Apr

11-13

Overhead Underground Electric Distribution (Apr 11-13)

Electric utility professionals meet to discuss current standards, materials and maintenance for mainly distribution operations. Agendas feature extensive roundtable discussion so that each delegate has an opportunity to submit questions and receive feedback from their peers. Presentations focus on new technologies, applications, and specifications available for designing, building and maintaining overhead and underground lines. Case studies highlight best practices and lessons learned, and attendees leave with the practical knowledge to improve efficiency, safety and reduce costs.

General Details

  • Program Chair(s)
  • Tyler Reinitz, PE T&D Standards, Snohomish County PUD

    • Program Location
    • Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport
    • 4300 E Washington, Phoenix, Arizona 85034
    • Who Should Attend
      • Standards engineers
      • Design engineers
      • Line technicians and engineers
      • Reliability and quality testers
      • T&D supervisors and suppliers
      • Operations and maintenance managers
      • Suppliers of distribution and substation products and services
  • Registration Options
  • Member: $749 USD
    Non-Member: $1,399 USD

    Registration prices increase $100 after March 20, 2023. Registration includes attendance to all presentations, roundtable sessions, vendor area, comprehensive meeting materials and all food events. Guest tickets are available for $100 and allow for a personal guest (a spouse or partner who does not work in the energy industry) to accompany a registered attendee at the event. Guest registration includes all meals and receptions.

    For details about vendor registrations please check the Vendor Displays tab.

  • General Cancellation Policy
  • Due to contractual obligations, cancellations received 15 business days prior to the program will receive a full refund. Cancellations received 6 to 14 business days prior to the event will receive a refund, less a $100 administrative fee. No shows and last minute cancellations, 5 business days prior to the event or less, will be responsible for the full registration fee. Substitutions from your organization for the same event are always welcome.
  • Participation Policy
  • Western Energy Institute programs and events are open to energy companies (including gas production and electric generation, gas and electric transmission and gas and electric distribution utilities). Select programs and events are open to energy industry product and service suppliers. Programs and events are closed to all media representatives and to the general public. Recording is not permitted for any portion of the event.
  • For more information contact Traci Pepper, Program Manager at (971) 303-1004.

Agenda

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

12:00 PM - 3:30 PM

SRP Sustainable Solutions and Investment Recovery Facility Tour

SRP has adopted aggressive waste diversion goals for office and industrial waste. The Sustainable Solutions department was created in 2019 to shift standard Investment Recovery practices to the Circular Supply Chain model. The facility houses several warehouses for repurposing spare parts, line hardware and an advanced conductor chopping operation to reclaim copper and aluminum.

4:45 PM - 5:30 PM

Registration

5:30 PM - 6:30 PM

Welcome Reception

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

7:30 AM - 8:00 AM

Registration + Breakfast

8:00 AM - 8:15 AM

Welcome

8:15 AM - 8:30 AM

Keynote
Speaker(s): Tony Tewelis, Vice President, Transmission & Distribution Operations, Arizona Public Service Company

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

Major Overhead/Underground Conversion for Zero Lot Line Development
Speaker(s): Andra Flaherty, Principal Engineer, Snohomish County PUD

Highlights and lessons learned from a project that converted ¾ mile of 12.47kV overhead distribution feeder to underground. The project involved installing 30,000 feet of underground 1100kcmil feeder, 10,000 feet 1/0 underground URD cable, 27 junction vaults and 10 units of fully submersible underground switchgear.

9:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Vendor Platform

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Networking Break with Vendors

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Capacitor Banks
Speaker(s): Bret Staker, Regional Sales Manager – NW Region, Hubbell

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Lunch with Vendors

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Supply Chain Panel Discussion
Panelist(s): Tyler Reinitz, Principal Engineer, T&D Standards, Snohomish County PUD, Jeff Budke, Principal Engineer, Electric Distribution Standards, Avista Corp., Rick Stark, Senior Engineer, Idaho Power Company, Craig Davis, Senior Vice President, Potelco Inc.

A panel discussion centering around responses and lessons learned in relation to the ongoing supply chain disruption in utility materials and equipment. Panelists will provide a brief presentation of actions and approaches taken by their respective companies in response to navigating the current purchasing and supply environment. Q&A discussion with the panelists will follow.

2:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Networking Break with Vendors

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Overhead/Underground Practices Product and safety Roundtable

Submit your roundtable questions to be included in the Practices, Product and Safety Roundtable discussions.  Your questions will be compiled by area of interest and presented at the roundtable sessions, which includes supporting information or documentation necessary. Questions can be emailed directly to Joe Koch at jdkoch@clarkpud.com  ​​​​​​

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Reception with Vendors

Thursday, April 13, 2023

7:30 AM - 8:00 AM

Breakfast with Vendors

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Ufer Grounding System Presentation/Study Results
Speaker(s): William Hillary, P.Eng. Distribution Engineer – Standards and Projects, FortisBC

Traditional grounding and bonding, using ground rods can be challenging in areas with poor earth resistivity and when space is at a premium.  Concrete encased grounding electrodes or Ufer Grounding can be an effective way to overcome the space limitations and perform as good as a traditional counterpoise in the short term and better in the long term.  This session will discuss the chemistry, electrical characteristics and implementation strategies as applied in concrete.

