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‘Bittersweet Day’ as UTC Applauds Ditto, Begins Search for Successor
Washington—Oct. 15, 2019—The Utilities Technology Council, the Washington-based association at the nexus of energy and telecommunications, expresses its appreciation for outgoing President and CEO Joy Ditto, who will be leaving the organization in January to head the American Public Power Association (APPA). Ms. Ditto, who first joined UTC as President and CEO in April 2016, was appointed as the new President and CEO of APPA by the Association’s Board of Directors. She will remain with UTC through early January. “This is a bittersweet day for UTC,” said UTC Chairman of the Board Greg Angst of CenterPoint Energy of Houston. “We will miss Joy’s incredible drive, enthusiasm, and leadership. She has taken UTC to a new level in Washington, raising our profile and securing numerous advocacy…
UTC Awards Recognize Importance of ICT Networks to Grid Reliability, Resilience
Fort Worth, TX, June 20, 2019 — The Utilities Technology Council (UTC) marked the conclusion of its annual Telecom & Technology conference in Fort Worth by presenting numerous awards to member companies and personnel who demonstrated initiative, perseverance, and innovative thinking throughout the past year. UTC’s awards recognize the importance of utility Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems and the employees who build, operate, and maintain these systems to support the reliability, resilience, and safety of the nation’s electric systems. From storm response to day-to-day reliability, ICT networks can also provide opportunities for communities to enhance economic prosperity, provide innovative new services, and support health, education and access to critical services. The 2019 UTC Award Winners are: APEX Award – Recognizes individual accomplishment and organizational…
UTC Unveils October Power Grid 4.0—Digitalization Global Forum
Washington—July 3, 2019 – Electric utility executives all over North America are welcome to Montréal to share best practices and lessons learned about digitalization. Across the globe, electric utilities are looking to go digital as they modernize their systems to enable greater customer engagement and deploy new and emerging distribution technologies. This forum will be a first in North America. The “Power Grid 4.0—Digitalization Forum” will be held in Montreal from Oct. 16-18, 2019. The event is hosted by Hydro Quebec with the premier sponsor being SNC-Lavalin, an engineering partner expert at mastering complex projects over the last 100 years. The event’s other sponsors include Linxon, Juniper Networks, and Black & Veatch. For all the details about the speakers and meeting agendas, please visit the…
UTC’s Ditto Details Importance of Utility Communications to Grid Reliability at FERC Hearing
Washington—June 27, 2019—Utility communications systems are critically important to grid resilience, reliability, and modernization, Utilities Technology Council President and CEO Joy Ditto told a panel of federal energy regulators today. Ms. Ditto applauded the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for holding a discussion on utility communications issues and encouraged the Commission to continue strengthening a dialogue with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as the interdependencies between the energy and telecommunications industries grow deeper. “UTC has encouraged greater interaction between this Commission and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and we believe this discussion is an important first step,” Ms. Ditto said. “The interdependencies between the energy and telecommunications industries are growing by the day. These interdependencies demonstrate the need for enhanced dialogue between the FERC and…
UTC Members Elect CenterPoint Energy’s Greg Angst as New Board Chair
Fort Worth, TX, June 20, 2019 – Energy and water utility representatives across the U.S. approved a new slate of officers to lead the Utilities Technology Council (UTC), effective immediately through May 2020. At UTC’s Annual Telecom & Technology Membership Meeting today in Fort Worth, TX, UTC’s core members elected Greg Angst, a consulting engineer in the Technology Strategic Planning, Innovation, and Delivery Group at CenterPoint Energy, as its new Chairman of the Board. Mr. Angst succeeds Immediate Past Chair Roger Bryant of Southern Company. UTC members also elected Kevin Huff, Telecommunications Operations Manager at Salt River Project, as its Vice Chair, and Paul Lambert, SCADA, Radio, and LM Foreman at East River Electric Cooperative, as its Secretary/Treasurer. Each officer will serve a one-year term….
