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UTC Offers a wide variety of both online and in-person events. Check out our calendar below for a complete list of upcoming meetings. We hope to see you at one soon!

02/08/2010 2010 Region 7 Meeting

Regional meetings are a great way to stay connected to peers in your region that are facing the same issues as you.  The Region 7 Meeting's educational program offers some of the hot topics facing the industry presented by experts - without the high cost of long distance travel.  Regardless of whether you attended last year or have never attended a Region 7 meeting, set your calendars now to attend. You wont be disappointed!

02/08/2010 2010 Utility Telecom Forum (Region 8, 9, 10 Meeting)

Each year, Regions 8, 9 & 10 get together to host the Utility Telecom Forum - our largest regional event.  Attending the Utility Telecom Forum is a great way for utility telecom and IT professionals to meet peers at other utilities in your same geographic area facing many of the same issues.  In addition to a strong educational program based on current issues facing utility telecom professionals today, this meeting features an exhibit hall that gives attendees a chance to meet vendor partners and see leading products and services.   We understand that travel budgets are tight, but encourage you to attend to take advantage of the education opportunities, vendor meetings, great registration rate and centralized meeting location. We hope to see you there!
02/24/2010 Webinar: NERC and Beyond: Security Issues for IT
Stringent NERC cyber security standards will fall on IT and protection departments; meanwhile, more standards –– even more stringent –– will be coming. From identifying critical assets, to setting up a real, workable and secure electronic perimeter and auditable results, this session will look at security compliance issues from the IT perspective. With Congress and FERC calling for stronger measures and the issues of protecting key systems that use a variety of transmission methods, learn what you need to know and how to best address these issues. This webinar will provide participants with the latest information on security issues that utilities must address now.
03/03/2010 UTC Region 3 Spring 2010 Meeting
03/10/2010 Webinar: Convergence & Integration of Utility Legacy Using IP
IP Technology offers the greatest opportunity for voice and data convergence, a critical need for the utility of the near future. The challenge: how do you integrate utility legacy devices into a modern, IP– based communications infrastructure and take best advantage of its benefits? IP technology has proven to reduce cost and increase productivity by allowing collaborative communications. This webinar will look at how the technology can bridge the gap of existing and emerging technologies and how you can integrate utility legacy devices. Register to hear different ways in which utilities can integrate both their legacy devices and modern IP–based devices into a common, rapid and efficient communications platform.
03/17/2010 The Utilities Wireless Collocation Summit 2010

Leveraging existing infrastructure is critical in today's economy.  Utilities have an existing ultra-reliable network that is in high demand from outside partners.  They key lies in how to market this infrastructure and maintain a profitable partnership the benefits all interested parties.  The Utilities Wireless Collocation Summit 2010 is the third Annual Conference for the UtiliSite Council.  Members of the UtiliSite Council are utilities that offers a wide variety of support services for commercial wireless carriers including antenna sitings, traffic backhaul and construction.  The Summit is a great way for attendees to learn to leverage their infrastructure and make this business model work for your utility.  It's also a great chance to share best practices on how utilities are working with wireless carriers across the United States. We encourage everyone involved in the collocation business or considering expanding their non-rate revenue to include collocation opportunities to join us at this yearly meeting.

03/22/2010 2010 UTC Region 6 Annual Meeting
03/24/2010 Webinar: Deploying a Telecom Network for Your AMI Implementation
Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is the future. Yet implementation of an AMI system is a complicated process. The most critical step is to define the functional requirements for an AMI system by combining both hardware and software requirements. The attributes of the system will dictate the cost and capacity of your utility’s project. Specifically, these costs and capacity objectives are based on three distinct sets of requirements – applications, functional elements and engineering specifications. This webinar will look at each requirement in detail to help provide clarity on the deployment of an AMI system.
04/07/2010 Webinar: Next Generation Open Standard Digital Mobile Radio
This session will provide an overview of the next generation open standard digital voice and data network (ETSI DMR – Digital Mobile Radio). The webinar will explore the features inherent in the technology that enable improved voice communications as well as mobile data applications. Attendees will be briefed on FCC rulings and the applicability of DMR to provide not only narrowband 12.5 KHz compliance and 6.25 KHz equivalency. A discussion of the pros and cons of DMR as an open standard will be included. The presentation will explore possible technology migration strategies that enable enterprises to scale their implementation to match budgets and operational needs while future proofing the investment.
04/07/2010 UTC Smart Grid Policy Summit