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Transformer Loading Analysis
Speaker(s): Rick Stark, Senior Engineer, Idaho Power Company

Presentation demonstrating how to leverage AMI meter data to analyze (residential) transformer loads; and using the data to identify and act on overloaded distribution transformers. This method leverages advanced meters in combination with ambient temperature to cast a projection of transformer winding health.

10:00 AM - 10:45 AM

Networking Break with Vendors + Hotel Checkout

10:45 AM - 11:30 AM

Overhead/Underground Practices Product and safety Roundtable

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Lunch

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Single Phase Reclosers Panel
Panelist(s): Steve Pell, Global Product Manager – Outdoor Medium Voltage Systems, Siemens, Shantam Chavan, ABB Inc., Bret Staker, Regional Sales Manager – NW Region, Hubbell

Join this session as multiple manufacturers of single-phase reclosing devices are provided dedicated time to display, describe features and answer questions one their offering.

2:00 PM - 2:15 PM

Networking Break

2:15 PM - 3:45 PM

Underground/ Overhead Practices, Product, and Safety Roundtable

3:45 PM - 4:00 PM

Planning Future Topics

4:00 PM - 4:15 PM

Closing Comments/Meeting Adjourns

4:15 PM - 5:15 PM

Wrap Up Meeting

PDT members and those interested in planning the Fall 2023 meeting

Hotel + Travel

  • Reservation Instructions
  • Please contact the hotel directly at (855) 729-6011 to reserve your room. Identify yourself as being with Western Energy Institute (WEI) to receive a special rate of $189 USD/night. This rate is guaranteed until March 10, 2023 or until the WEI room block is full.

Vendor Displays

Registration Options
Member Attendee + Vendor Display Table: $1,348 USD
Non-Member Attendee + Vendor Display Table: $2,298 USD
Member Vendor Table Only: $699 USD
Non-Member Vendor Table Only: $1,649 USD

Member Attendee + Vendor Display Table registration prices increase $100 after March 20, 2023. Attendee + Vendor Registration includes all meeting materials and sessions, you as the main Vendor Display representative, one (1) 6-foot skirted Vendor display table, Vendor Platform presentation, all meals and receptions. Guest tickets are available for $100 and allow for a personal guest (a spouse or partner who does not work in the energy industry) to accompany a registered attendee at the event. Guest registration includes all meals and receptions.

Vendor Display Table Only Registration includes you as the main Vendor Display representative, one (1) 6-foot skirted Vendor display table, Wednesday display events, Wednesday breaks, lunch, Vendor Platform, Wednesday evening Reception and dinner. Meeting attendance is not included. Vendors that wish to attend speaker presentations and roundtable sessions should register both as a vendor and as a delegate for this industry forum. See the Attendee + Vendor option.

Additional Vendor Display Assistants may be registered for $299 each once the main Vendor Display Table registration is completed by someone in your company. Vendor Display Assistants are entitled to all Wednesday display events, breaks, lunch, evening reception and dinner.

Vendor Display Schedule
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Set Up: 6:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Display Times: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Tear Down: 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Vendor Platform: 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM
Break with Vendors: 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Lunch with Vendors: 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Break With Vendors: 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Reception and Dinner with Vendors: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Please note that it is expected that vendors and attendees will attend all functions including the reception on Wednesday evening. Please feel free to network on your own Tuesday evening after 6:30 PM and Wednesday after 7:00 PM.

Shipping Information
Shipments should not be shipped more than three (3) business days prior to your event. All packages must be labeled as follows:

WEI Vendor
Vendor Company and Contact Name
Start Date of Function: 4/11/2023
Box ___ of ___
C/o Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport
4300 E Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85034

Please contact Traci Pepper with any additional questions.

Program Sponsors

Thank you to our program sponsors!

Meet The Speakers

Steve Pell

Siemens

Global Product Manager – Outdoor Medium Voltage Systems
Learn More

Steve Pell is based in Brisbane, Australia, after spending more than 10 years working in the USA. Steve graduated from University of New South Wales with undergraduate and post graduate degrees in electrical engineering. His experience covers more than 20 years working with distribution utilities in the development and application of outdoor medium voltage reclosers and associated communications systems. He is currently Global Product Manager for Siemens outdoor medium voltage systems portfolio and works with utilities to ensure the technology supports the constantly evolving needs of overhead distribution networks around the world.

