Thursday, July 1, 2021     

Presiding

Bobby Hawthorne, Alabama Power - Chairman

10:30 – 10:35

A Message from our Session Sponsor - Lewis Tree

10:35 – 10:40

Welcome, Safety and Leadership Moment
Bobby Hawthorne, Alabama Power

10:40 – 11:20

EPRI Vehicle Grounding and Personnel Protection
Tom Short, EPRI

11:20 – 11:50

Smart Neighborhood
Steve Daniel, Principal Engineer - Alabama Power
A residential neighborhood of 62 advanced energy efficient homes served by an underground distribution system plus 300kVA solar/battery/generator microgrid. The microgrid provides uninterrupted service via instantaneous islanding when necessary due to utility service outages.

11:50 – 12:30

Save a Truck; Ride the Mesh - Remotely Verify New Services with AMI Data
Jeff Dargan, Duke Energy

12:30 – 2:00

LUNCH BREAK

2:00 – 3:00

2020 Storm Season in Review
Facilitated by Colby Gravatt, CenterPoint Energy
Hurricane Isaias – Randy Coleman, FirstEnergy and Alan Bradshaw, Dominion Energy
Hurricane Laura – Billy Blaylock and James Woods, Entergy
The S.E.E. Mutual Assistance Committee will be presenting on the first pandemic mutual assistance response to First Energy and Dominion Energy with Hurricane Isaias. Following the first major event of the 2020 season, Entergy will present on the largest event of the season, Hurricane Laura.

3:00 – 4:00

Storm Restoration 101 from a Joint Use Perspective
Allen Bell and David Maske, Georgia Power
Originally there were only two parties involved in pole replacement during storm restoration, the electric utility and the local phone company. When the phone line fell, many times it still worked. Today some poles have the traditional copper bundles from the telephone era; fiber optic cable owned by cable companies providing service to cell towers and broadband customers; and wireless antennas on transmission poles, distribution poles and lighting poles. The question after a storm is which comes first, the communication or the power? It's essential to understand before a storm how and where the response for electric utilities and communication companies will be coordinated.

4:00 – 4:30

Vegetation Management
Iliana Rentz, Florida Power & Light

4:30

Adjourn

Friday, July 2, 2021  

Presiding

Ray Klopfenstein, OG&E – Incoming Chairman

10:00 – 10:05

A Message from our Session Sponsor – Beta Engineering

10:00 – 10:05

Call to Order and Opening Remarks
Presiding Officer – Ray Klopfenstein, OG&E – Incoming Chairman

10:05 – 11:00

Broadband Deployment / Historical Background and Current Status of FCC vs. Electric Utilities
Pam Ellis, Director Distribution Engineering Services - American Electric Power and Allen Bell, Georgia Power, recently retired Joint Use Manager
Pole attachments continue to be regulated at the Federal Communications Commission for many investor-owned utilities.  Since the 1996 Telecom Act this regulation has grown to include joint use agreements that were originally excluded in the Telecom Act and wireless facilities on the tops of our poles which weren't even envisioned in 1996.  Often viewed as a barrier to the deployment of broadband by the FCC, electric utilities can play a key role in providing access to facilities such as lighting poles for wireless facilities and middle mile fiber for broadband deployment.  The question that needs to be answered is, "Is the FCC the best forum to accomplish this goal or is a State Regulatory Agency a better forum?

11:00 – 11:05

Stretch Break

11:05 – 11:50

TEC LED Conversion Program
Marney Murin/Art Bosshart, Tampa

11:50 – 12:00

Closing Comments and Adjourn