Embassy Suites Hotel & Spa
800 Monroe Street SW
Huntsville, AL 35801

256.539.7373 or 1.800.EMBASSY (362.2779)

TVPPA’s room block at Huntsville Embassy is sold out.

Contact TVPPA and ask to be placed on our waiting list. If you need to CANCEL a reservation, do so through TVPPA instead of the hotel. We will match canceled rooms with those in need. Call 423.648.2466 or e-mail conferences@tvppa.com.

OVERFLOW LODGING AVAILABLE:
TVPPA has arranged a block of rooms across the street at Holiday Inn. Group code is “AEO”. Reserve online at here or call 1-800-465-4329.

Wednesday, Aug. 20

Pre-Conference Seminar
Embassy Suites Meeting Room "A"

Engineering Basics: Formulas, Rules of Thumb, System Calculations & Using TVPPA's Yellow Book
Panel of experienced utility engineers will lead this informal discussion. No registration fee required.

Continental Breakfast,
South Ballroom Exhibit Area

New Computerized Maintenance Management System
This TVPPA R&D project has developed a software package for preventive maintenance scheduling, planning and tracking management activities of substations, line re-closers and regulators, using customized, web-based PC software. The system will store detailed information, including equipment nameplate data, maintenance schedule, completed inspection forms, single-line diagrams, field test records, dissolved gas analysis, and historical data of inspected equipment. Joe McCarter, (left) Appalachian Electric Cooperative, and Kenny Kidner, (right) Johnson City, TN, Power Board, will provide an overview.

TRANSFORMERS: DOE Efficiency Standards
& Calculating Total Ownership Costs
Transformers manufactured on or after January 1, 2010, must meet a DOE efficiency standard. Alan Wilks, Chief Technical Officer for ERMCO transformers, Dyersburg, TN, will cover details of the final DOE rule, its effect on transformer designs, resulting impact on utility costs, whether loss evaluation formulas should be abandoned, and the biggest issues moving forward.

Calculating Joint Use Pole Strength
& Clearance Requirements
Utilities historically used “rules of thumb” to size poles. Today’s increased legal liability and the sharing of pole space with other utility services mean pole owners must take greater steps to assure compliance with the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC). Malcom Young, co-founder of PowerLine Technology, Inc. and an authority on NESC, will provide an overview of classing poles and calculating clearances. He’ll demonstrate software to model a distribution pole with power supply and communication cables added, and show how the addition of cables can overload a pole.

In-the-Truck Technology For Field Crews
New technology and software are streamlining mobile dispatching and vehicle tracking. Benefits include less paper, enhanced productivity, improved accuracy and faster response during an emergency. Keith Wheeler, (left) Nashville, TN, Electric Service, will report on its system. Chuck Underwood, CPT, (right) Jackson, TN, Energy Authority, will cover the combination of software JAX Energy is using. Each will share how they picked their product(s), the interface with existing mainframe systems, what it costs, how the workforce adapted to the change and other important points.

New Diesel Fuel Standards & Effects On Your Fleet
The “green” movement is affecting the engines and fuels used in utility motor fleets. Adam Ackerman with Caterpillar, Inc. will cover current diesel emission standards and engine technology. You’ll hear about particulate filters, types of filter regeneration and the configuration of filters. He will also cover fuels (ULSD) and oils (C-J-4) required, as well as proper maintenance for today’s engines and filters. Adam will close with an overview of stricter emission standards going into effect for 2010.

Arc Flash Calculations & Effect On Clothing Requirements
“Effective January 1, 2009, the employer shall ensure that an assessment is performed to determine potential exposure to an electric arc for employees who work on or near energized parts or equipment.” That one sentence in the 2007 National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) has the entire utility industry scrambling. Jim Phillips, principal in the T2G Technical Training Group, will take you through relevant codes and standards, typical practices being used, FR clothing and PPE requirements, as well as various study methodologies to achieve compliance before the deadline.

Proper Accident Investigation
What are the steps in investigating an accident? Who should lead the investigation? How do you weigh the physical, environmental and psychological factors that could have influenced the accident? How can the root cause be determined? How should follow-up be handled? Mike Cornett, Safety Director, Huntsville, AL, Utilities will lead this session.

Merging Your Communications Technologies
Wouldn’t it be great (and make things easier) if you could merge your utility’s cell phone and radio technologies? Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation, headquartered in Murfreesboro, TN, accomplished this recently. Shawn Long, MTEMC telecommunications supervisor, will cover how they did it and answer your questions.

Security of Substations, Other Utility Facilities
Attendees at this session will receive an overview of utility-specific security needs and recommended measures. Session leader Michael Ray Russell, Memphis, TN, Light Gas & Water, will convey how to evaluate different types of threats and security issues, and design appropriate mitigation. Topics include access control, physical security, protection of isolated critical areas, and theft prevention. The increasing problem of copper theft will also be addressed.

Taking Your E&O Operation Paperless
Suffocating in that mountain of paper? With today’s technology, files, test reports, drawings, instruction manuals, hand-written documentation, photos, substation manuals and practically anything else can be linked, searched electronically, and displayed on your computer screen in minutes. Bart Borden, CPE, Engineering Manager, Cleveland, TN, Utilities, will share how this medium-size utility is going paperless – using portable documents, an intranet and other computer software. In a demonstration you’ll view an array of electronic documents, from paperless work orders to archived documents dating back to 1941.

Lineman's Perspective On Power Quality Fixes (panel)
Your linemen are “hands-on,” literally and figuratively, with your electric service. Through experience in all kinds of situations, they’ve developed fixes to many power problems encountered in the field. Robert (Butch) Carmichael, (left) foreman at Appalachian Electric Cooperative, and Richard Cogdell, CPSv, (right) service foreman with Jackson, TN, Energy Authority, will share these experiences – in the interest of aiding engineering and operations practices.

TVA Efficiency Initiative & Real-Time Pricing
A year ago TVA’s Board set the goal of becoming a leader in energy-saving initiatives. With a $36 million budget for the current fiscal year, the energy efficiency initiative is aimed at helping consumers use electricity more efficiently and shifting power use away from TVA’s peak demand times. The person earning the cape and given instructions to “save the day,” is Joe Hoagland, a 15-year TVA veteran, whose title is TVA Vice President of Energy Efficiency & Demand Response. He’ll share the strategy for accomplishing this ambitious mission.

Update: TVPPA R&D Projects
TVPPA Consulting Engineer Bruce Harvey, CPE, will report on a busy year, with 28 projects requested by TVPPA-member utilities. A major project was updating the Emergency Manual, completed in April. Another project of huge interest is the Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) study, which will aid distributors in selecting the best technology and implementation for their system. We’re also hoping to complete the E&O Bulletin Board, connecting utility professionals with resources and links to useful technical data.

Progress Report On Seven States Power Corp.
TVPPA-member utilities have formed a cooperative that will jointly own electric generating units with TVA. It’s the first time in TVA’s 75-year history that its municipal and cooperative customers will have real equity ownership in our region’s power generating assets. Steve Adams, Project Manager, will report on the progress to date with this new venture.

Your Sixth Sense
Change results in stress, which is harmful to your health and hardens the attitudes. Dr. Dale Henry believes your sense of humor can be a “sixth sense” in overcoming stress. He’s the founder and president of Your Best Unlimited, based in Kingston, TN. Dr. Dale speaks to more than 100,000 professionals a year, including most companies in the Fortune 50. Although he believes in the importance of laughter, Dr. Dale’s brand of “edutainment” always delivers a strong message packed with useful tools.