Transforming wind farm management to reduce costs and delays

The Challenge

As Arizona's largest wind farm, seamless real-time collaboration among stakeholders and a steadfast commitment to quality and safety are imperative. Brian Hoesman, Senior Project Manager for AES, underscores the importance of catching mistakes early to prevent costly errors downstream: "If there is a mistake and it propagates through 6, 7 towers, that’s ultimately more expensive and more timely to correct.” Moreover, due to the wind farm’s remote location communication is hindered by spotty cell service and limited mobile networks.

The Solution

“There’s a lot of documentation with these projects and there’s a lot of stakeholders,” says Brian, “Procore to me, is the easiest way to combine all of that information into one hub that everyone has access to.” There is never a question if stakeholders are acting on the most current and accurate information, as Brian states, "We call Procore the truth." Additionally, he notes, "We create a lot of data, and it lives in Procore. Once the project is over, the GC doesn’t really care what happens to it after construction. Whereas the owner, we’ve got the wind farm for the next 25 years."

The Results

• Saved time and costs by standardizing repetitive tasks with Procore, significantly reducing steps in the RFI process
• Enabled collaboration among dispersed teams by allowing all stakeholders access to job books and streamlined communication
• Overcame connectivity issues by using Procore's mobile features to conduct inspections offline and sync data when back online

Powering Success at Arizona's Largest Wind Farm

In the expansive landscape of one of Arizona's oldest cattle ranches, Chevelon Butte Ranch, AES initiated a groundbreaking project—the Chevelon Butte Wind Farm—led by Senior Project Manager Brian Hoesman. This 454 MW wind energy facility in Coconino and Navajo Counties aims to be Arizona's largest wind energy project, benefitting local customers with clean, affordable power.

A Faster, Smarter Approach to Wind Project Excellence

Procore has been instrumental in transforming Brian’s approach to wind project management, optimizing communication, and standardizing processes. The success of Brian and his team during the initial phase of the Chevelon Butte project not only led to an invitation to share their achievements and best practices across the AES organization but also sparked interest in expanding Procore to other company builds.

In advocating for Procore, Brian encourages his colleagues to challenge the status quo, emphasizing that while current processes may seem effective, Procore offers a superior alternative: "It’s easier. It's quicker. It's better than what you're doing now." Though change can seem daunting, Brian highlights, "Procore is really simple to understand. You can go from never having seen it before to fully operational with very little instruction." It’s such a versatile platform, Brian says, “Anything you need, Procore has a solution that could apply.”