Engineering Excellence in Utility Undergrounding
July 14-16, 2020 | Chicago, IL, USA
For registration details and multiple attendee discounts, please contact:
Jeremy Wise
jeremywi@marcusevansch.com
Interested? Do you feel you will benefit?
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LOCATION
CHICAGO, IL
ABOUT THE INTERVIEW
As an expert speaker at the Engineering Excellence in Utility Undergrounding Conference, you are speaking on standardizing methods for grounding cables, why is this important for utilities to increase operational processes?
Standardizing designs and processes has the benefit of increasing QA/QC by reducing project-specific calculations, whose many variables can sometimes either change or be overlooked. Thus, the product is ensured to be appropriate for the application and thereby increases reliability.
What are the benefits to enhance testing methods? What challenges do current testing methods cause?
With the science that goes into the design of cables and cable systems evolving so fast, we do not have the benefit of operating these assets for their expected design lives. This makes accelerated testing imperative to prove expectations will be met. We are in a continuous state of learning more through operational experience, which then feeds back into testing requirements. Grounding requirements are an area critical to correct system operation that is currently undergoing significant design qualification requirements, based on field experience.
What strategies is your organization applying to improve the design and structure of grounding cables?
Operational history is showing us the current requirements for grounding designs are insufficient. Link boxes and SVLs make up a very important part of this system are we are working to ensure their proper operation through testing requirements for increased levels of water tightness, routine inspection and testing of SVLs and ensuring proper maximum lengths of bonding cables.
Where do you suspect Eversource Energy’s undergrounding program and process will be in 1 year? What about 5 years?
Eversource has a very large underground network, which is comprised of a significant amount of HPFF cable. Throughout the next several years we will be working on many initiatives to rebuild circuits using newer technology, helping to improve system reliability.
What are you most excited about for the Engineering Excellence in Utility Undergrounding Conference?
I am most excited to meet members from other utilities and learn from how they are addressing similar challenges. Conferences are a great opportunity to learn about both problems and solutions you may not have known of otherwise. The more we can get out ahead of problems and the less we need to reinvent the wheel, the more we are able to maintain a reliable system.
Prior to the Engineering Excellence in Utility Undergrounding Conference in Chicago, we spoke to Cory Liu, Manager, Underground Transmission Line Engineering at Eversource Energy.
Cory Liu will be one of our expert speakers!
Enhancing Operations through Standardized Methods for Grounding Cables
•Analyzing the current requirements for link boxes to determine the sufficiency
•Minimizing issues through upgraded testing methods
•Strategizing ways to improve the current design to reduce water damage
•Evaluating options to progress and improve for the future