Tyler Reinitz

Snohomish County PUD

Principal Engineer, T&D Standards
Learn More

Tyler Reinitz is the Lead Standards Engineer at Snohomish County PUD. He has worked at SnoPUD for 13 years creating and maintaining Electric Distribution and Transmission Standards. When he’s not working he enjoys brewing beer and spending time outdoors with his wife and daughter.

Jeff Budke

Avista Corp.

Principal Engineer, Electric Distribution Standards
Learn More

Jeff Budke P.E. is a 1989 graduate from Eastern Washington University and is currently a Principal Engineer at Avista in Spokane, WA. Jeff joined Avista in 2014 and currently has over 20 years of utility industry experience. Jeff currently leads the Materials and Construction Standards Group.

Rick Stark

Idaho Power Company

Senior Engineer
Learn More

Rick is a Senior Engineer in the Methods & Materials (a.k.a. “distribution standards”) group at Idaho Power. He joined the company and group in 2011. Prior to that Rick was a consulting engineer for 18 years at both CSHQA in Boise, ID and Stanley Consultants in Minneapolis, MN. Rick also is the Chairman of the Idaho Electrical Board representing power supply companies on the Board. In his spare time, Rick enjoys keeping up with family activities and photography when he has time.

Craig Davis

Potelco Inc.

Senior Vice President
Learn More

Operations Manager. In 1999 he was promoted to VP of Operations and Chief Operations Officer and served in that role until 2012 when he was promoted to Senior Vice-President. In his current role Craig’s primary focus is on business development and customer relations. He represents Potelco in several industry associations including the Northwest Public Power Association, Western Energy Institute and Western LAMPAC.

Craig started his career at Seattle City Light where he served his apprenticeship until becoming a journeyman lineman in 1974. He worked in the line trade until 1987 and held several management positions at Puget Sound Energy before coming to Potelco.

Steve Pell

Siemens

Global Product Manager – Outdoor Medium Voltage Systems
Learn More

Steve Pell is based in Brisbane, Australia, after spending more than 10 years working in the USA. Steve graduated from University of New South Wales with undergraduate and post graduate degrees in electrical engineering. His experience covers more than 20 years working with distribution utilities in the development and application of outdoor medium voltage reclosers and associated communications systems. He is currently Global Product Manager for Siemens outdoor medium voltage systems portfolio and works with utilities to ensure the technology supports the constantly evolving needs of overhead distribution networks around the world.

Shantam Chavan

ABB Inc.

Bret Staker

Hubbell

Regional Sales Manager – NW Region
Learn More

From Las Vegas, received my BS and MS in Power Engineering from University of Nevada. I spend a two year intern (while working on my masters Thesis) with Sierra Pacific (Nevada Energy). Air Force Pilot select, which ended when peace broke out, yes that happened at one point. Joined Hughes Aircraft and worked on Strategic Satellite programs for 2 ½ years, then joined GM Hughes and work on the first commercial EV, the GM EV1 for 5 ½ years. Been in the electrical utility space for 21 years, which main lines worked – Megger, SEL, Itron, Hubbell, Cooper. This is my second round with Hubbell, when Beckwith Electric was purchased by Hubbell in 2020.

Tony Tewelis

Arizona Public Service Company

Vice President, Transmission & Distribution Operations
Learn More

Tony Tewelis is vice president of transmission and distribution for Arizona Public Service (APS). Based in Phoenix, APS is Arizona’s largest energy company which serves more than 1.3 million customers around the state.

Tewelis is responsible for safe, reliable, and efficient operation of the company’s energy delivery function, which includes engineering, construction, system operations and maintenance of the transmission and distribution systems. He has considerable experience in advanced grid technologies, advanced operational platforms, and integration of renewables and distributed energy resources.
Tewelis previously served as general manager of transmission and distribution operations and maintenance. His experience at APS also includes director roles in statewide delivery, distribution operations and maintenance, and technology innovation and integration. Prior to joining the company in 2008, he held key management roles at the American Transmission Company and Alliant Energy.
Tewelis currently serves on the Northern Arizona University Foundation and Western Energy Institute (WEI) boards, as well as Edison Electric Institute’s National Response Executive Committee.

Tewelis earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh, as well as a Master of Business Administration, and a Graduate Certificate in Project Management from the Keller Graduate School of Management.

William Hillary

FortisBC

P.Eng. Distribution Engineer – Standards and Projects
Learn More

Will Hillary has been working in Distribution Engineering since 2011 and a Professional Engineer since 2015.

He has experience in Project Management, System Rebuild Programs, Standards, Overhead and Underground Systems.

He was a member of the AEUC Working Group Committee from 2017 to 2022.

Andra Flaherty

Snohomish County PUD

Principal Engineer