installing underground cables

Webinar Series: 21st-Century Costs of Undergrounding

This six-part webinar series with T&D World explores the 21st-Century Costs of Undergrounding. Each webinar is co-sponsored by one of our member companies.

Find a list of dates and topics below. Check back for updates, registration links, and access to archived webinars.

Part 1: Lowering Costs with the Technology to “See” Underground

Date: March 31, 2021

Co-sponsor: IMCORP

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Description: Ever wish you could drive by and see the condition of your underground cable systems? What if a technology existed to provide a foot-by-foot profile, pinpoint manufacturing and installation defects before the installers walk off site, and prevent millions of dollars in future operation and maintenance costs? What if the same technology could be used to assess the health of aged cable systems that have been damaged by extreme operating conditions. What if you had foot-by-foot asset condition knowledge to direct expenditures as part of a FERC-approved, all-capital program that can double or triple the life of existing assets and reduce costs by up to 70%? Learn about cutting-edge technology that has been proven to enable dramatically lower underground cable life-cycle costs. Review two decades of field experience encompassing 200 million feet of cable from 80 utilities in 17 countries providing powerful underground life-cycle cost insights.

Part 2: Materials Solutions Enable Value of Strategic Undergrounding

Date: April 28, 2021

Co-sponsor: Dow

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Description: Recent events involving power outages are redefining the value of reliability in power systems. Materials solutions can help provide long-life performance and lower total ownership costs over the life of the asset.

Join this April 28th webinar when Dow will share information validated by 3rd party data to learn more about value vs. price. Dow, a leading global provider of materials for both power and telecom cable applications, also will share information about Cable Tech, its online educational partnership with WPI, where you can advance your cable expertise.

Part 3: Underground Construction Strategies

Date: May 26, 2021

Co-sponsor: Haugland Energy

Registration Link

Description: Once papers are signed, life is given to a project. From there, the process from engineering to construction is a long road; often the two are viewed as separate paths, but coordination and communication throughout them is key to a project’s success.

Join the webinar on May 26th when Haugland Energy, a leader in electrical and civil construction, will share insight on this collaboration based on their extensive project experience. You will learn more about:

  • Constructability reviews
  • Early engagement between engineering and construction
  • Project communication
  • Contracts and procurement

Part 4: Thinking Ahead for the Next 100 Years: Underground Solutions

Date: June 30, 2021

Co-sponsor: Centuri

Registration Link

Description: Utility companies are challenged with the ever-present need for continuous preparation and response requirements to high-impact and low-probability events, mostly weather-related. Historically, these events have increased for the past fifteen years. Specific to the past five years, there has been a sharp increase, and 2020 was a record events/costly year.

Centuri invites you to “think ahead” about how to dramatically improve electric system reliability and resiliency by driving the cost out of underground solutions. We will discuss how effective resiliency programs are able to proactively harden the system power grid in a capitalized, strategic, cost-effective manner.

Learn about the opportunity to be proactive and reduce total time to restoration for customer outages, while improving regulatory performance metrics and enhancing the public image. Explore the practical applications that deliver value…every day.

Part 5: Material Science Improves Cable Life and Performance

Date: July 28, 2021

Co-sponsor: Borealis

Registration Link: Coming soon.

Description: Coming soon.

Part 6: (To Be Announced)

Date: August 25

Co-sponsor: To be announced.

Registration Link: Coming soon.

Description: Coming soon.

February 2021

21st-Century Costs of Underground Distribution

T&D World
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Brian DiLascia

Head of North America Power Distribution
Prysmian Group
Director PDi2

Brian DiLascia is head of Power Distribution for Prysmian Group North America and has been with the company for 21 years. After completing the Pirelli Cables and Systems’ Graduate Program, Brian served as an industrial engineer in Pirelli’s Lexington facility and was later promoted to Director of Operations for Pirelli’s factory near Vancouver. He returned to the Lexington, SC office as Vice President of Operations and later became General Manager for Pirelli’s fiber cable business in North America.

Brian holds a bachelor’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and received his Master of Engineering degree in operations management and industrial engineering from Cornell University.

