Post-Autovation^SM Courses

Wednesday, Sept. 10
1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Course 15: Addressing AMR/AMI Risks with Effective Vendor
Negotiations and Contracts
Instructors: Rod Dow and Fritz Vorlop
Utility Type: All
Course Level: Beginner to advanced
Deployment Phase: All

The instructors discuss basic models for AMR/AMI solutions and common associated risks; general negotiating strategies to mitigate risks; and common issues presented by most AMR/AMI contracts with suggestions for resolution. The course also addresses regulatory issues and strategic considerations involved with AMR/AMI implementations.

Topics will include:

• Performance commitments
  
• Vendor accountability
  
• Technology refresh and obsolescence
  
• Data security
  

Who should attend:
Utility, vendor or consultant representatives who will participate in theAMR/AMI contract negotiating process including those with supervisory management authority over others on the front line of the negotiating and risk evaluation processes.

Rod Dow and Fritz J. Vorlop are partners with Foley & Lardner LLP, a national law firm with offices in the Midwest and on both coasts. They are members of Foley’s Information Technology & Outsourcing Practice Group. The firm’s experience with AMR/AMI contracts and systems acquisitions includes dealing with multiple vendors, technologies and extended negotiations in varied circumstances.

Course 16: AMI Project Implementation
Instructor: Kevin Cornish
Utility Type: Electric primarily, portions applicable to other commodities
Course Level: Intermediate
Deployment Phase: Pre- to mid-deployment

The course discusses the challenges, issues and opportunities involved in the implementation of an AMI project. The focus is on the organization challenges, implementation preparedness and project management activities specific to an AMI system implementation. The content does not cover the business case issues or project approval phase. The emphasis is on setting the stage for a successful project initiation and commencement.

Topics will include:

• Organizational challenges & opportunities
  
• Communication planning
  
• Scope & risk management
  
• Developing the integrated solution
  

Who should attend:
Utility personnel, vendor partners and other stakeholders who are engaged in or evaluating AMI implementations.

Kevin Cornish has more than 20 years experience in the industry, including 13 years with a major electric and gas utility and 10 years with various advanced metering companies. Cornish’s utility experience provides a solid foundation from which to understand the needs of the industry and utility’s requirements for AMI project success. His experience with sales, product management, business development, regulatory support, technical support and other roles pertaining to advanced metering solution vendors provides insight into what utilities can expect from the industry. He is a registered professional electrical engineer and holds BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering as well as an MBA in marketing and telecommunications management.

Course 17: The New ANSI Standard C12.22 – Protocol Specifications for Interfacing to Data Communication Networks
Instructor: Avygdor Moise, PhD
Utility Type: All
Course Level: Beginner to intermediate
Deployment Phase: All

C12.22 Protocol Specification for Interfacing to Data Communication Networks provides an application layer standard for network communications, designed to transport C12.19 standard data tables in electric metering over any network. The open protocol in the ANSI C12.22 Standard provides the same opportunity for meter communications over networks. This course covers what C12.22 will mean for you.

Topics will include:

• Overview of C12.19 and C12.22
  
• Connectionless-mode ACSE (Association Control Service Element)
  
• ANSI C12.22 and the Internet
  
• MDM requirements for deploying an effective C12.22-based AMI
  

Who should attend:
Project managers, enterprise technology AMI decision makers, architects
and engineers, auditors, legislators

Avygdor Moise, PhD, president of Future DOS R&D Inc, is an AMI and systems-implementation consultant to American and Canadian electrical utilities. Moise is the author of the “User’s Guide for MC/ANSI/IEEE Standard Data Communication Protocol for Electronic Metering.” He also chairs the Data Communication Working Group of the Measurement Canada Task Force on Data Communications Protocol for Electronic Metering Devices; is chairperson of the ANSI C12 SC17 WG2, ANSI C12.19, which develops the utility industry standard tables. Recently, Dr. Moise has been instrumental in the development of testing procedures of protocols and communication interfaces for wireless Internet-based electricity meters for AMR clients, audit trail management for Measurement Canada and TDL/EDL data transmission Standards for enterprise AMR. Moise is also a developer of the TDL/EDL schemas and technology for use by ANSI Standard C12.19.

Course 18: Utility Business Transformation with AMI, Demand Response, and Smart Grid
Instructors: Hahn Tram and Jeff Evans
Utility Type: Electric primarily, gas & water
Course Level: Beginner to advanced
Deployment Phase: All

Gain insights into AMI, DR, and Smart Grid technologies. Understand their impact on utility operations and how to capitalize on them to achieve the most benefit through utility case studies.

