Grid elements and hierarchy

The elements on the map, how they connect, and what to call them

When you open Explore, the map draws the distribution grid as a set of grid elements — the physical pieces of the network that come from your utility's GIS: sources, transformers, lines, switches, and service points.

Element types#

Name in Texture	Description
Source	The substation at the head of the local network. Also labeled Substation in other parts of the dashboard; the map layer is Sources.
Feeder	The circuit leaving the substation. In the grid model it is the overcurrent device at the feeder bay.
Transformer	The distribution transformer that steps voltage down toward members.
Overcurrent device	Protection on the line, including reclosers, breakers, and fuses. A feeder is an overcurrent device that also serves as a bay.
Switch, regulator, capacitor	Sectionalizing, voltage-regulating, and VAR equipment on the feeder.
Overhead / underground line	Conductors. The three-phase backbone renders first at lower zoom levels, and laterals fill in as you zoom further.
Support structure	Poles and other structures that carry conductors.
Consumer	The GIS service point for a load meter.
Generator	The GIS service point for a production meter, such as a solar installation.
Meter	The AMI device itself. Search and the device page refer to meters, while the consumer and generator layers represent the same meter number as it appears in GIS.

A site with generation can carry both a consumer and a generator service point, and often two meters at one address, which is expected rather than a duplicate record. See Look up a member or site.

Grid hierarchy#

Every grid element connects back to a substation through a chain of elements. Power flows from the substation outward to meters:

Source (substation)
  └─ Feeder
       └─ Transformer
            └─ Consumer or generator (service point)
                 └─ Meter (device)

Between a feeder and a transformer there are often intermediate elements — lines, switches, regulators, and other overcurrent devices — that the tree above omits for clarity.

Naming inconsistencies to know#

Three names in the dashboard are easy to confuse:

Source on the map and Substation elsewhere in the dashboard are the same object.
Consumer and Generator are the GIS layer names for service points; when you search for the same asset, it appears as a meter.
Feeder is not a separate category in the data model — it is the overcurrent device at the head of the circuit, labeled that way in the UI for clarity.

To locate these elements on the map and inspect what sits beneath them, see Find and inspect an asset.