Landry Molimbi

Head of Asset Management and Prysmian Electronics
Prysmian Group North America
Voting Member PDi2

Landry Molimbi is responsible for leading all Asset Management and Product Development activities for High Voltage & Medium Voltage Partial Discharge testing/monitoring services, optical sensing products (DAS, DTS) and innovative solutions for the North America Business Units (High Voltage, Power Distribution, Industrial, Telecom).

In this role, Landry is focused on business development, project management, technical sales support, and Partial Discharge measurement services for the Prysmian Group proprietary and revolutionary PRY-CAM technologies for the asset management of electrical systems, helping utilities increase uptime, asset longevity and safety while reducing maintenance costs & risks.

Landry started his career with General Cable (Silec) in 2007 and joined NKT Photonics in 2011. He moved to the Prysmian Group as Vice President for the Prysmian Electronics BU in 2018.

Born in Paris, France, Landry holds a master’s degree in Engineering from the ENSEM, a school of the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine in Nancy. Landry is also a member of various industry committees and an active member of CIGRE.

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Nathan Rochel

Department Manager, T&D
Burns & McDonnell
Associate Member PDi2

Nathan Rochel is an electrical engineer specializing in the design of underground transmission lines and managing the underground transmission team at Burns & McDonnell Engineering. Throughout his 10-year career in underground transmission, he has been involved in the design and/or construction of underground transmission projects ranging from 15-kV through 500-kV. These projects include multiple cable technologies including HPFF, HPGF, EPR, XLPE and HVDC cables. Mr. Rochel’s experience includes projects in major metropolitan areas for clients throughout North and South America.

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Brent Richardson

Marketing Development Manager, North America - DOW
Vice-Chair/Voting Member PDi2

Brent represents Dow’s Wire & Cable business to the utility industry in North America. Prior to joining Dow in May of 2007, Brent worked for nearly 25 years for Duke Energy in Charlotte, NC. His experience includes many components of the utility business including Field Engineering, Distribution Standards, Project and Product Management and Marketing. He received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and is a registered Professional Engineer in NC and SC. He is also a Senior Member of the IEEE and the Insulated Conductors Committee and has made numerous presentations to the IEEE, the ICC and other industry organizations. In the ICC, Brent serves as Chair of Discussion Group A14D –Cable Standards and Vice Chair of Subcommittee A-Cable Construction and Design.

Charlie Hall

Director, Integrity Management and Reliability Services
Centuri Power Group
Partner Member PDi2

Charlie’s career spans 42 years in the areas of corrosion control, cathodic protection, AC modeling and mitigation, pipeline integrity management, in-line inspection and pipeline services, pipeline maintenance and operations, construction repair and replacement, remediation design, project execution, special construction projects, and most recently in electrical reliability program development. Experience includes working as a certified project management professional, program manager, Sr. Corrosion Technologist with domestic and international projects, with expertise in developing and implementing records management, remediation, data integration, and analysis systems for all phases of Integrity Management. His 20 years of management experience includes engineering, operations, business and program development for pipeline and power, data acquisition services, and interference studies. He holds a BS in administration from the University of Phoenix.

Jeff Killin

Vice President of Engineered Products, Forterra
Partner Member PDi2

Jeff Killin, is the Vice President of Engineered Products for Forterra, a leading manufacturer of precast concrete pipe, structural, and specialty products. Working with Forterra’s Engineered Products team, Jeff is responsible for the commercialization and market development of Forterra’s engineered precast concrete products, including the recently introduced RED-E-DUCT™ precast electrical duct bank system. In this role, he and the Engineered Products team work to ensure that Forterra’s precast products meet the complex design and performance requirements demanded by multi-billion-dollar oil/gas, energy, and other industrial projects.

Mr. Killin is a 30-year veteran of the concrete and pipe products industry who has led commercial, engineering, manufacturing, management, and sales efforts, working with large, national engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firms. He has held management and executive positions at Forterra, Hanson and Price Brothers Company.

John W. Fluharty, II

Quanta Services Inc.
Voting Member PDi2

John W Fluharty, II is currently working as part of Quanta Services, Inc.’s (Quanta) underground cable group that performs large underground electrical projects.

