Esri released ArcGIS Pro 3.7 on May 14, 2026, introducing capabilities that reduce the need to duplicate maps, provide earlier insight into potential performance issues, and speed up common workflows . The update arrives as energy companies face mounting pressure to digitize aging infrastructure and integrate distributed energy resources into increasingly complex networks.
The shift to .NET 10 represents the most fundamental technical change in ArcGIS Pro 3.7 , affecting both core application performance and third-party development workflows. For organizations with custom tools built on previous frameworks, that means auditing code libraries and planning migration paths. ArcGIS Pro 3.7 and ArcGIS Enterprise 12.1 together serve as the 2026 network management release , the annual platform update that utility companies rely on for long-term support and stability.
The timing matters. The World Geospatial Industry Council's Horizons 2026 event in London on June 2 brought together leadership voices from technology, infrastructure, climate, law, academia, energy, and public service , underscoring a broader shift: geospatial is no longer a supporting capability hidden behind maps and specialist workflows—it is a strategic layer that underpins decisions about infrastructure, resilience, climate risk, mobility, energy systems, AI, and public trust .
Can Utility Networks Finally Replace Paper Maps?
At BP's Whiting refinery near Chicago, the firewater system was managed on paper maps with pins until Cherie Southwick, a geospatial technology engineer at BP, brought it into the ArcGIS Utility Network to simulate water flow and pressure from input pumps to every hydrant—what once meant highlighting lines on a paper map and manually coordinating valve closures now takes a single click . The goal is extending the capability to BP's other refineries globally, according to presentations at the 2026 Energy Resources GIS Conference in Houston.
ArcGIS Pro 3.7 redesigns the Find Subnetworks pane with a focus on streamlining important workflows and providing more control over how you find and work with subnetworks in your utility network . According to Esri's utility network documentation, the 2026 Network Management Release brings improved performance for large-scale networks—energy companies managing tens of thousands of assets across service territories can now run network analysis operations faster than in previous versions .
The practical impact shows up in outage response. Duquesne Light Company in Pittsburgh lacked an effective connected system model to support its outage management system and other digital systems until it utilized ArcGIS Utility Network and Schneider Electric's ArcFM Solution XI Series products to establish a robust connection model . Teams in distribution planning, engineering, streetlight management, and metering now utilize ArcGIS Utility Network information for analytics via the Azure platform, and other departments can extract data in real time from the Azure environment—this has eliminated the manual process and the need to request data extracts .
Network tracing allows operators to model how outages propagate through interconnected systems or identify which customers would be affected by maintenance work on specific assets. The Trace and Export Subnetwork tools now provide options to include subnetwork-based flow direction and propagated values in the output JSON when running a trace or exporting a subnetwork—information designed to support integrating the network model with external systems .
What Does Python Automation Actually Look Like?
Customizable toolbars in ArcGIS Pro 3.7 enable users to cut down on tab switching and extra clicks by tailoring toolbars to include the tools and actions used most frequently—especially helpful when views are undocked from the main application and dragged to another monitor . But the real productivity gains come from scripting repetitive workflows.
Python scripting makes it possible to automate workflows in ArcGIS Pro, such as determining the number of features for all feature classes in a workspace . Energy companies use Python to batch-process field data, update network models, and generate compliance reports. Every exploration program needs a single source of truth before anything else can scale—when core layers live in multiple folders and coordinate systems, teams spend more time reconciling data than interpreting it, so start by standing up a project geodatabase or web GIS with consistent schema, metadata, coordinate systems, and versioning, then publish core layers so everyone is working from the same foundation .
Mining companies face similar challenges. Modern GIS in mining delivers a robust suite of features and workflows tailored for each stage in the mine lifecycle, supporting everything from early-stage exploration to post-closure environmental stewardship by integrating high-resolution satellite imagery, airborne gravimetry, LiDAR, and drone-derived topography for geological analysis . Field teams plan field visits, sample sites, and access routes, then load offline maps for no-service areas and use mobile forms for consistent capture of samples, outcrops, structural measurements, photos, and observations .
The ArcPy module provides programmatic access to geoprocessing tools, allowing scripts to execute spatial analysis, manage data, and automate map production. For organizations managing pipeline corridors or transmission rights-of-way spanning hundreds of miles, Python scripts can generate consistent map products across project areas without manual intervention.