Topics will include:

• Vision & strategy for Intelligent Grid or Smart Grid
  
• Primary types of AMI
  
• Using AMI infrastructures for DR
  
• Leveraging AMI and DR for Smart Grid
  

Who should attend:
AMI project managers and engineers, energy supply management, T&D planning and operation engineers, IT system architects

Hahn Tram is an accomplished thought-leader in the energy utility industry with 30 years experience. He is currently a senior executive consultant with Enspiria Solutions. Tram holds a BS and MS in electrical engineering. He was the recipient of the Westinghouse Engineering Achievement award and is a registered professional engineer. Jeff Evans is a principal consultant and project manager with Enspiria Solutions, Inc. He supports utility clients across North America with AMI and MDM system development and implementation. Prior to joining Enspiria, Evans spent 15 years with Exelon Energy Delivery, where he led various metering and AMI projects.

Course 19: The Primary Objective of Any AMI Project: High Quality, Useful Data
Instructors: Craig Boice and John Skog
Utility Type: All
Course Level: Beginner to intermediate
Deployment Phase: All

AMI brings together metering, communication and information technologies and organizations in a much broader way than ever before experienced by most utility employees. To leverage the data, messaging and control func­tions made available to nearly every organization within the utility requires non-IT personnel to develop a general understanding of AMI information technologies. Here, instructors will discuss the flow of data from the meter to the customer focusing on important transport, security, integrity, storage, presentation and performance issues. They explain typical IT processes needed to support AMI in a clear and easy to understand manner.

Topics will include:

• Mapping processes and data flows
  
• Vendor relationships
  
• Network terminology and standards
  
• Revenue protection

Who should attend:
Utility professionals previously not exposed to the diverse data collection, integrity and storage issues involved in AMI Vendor staff considering how to relate their automated metering offerings to utilities regulators, utility regula­tory staff members, and vendors interested in AMI implementation

Craig Boice is president of the Boice Dunham Group, a leading business development consultancy. He has completed more than 20 assignments related to demand response during the last five years. He has served as adjunct assistant professor of management in the Stern School at New York University, teaching new venture management. Boice earned his master’s degree in management at the Yale University School of Management.

John Skog is president of MTEC, a utility engineering consultancy. He is a licensed professional engineer and advisor to EPRI. Skog has 32 years of experience in electric utility distribution systems. He earned his BS and MS in electrical engineering from Washington State University

Course 20: Leveraging the Value of AMI to Improve Outage Managementt
Instructor: Myron Graessle
Utility Type: Electric
Course Level: Intermediate
Deployment Phase: All

Attendees will gain an understanding of key components of the AMI outage framework and the benefits of AMI and outage integration. The instruc­tor will discuss different AMI technologies and how they can be used to improve outage management.

Topics will include:

• Outage management process
  
• AMI fixed network technologies
  
• AMI outage integration approaches
  
• AMI system evaluation
  
• Outage case studies

Who should attend:
Utility AMI project managers, operations personnel and IT personnel with some experience in AMI and/or outage management

Myron Graessle currently holds the position of senior program manager re­sponsible for the deployment of networks for Trilliant’s customers. Previous­ly he was product marketing manager for DCSI, defining requirements for the TWACS system software. Prior to DCSI, Graessle was involved with AMI at both Cellnet and AmerenUE. He has extensive experience with customer information and outage analysis systems.

Course 21:
Introduction to the ZigBee Wireless Communications Standard and Applications in AMI/AMR and Demand Response Systems
Instructors: Skip Ashton and Matt Dibb
Utility Type: Electric and gas, some application to water
Course Level: Intermediate
Deployment Phase: Pre-deployment

Learn just what ZigBee wireless communications technology is and how it operates. Instructors will discuss how ZigBee is being applied in AMR/AMI and demand response systems. Attendees will gain the ability to effectively evaluate the capabilities of systems and devices implementing ZigBee technology and make better architectural and operational decisions on ef­fectively leveraging ZigBee technology.

Topics will include:

• Mesh networking
  
• ZigBee platform architecture
  
• ZigBee standard application profiles
  
• Interoperability of ZigBee and IP networks

Who should attend:
Utility AMI system architects, project managers, engineers, and IT person­nel interested in how ZigBee technology works and is being used in AMI and demand response systems; vendors seeking a better understanding of this key AMI technology standard

Skip Ashton brings more than 15 years of experience in new product devel­opment to his role as vice president of engineering. Ashton is responsible for management of the Ember chip design, hardware, software and quality assurance teams. He graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and spent five years in the U.S. Navy Nuclear Program.

Matt Dibb has been designing and supporting sensing, automation and control systems for more than eight years. Since joining Ember’s Applica­tion Engineering team in 2004, Dibb’s has delivered more than 40 multi-day training classes and supported hundreds of active Ember developers, partners, distributors and field engineers worldwide. An expert in ZigBee and the EmberZNet PRO ZigBee implementation, Dibb holds a BS in computer science from Rochester Institute of Technology.