Previously Mr. Fluharty was Vice President of Mears Group, Inc. (Mears) a subsidiary of Quanta Services, Inc. He was an owner of Mears until its sale to Quanta in 2000. He managed every division in the company and at the end of his tenure with Mears he focused on business development, asset management, safety and operations for large projects.

Mr. Fluharty is a board member of the Power and Communications Contractor Association (PCCA), and the American Pipeline Contractors Association (APCA).

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Ben Lanz

Director of Applications Engineering, IMCORP
Chair/Voting Member PDi2

After 20 years in the power cable industry, Mr. Lanz currently holds the position of Director of Applications Engineering at IMCORP and has technical oversight of power cable life cycle consulting. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE Power & Energy Society, a voting member of the IEEE Standards Society, and a member of the IEEE Dielectrics and Industrial Applications Societies. He has served as Chairman of the Insulated Conductors Committee (ICC) technical committees responsible for cable testing, cable reliability and surge arresters, Chairman of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) O&M Balance of Plant technical subcommittee, a UL technical study committee member for MV and HV DC cables and is a reviewer and voting pool member for InterNational Electrical Testing Association (NETA) standards. Mr. Lanz received his electrical engineering degree from the University of Connecticut (UCONN) under mentorship of Director of the Institute of Material Science Electrical Insulation Research Center (EIRC), Dr. Matthew Mashikian. He has published over a dozen papers on power system reliability, asset management, and diagnostics and regularly presents on the topics.

LinkedIn

David Lindsay

Marketing Manager – Energy Borealis Compounds, Inc.
Immediate-past Chairman/Voting Member PDi2

David Lindsay is currently Marketing Manager for the Energy business of Borealis Compounds, Inc. in North America. He has over 20 years in the US wire and cable business, working at manufacturers, non-profit organizations and electrical contractors. His experiences range from research and product development, to manufacturing, construction and installation of EHV cable systems. At Borealis he is responsible for customer and end-use marketing, and strategic planning of all wire and cable related product lines.

David serves on the NEETRAC Advisory Board, is actively involved in IEEE Insulated Conductor Committee and is past US representative to Cigré SC B1. He holds a Bachelors of Materials Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Masters of Business Administration from the University of West Georgia.

Linkedin

Ivan Jovanovic

Managing Director, Cable Accessories Business Unit (CABU)
G&W Electric
Associate Member, PDi2

Ivan has global responsibility for MV and HV cable accessory product lines for G&W Electric Company, a specialized manufacturer and marketer of high-voltage electrical equipment for distribution and transmission networks. His responsibility includes leading product management, marketing, R&D and engineering for the CABU. With nearly 20 years at G&W Electric, Ivan has also served as General Manager, Cable Accessories Engineering Department; and Product Development Engineer. Previously to joining G&W Electric, Ivan was a Research Engineer for the Nikola Tesla Electrical Engineering Institute in Belgrade, Serbia. He received a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Belgrade, and an MBA from Loyola University Chicago. Ivan also leads IEEE and CIGRE working groups and is Chairman of IEEE 48/404 Standard for transmission CA; and is the US member in IEC 62271-209 Standard for cable connections to Gas Insulated Switchgear.

Rachel Mosier

Principal Engineer and Vice President
Power Delivery Consultants, Inc.
Associate Member, PDi2

Rachel Mosier, Principal Engineer and Vice President of Power Delivery Consultants, Inc. (PDC) joined the organization in 2006 and specializes in underground (UG) cable system design, specification, installation, operation, and maintenance. She is responsible for engineering analysis, specification and bid review for UG cable projects both for utilities and architect-engineers. Ms. Mosier has in-depth experience performing cable factory audits, has reviewed publications, conducted technical and economic studies, and prepared and given testimony in utility hearings. She also is experienced in failure analysis and subsequent cause determination and mitigation. Prior to joining PDC, Ms. Mosier worked as an engineer with Northeast Utilities Service Company (now Eversource) where she planned, coordinated and performed engineering assignments related to the design, construction and operation of underground distribution and transmission systems. Ms. Mosier is a Senior Member of the IEEE, its Power & Energy Society and Standards Association. She served as the longest standing chair of the IEEE Insulated Conductor Committee (ICC), and is an active member of several working groups within ICC and CIGRE. Ms. Mosier also served as a utility advisor on several EPRI projects and was a member of the AEIC Cable Engineering Committee. Ms. Mosier has a BS in Engineering from the University of Connecticut and an MS in Power Systems Management from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Mathew Raymond

