Membership Initiative Begins
Terry Waters is Executive Director of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies.
AEIC's Cable Engineering Committee (CEC) met May 11 - 12, 2017 in San Diego, California. The Cable Engineering Committee monitors industry issues regarding underground cable systems and acts to address them whenever the need arises. The Committee is considered an industry watchdog.
The first two hours of the meeting were devoted to discussions with representatives of major manufacturers of electric underground cable. This collaborative meeting between the Cable Engineering Committee and manufacturers, called UPCSTAC, or Utility Power Cable Standards Technical Advisory Committee, is held at regular intervals throughout the year.
Its purpose is to discuss underground power cables and accessories that affect both manufacturers and electric utility users of power cables. The discussion generally centers around the manufacturers' standards and utilities' AEIC specifications and requirements for underground cables.
After the UPCSTAC meeting, the CEC held three breakout sessions, where smaller groups of CEC members develop the cable specifications and guides that are used worldwide. These specifications and guides may be purchased through AEIC's website, www.aeic.org.
Jon Erickson from San Diego Gas & Electric Company led a task group updating a guide for replacement and life extension of extruded cables. Mark Smith, Southern Company, chaired a task group composed of CEC members and high-voltage cable accessory manufacturers to discuss an AEIC specification that addresses XLPE transmission class cables.
Later, the entire Committee reconvened and welcomed five guests who are in various stages of pursuing membership on the committee. The CEC requires its members to have expertise in underground cable systems and to continually interact with the committee's task groups in producing specifications and guides.
Cable Engineering Committee officers Mark Smith from Southern Company, Arie Makovoz from Consolidated Edison, Inc., and Jason Fosse from Southern California Edison Company presented a new, long-range commitment. It stated that the Committee is undertaking to modify its operating procedures, inform others in the industry about the work of the CEC and engage younger engineers to participate in the work of the Committee.
As in many areas of the electric energy industry, senior level subject matter experts are retiring and must be replaced by a new generation of developing engineers. The CEC's new initiative is designed to serve this goal from today into the future.
On the final day of the meeting, the CEC welcomed four new members into the committee. They are Ed Bradley from Ameren, Stephen Daniel from Alabama Power, Iyad Dalloul from Public Service Electric & Gas and Tom Reitz from Dominion Power.
From left: Najwa Abouhassann, Detroit Edison; John Hans, Commonwealth Edison; Chris Poshard, Duquesne Light Company, discuss AEIC specifications.
The final segment of the meeting was given to sharing operating experiences among committee members. In this segment, committee members discuss significant projects at their utilities and share operating practices and equipment usage on these projects. This open sharing of operating situations and practices broadens the knowledge of each committee member and provides a group of subject matter experts that can be called on later.
The Cable Engineering Committee's next meeting will be held in November 2017 in Florida.
AEIC was founded by Thomas Edison and his associates in 1885. AEIC is one of the longest standing associations in the electric energy industry. AEIC encourages research and enables the exchange of technical information and best practices through a committee structure, staffed with experts from management of member companies, to solve challenges and create opportunities for electric utilities, worldwide.
