platforms (Maximo, SAP PM), GIS systems, outage management systems, and NERC compliance portals.