Underground Transmission Division Manager
Haugland Energy LLC
Associate Member, PDi2

Mathew Raymond, Underground Transmission Division Manager, has over 12 years of field experience in the construction industry, and has worked in all phases of construction including project management, business development, estimating, project scheduling, costing, budgeting, supervision and claims/change order processing. Prior to moving over to Haugland Energy in 2015, Mr. Raymond worked for 2 years with ABB and 6 years with CB&I. He has worked in the capacity of Project Manager, Process Manager, Contracts Specialist, and Business Development, accumulating a list of notable project achievements for clients including: PSE&G, PSE&GLI, Deep Water Wind, NYPA, NSEG, GEMMA Power, NRG, and Georgia. Mr. Raymond has a Masters Certificate in Government & Commercial Contract Management from Villanova University and a BA in Political Science (Pre-Law) from Coastal Carolina University.

Brian Hunter

Regional Manager
TT Technologies, Inc
Associate Member PDi2

Brian Hunter is a regional manager with TT Technologies, Inc., a trenchless equipment manufacturer based out of Aurora, Illinois. He has been successfully managing the sales and service of this equipment in the southeast US for nearly 21 years. He is a graduate of Clemson University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He is a member of various underground utility organizations such as NUCA, NASTT, SGA, SCRWA, NCRWA, ASCE, AREMA, ICC, NCAWWA-WEA, & SCAWWA-WEA. Brian was recently a key partner in the successful pilot underground steel pipe replacement project involving EPRI, PDC, & ATC. This underground pipe replacement process (pipe splitting) will significantly reduce the amount of excavation and time needed to replace current pipe-type cable steel lines with a new larger host pipe. Brian looks forward to contributing his extensive underground knowledge with Power Delivery Intelligence Initiative (PDi2 ).
LinkedIn

Matt Spalding

President, IMCORP
Director PDi2

With more than 30 years experience in the power industry, Mr. Spalding was named President of IMCORP in January 2018. He previously held positions of VP Sales & Marketing and VP Business Development. Prior to joining IMCORP, Spalding held a variety of positions at ABB, TE Connectivity, Tyco International (Raychem), and El Paso Electric. He has been very active in industry professional associations including IEEE and NEETRAC and holds 14 US patents related to power products including MV/HV insulators, substation animal mitigation devices, power connectors, HV cable designs and cable accessories. Mr. Spalding holds a BSEE degree from New Mexico State University with post-graduate studies in Engineering Economic Systems at Stanford University.

LinkedIn

Terri Howe, APR

Owner/Principal - Howe Marketing Communications LLC
Secretary/Treasurer, Marketing Counsel PDi2

Terri Howe, APR is Owner and Principal of Howe Marketing Communications LLC, a virtual, full-service advertising and public relations firm located in Grand Rapids, Michigan (Coopersville). HMC specializes in servicing local, regional, national and global business-to-business accounts and has been recognized with several local and regional advertising and public relations awards. Terri has 30 years’ experience in the marketing communications field, is a past president and board member of the West Michigan Public Relations Society of America (WMPRSA), is an executive committee member of PRSA’s Counselors Academy and has served as an adjunct professor in the School of Communications at Grand Valley State University. Terri is the secretary, treasurer and marketing counsel for the Power Delivery Intelligence Initiative.

LinkedIn

Nathan Kelley

Vice President, High Voltage Cables and Systems Business Unit - Prysmian
Voting Member PDi2

Nathan Kelley is currently Vice President, High Voltage Cables and Systems Business Unit. Since joining Prysmian Cables and Systems in 1997, Mr. Kelley has been involved with research, design, installation and sales of High Voltage and Extra High Voltage power cable systems. From 2002 until 2015, he managed the engineering team responsible for the High Voltage Business Unit’s activities and actively participated in many of the largest HV cable projects ever conducted in North America. Mr. Kelley was raised in Indiana, but received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University in 1995 and his MS in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2002.