Major policies initiatives are being considered in federal and state, legislative and regulatory bodies that will have sweeping impact on America’s economy and its citizens. These policies involve energy, telecommunications, the environment, the Nation’s economy, and more. However, in many important aspects, the benefits of a more coordinated approach to the development of these policies as they all impact smart grids has not been fully explored. Discussion of the interrelationship of these diverse policies is essential to ensure that smart grids can not only fulfill their promises and goals, but do it in a manner that provides the most benefits to consumers and at the least cost. Policymakers from widely varying parts of federal and state governments must now act in concert with consumer, labor, and business organizations in ways never fully realized before.  The UTC Smart Grid Policy Summit is an effort to bring all these policymaking communities together to collaboratively examine the key issues of the day in a way that has never been attempted before.

The essential questions to be addressed in this Summit –

  • Legislative And Regulatory Policy Initiatives – What Should We Expect?
  • Balancing Multiple Policy Initiatives – Can We Get It Right?
  • Smart Grids and Broadband – Can They Be Mutually Supportive?
  • Comprehensive Spectrum Policies – What is Necessary for Smart Grids?
  • The Standards Making Process – Can It Fulfill Its Goal?
  • Cyber Security and Consumer Privacy – What’s Really Needed?
  • Smart Grid Benefits – Maximize The Benefits For Everyone Or Just A Few?
  • Smart Grid Policies – Challenges For Tomorrow?

The Utilities Telecom Council is proud to be the sponsor of this first annual UTC Smart Grid Policy Summit, designed to be a forum where all policy-making communities impacting the future of the smart grid can come together and engage in a serious dialogue about their top priorities and top policy goals for the year ahead. America’s policymakers are facing a dizzying array of choices as they strive to ensure that tomorrow’s energy utilities create and use smart grids in ways that achieve incredibly important policy goals for this country of -

  • Reducing Greenhouse Gases by enabling more renewable and energy storage technologies,
  • Increasing energy efficiency by providing consumers with new information and tools,
  • Increasing security, reliability, and restoration capabilities for the energy grid,
  • Stabilizing rates thru consumer options that help avoid or defer major energy investments, and
  • Increasing energy independence by supporting electric vehicle technology.

There is much to be debated, but there is great opportunity for common ground. The UTC Smart Grid Policy Summit will be a great success if we are able find points of agreement that we can move forward on together; and focus on issues for which genuine debate is warranted.