5G, Spectrum, Broadband, Grid Modernization Highlight UTC Annual Conference
Washington—May 22, 2019 – Cybersecurity, utilities and 5G, grid modernization, spectrum access for wireless deployment, grid resilience, utilities’ rural broadband deployment, and the growing convergences between the energy and telecom sectors are among the several topics being discussed at the June 17-21 Utilities Technology Council’s annual Telecom and Technology conference in Fort Worth, TX. Hundreds of utility executives, engineers, vendors, and other utility and technology officials will participate in the highly anticipated event. Confirmed speakers include Joao Torres, CEO of EDP Distribuição of Portugal, Malia Hodges, CIO of Oncor Electric Delivery (the conference’s host utility), Energy Storage Association CEO Kelly Speakes-Backman, Common Ground Alliance President and CEO Sarah Magruder Lyle, and North American Transmission Forum CEO Tom Galloway. In addition, Shawn Rhodes, a motivational speaker,…
New UTC Paper Seeks to Cut Through 5G ‘Hype’ for Utilities
Washington—March 12, 2019 – UTC and its global affiliates released a new white paper focusing on the emergence of 5G communications and whether and how utilities—particularly electric—will be impacted. The new white paper—“Cutting Through the Hype: 5G and Its Potential Impacts on Electric Utilities”—frames the numerous issues and challenges electric utilities across the globe confront in adapting as the wireless industry transitions to 5G services. The paper was authored by the Joint Radio Company Ltd. of Coventry, England and was commissioned by UTC and its global affiliates: Africa UTC, European UTC, and UTC America Latina. Importantly, the paper does not offer policy proposals or a comprehensive plan forward; rather, it seeks to present the issues facing utilities and interested stakeholders as they determine what is…
UTC’s Artz Set to Join Panels on Supply Chain, Dedicated Networks at RSAConference
Washington—Feb. 27, 2019 – UTC Vice President of Government Affairs, Policy, and Cybersecurity Sharla Artz is participating in one of the most renowned and widely attended security conferences across the globe—the March 4-8 RSAConference 2019. The RSAConference regularly draws tens of thousands of attendees each year. The event aims to serve critical infrastructure industries, government, security stakeholders, and others with the goal of staying ahead of cybersecurity threats. This year’s conference will be held in San Francisco. Ms. Artz will be participating in two separate sessions—moderating a panel on supply chain concerns on March 6 and speaking on a session on dedicated networks for critical infrastructure on March 8. That she is featured twice demonstrates Ms. Artz’s expertise and reputation among her peers, as RSA…
Major Critical-Infrastructure Industry Organizations Push Back Against FCC Spectrum Proposal
Six major industry organizations representing critical electric, oil, natural gas, and water utilities are united in opposition to a federal proposal that would open up a critical wireless communications band, potentially disrupting crucial communications systems underpinning the safe and reliable delivery of these lifesaving and sustaining services. In a significant show of force, the critical industry organizations said the proposal could cause these entities to re-engineer and rebuild their communications networks–a costly process that could take individual companies 10 years or more—rather than face even the threat that their networks could fail. The entities signing the comments are the American Petroleum Institute, the American Public Power Association, the American Water Works Association, the Edison Electric Institute, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and the Utilities…
UTC Offers Congratulations to Carr, Starks Upon Senate Confirmation
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2019—Utilities Technology Council President & CEO Joy Ditto issued the following statement after the Senate confirmed the nominations of Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks to the Federal Communications Commission: “On behalf of the Utilities Technology Council, I would like to offer our congratulations to Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks upon securing Senate approval of their nominations to the Federal Communications Commission. Electric, water, and gas utilities are in the midst of profound change. These changes are driving an unprecedented convergence between the utilities and the telecommunications industries. Utilities need access to interference-free spectrum to modernize, protect, and secure their critical infrastructure, and telecommunications carriers rely upon electricity and utility infrastructure to deploy their many of their services. Additionally, more coordination and cooperation…