[QGIS-Developer] Seeking QGIS energy/utilities workflows & linear referencing use cases

[Régis Haubourg]

Hi Josh,
 From my experience, many network utilities management applications are 
deployed using QGIS.  From wastewater to optical networks, I've seen 
every thematic field covered.
The full power is released when relying on a postgis database that will 
allow to push strong network topology rules and business rules in the 
database model.
This way, you can play with various web, desktop or mobile clients.
QGIS is especially strong by its ability to open long transactions and 
evaluate all database trigger functions on the fly.  Paris Waste water 
application for instance uses extensively linear referencing to locate 
different equipment.  Moving or creating those events is extremly simple 
and performant when interacting with database functions.
The whole topology of the network is also rebuilt and constrained by the 
database, which makes it a lot more robust for users, who have a lot 
less data validation steps to do in the client side.

PyQGIS is interesting and can carry a good part of the business logic, 
but you will invest a lot in only QGIS desktop client. You will have to 
reimplement similar rules in a web environnement if you also use QGIS 
server, or Android mobile apps (Qfield / Mergin for instance).
This can be probably achievable also with other database like Oracle, 
but transaction handling will be less powerful as the main traction is 
around postgis .
All the best
Régis

On 1/22/26 18:39, Josh Otwell via QGIS-Developer wrote:
>
> Hello QGIS Developers,
>
> I’m looking for input on additional QGIS + Python use cases that are 
> especially valuable in the energy/utilities sector, beyond the GIS/GDB 
> editing and general geoprocessing I’m already doing.
>
> My goal is to avoid a “tool-first” mindset and instead understand 
> where QGIS truly shines (or where plugins / PyQGIS automation can add 
> the most leverage) for linear infrastructure workflows—pipelines, 
> electric lines, fiber, and related asset data.
>
> In particular, I’m very interested in linear referencing approaches 
> where point features can be automatically ordered and assigned 
> stationing/measure values along a line or route. If there are 
> established patterns, recommended plugins, or PyQGIS examples you’ve 
> found reliable for this, I’d appreciate any pointers.
>
> More broadly, I’d welcome examples of:
>
>  *
>
>     Common utility/energy workflows where QGIS + PyQGIS provides a
>     strong advantage
>
>  *
>
>     Automation patterns you’ve seen work well for QA/QC, reporting, or
>     data synchronization
>
>  *
>
>     Any pitfalls or “gotchas” you’d suggest I watch for when building
>     scripted workflows
>
> Thanks in advance for any guidance or references you can share.
>
>
> Josh Otwell
> 318.243.2075
> josh.otwell at averylandservices.com
> Web and Systems Developer
>
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