 
04/14/2010 UTC Region 5 - 2010 Meeting
04/21/2010 Webinar: SCADA Security: NERC CIP Standards and Beyond
Media reports say that utility SCADA systems are under cyber attack now more than ever – and that’s just what is released to the public. NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards were created to meet this threat and to provide a framework of sound cyber and physical security measures for control system engineer to integrate into current and future systems. But the CIP standards aren’t the end of this process. What will the next round of standards involve? Are there duplications or parallels to other standards within the CIP standards? How do you protect your utility’s systems against dynamic and evolving threats with static standards? This webinar will provide answers to these questions and provide a sound basis for network security management.
05/05/2010 Webinar: Smart Grid Technology Roadmap
It seems as though just the word "smart" can generate a response in your management. Everyone seems to be discussing the smart grid/smart network concept. But what do you really know about the migration from here to there, and more importantly, defining where "there" is, exactly. If you are in this position, know this - you are not alone. UTC has found that “smart grid” will have different meanings and different pathways for almost every utility; however, there are some core issues that the term encompasses. To give energy organizations a starting point and framework, UTC partnered with KEMA to develop a helpful report entitled, "Smart Grids: Building a Strategic Technology Roadmap." The report presents a framework to start planning your organization’s smart grid vision and overall roadmap to the next generation. The report includes detailed guidance for organizing, for planning and for the creation of work groups. Presented by the report’s authors, this webinar is an opportunity to hear about how the smart grid may become a reality for your energy utility.
05/23/2010 UTC TELECOM 2010
06/09/2010 Webinar: Effective Use of Optical Fiber
As the bandwidth boom continues unabated, so does the importance of optical fiber in telecommunications networks. Fiber is replacing or augmenting copper in data centers, local area networks, campus networks and access networks, while it continues to overtake communication satellites in global communication networks. In wireless broadband– mile network solutions, fiber is becoming the medium of choice over T1 or E1 links. This technical webinar is suitable for communication engineers, managers and others in the communication industry interested in knowing more about fiber optics as a communication medium.
06/23/2010 Webinar: Spectrum Choices for Wireless Metering
The transfer of meter data plays a fundamental role in the evolution of the smart grid. This webinar reviews wireless spectrum options for meter data acquisition, using both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. Attendees also will hear interference potential and remediation for the various spectrum solutions. Understanding the spectrum options is a key element in making wireless metering work; this presentation from UTC’s engineering director will help.
07/14/2010 Webinar: Next Generation IP Communications to Substations- Case Study
Great River Energy (GRE) has deployed a broadband, high speed, licensed IP communication system to approximately 600 electrical substations and switches covering about 44,000 square miles of its rural service area. In addition to allowing high–speed SCADA applications to the substations, this has provided remote network access to field crews throughout GRE's service area. In this webinar, you will hear how the utility designed and implemented this network, as well as the future applications planned, from those directly involved in the project.
08/11/2010 Webinar: Joint Use and Pole Attachment Tutorial
With the growth of new telecom services, utility infrastructure is under attack again at the FCC; but that isn’t the only issue in this complex field. Business models, technology and regulations are all undergoing significant change. On the business front, there is increasing demand for attachments at a time when infrastructure is undergoing dramatic changes as new codes go into effect and systems continue to be built out and built up. On the technology front, utilities are implementing new management systems to track attachments, and they’re accommodating access for a dizzying array of wireless attachments and smart-grid equipment. And the FCC is considering fundamental changes to its regulations that could establish uniform regulated rates for broadband attachments, ILEC attachments, and wireless attachments, as well as impose a host of “best practices” for access for pole attachments. You need to learn the details from experts and network with your peers to discover opportunities and overcome challenges that lie ahead.
09/01/2010 Webinar: AMI Backhauling and Distribution Line Monitoring – Emerging Satellite Technologies Offer New Options
Mr. Bernie Nelson, Director of Service Development at Hughes Network Systems, will discuss new satellite technologies and how they uniquely enable AMI collector backhaul and distribution line monitoring solutions. A technical and economic evaluation will be presented and compared to those of alternative technologies. After this session, attendees will be armed with information they can use as part of their SmartGrid technology evaluation process as it relates to AMI and distribution line monitoring solutions.
09/15/2010 Webinar: AMR/ AMI Impact on IT Systems
As utilities continue to implement automated meter reading and related systems, often overlooked are the back office systems that store and process the gathered information. Time–of–use rate plans, automated outage notification systems, and system performance data will only complicate the data management picture going forward. Legacy CIS applications and systems are becoming targets for replacement, and the inter–related Storage Area Networks (SANs) necessary to store the increased data are likewise being reconsidered. The speaker will provide a practical overview of all the considerations project managers should make when considering such massive projects.
09/16/2010 2010 Region 2 Meeting
09/27/2010 2010 Canadian Utility Telecom Conference
10/07/2010 2010 UTC Region 8 Fall Technical Meeting
The 2010 UTC Region 8 Fall Technical Meeting is a one day educational opportunity giving attendees an in depth looks at some of the technical issues facing telecom and IT professionals in the energy and water industry. With minimal travel and reasonable registration costs, this meeting is a great opportunity for attendees to use a small amount of resources to gain a big impact.  We hope to see you there! 
10/14/2010 2010 Region 4 Meeting
The 2010 UTC Region 4 Meeting is an educational opportunity giving attendees an in depth looks at some of the current issues facing telecom and IT professionals in the energy and water industry. With minimal travel and reasonable registration costs, this meeting is a great opportunity for attendees to use a small amount of resources to gain a big impact.  We hope to see you there!