​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Advanced Metering

• Selecting and Implementing AMI Technology
  • What to ask potential vendors
  • Benefits of various technology choices
  • Planning and preparation for enterprise-wide impact
• Upgrading/Refreshing your AMI Technology
  • What use ​cases do you need to support in your AMI system
    
  • What to look for in a second-generation system
  • How to handle the migration to something new while extracting value from existing assets
• Benefits Beyond Basic Meter Reading
  • Distribution operations benefits including smart sensors, street lighting, load management, consumer program enablement
• Extracting value for data collated – integration with other systems, data analytics

Broadband

• Planning for Broadband
• Modeling and Feasibility - how to select a company to run a feasibility study
  
• Establishing what you want to accomplish (Fiber ring, 100% fiber to home, only certain areas served, point to point where applicable)
• Planning where to put fiber to meet code requirements
• Funding (Borrowing options, state/federal grants, etc.)
• Deciding who is going to build it (inhouse labor or contracted)
  
• Fiber training/ safety
  
• Partnership opportunities
• Deploying Broadband
• Network Design considerations
  
• Pole Attachments (rates, issues, and opportunities)
• Make-ready – Case-studies and lessons learned
• Project and construction management considerations
• Working with Telcom and fiber contractors
  
• Operating Broadband
  
• Building a broadband team- competencies, training, etc
  
• Network Mai​ntenance and Service Restoration
• Supply chain challenges
• Regulatory compliance – Infrastructure, speed testing, devices, software
  
• Operational sustainability
  
• Use cases
• SmartGrid Impact/Enablement
• Broadband Backbone (for utility communications / substation connectivity)
• Consumer Broadband
• Emerging use cases (Smart Community, Agriculture, Internet of Things, etc.)
• Technologies
• Fiber to the Home, Fixed Wireless/LTE/5G, Satellite, etc.
  
• Leveraging fiber to electric/ smart grid
  

Communications

• Employee and/ Member Notification Solutions and Who’s Doing What?
  
• Telephone Systems & Services in the Cloud
  • In-House or Cloud VoIP
  • Do not allow subcontractors in your VoIP cloud service agreement
  • Comparison of vendors
    
• ​​Natural Language IVR/ Natural Language Processing
• Call Center Chat Services
  • Member engagement tools to expand contact alternatives
  • Integrate with phone system and customer website
  • Queue management
  • What are the options out there and vendors?
  • Utility IoT
  • Use of SMS texting for outage reporting
  • Use of automated Facebook/Twitter services to communicate
  • OMNI Channel communications platform
  • Call Center Chat Services
    

Cybersecurity

• Cyber Insurance, pros/cons, and other considerations
• What Does a Secured IP Network Look Like?
  • Orientation and groundwork and stage setting
  • Segmenting SCADA and other business-critical systems
• The Axis of Physical and Cybersecurity
  • How cyber threats can impact the security of your facilities and infrastructure
  • Review scenarios and best practices for assessing and protecting access to network devices, buildings and equipment
    
• Use of modern frameworks to secure your cooperative, like NIST, MITRE, RC3
  
• Policy creation and adoption
• Incident response plan
  • How to create
  • Recovering from an incident
• Defense in-depth strategies
  • Peer review - Tabletop discussion/panel discussion
  • Defining through policy and practice information sharing
• Vendor Cybersecurity
  • What policies need to have in place?
  • How to allow vendors to access systems?
  • What policies should Vendors provide?
  • What happens if the vendor has a breach?
  • How to keep track of employees who want to use cloud-based vendors?

Data Analytics/Data Mining

• Innovative ways to assess data for improving utility operations and planning
• Big Data
  • What infrastructure is out there now to work the data, Cloud server farms
• Dashboards
  • Operational, reliability, and business case dashboards
  • Actionable success stories – Use cases
  • Internal creation of tools versus package purchases
  • How to use dashboards for board member communication/management

DER

• Non-Wire alternative
• Microgrids
• IEEE1547 – Using full functionality
• Integration of DER
  • Planning for DER
  • Planning tool - is solar a firm resource?
  • Unanticipated outcomes, positive and negative
  • Lessons learned
• Increased DER with new technology
  • Philosophy and implementation of new devices with DER
  • System monitoring and control
  • Reliability and system protection
  • Power quality
• New Business Structures in a DER Future
  • Identify needs of members
  • Providing services and options economically
  • New service/revenue streams
  • Member side technology advances (sensors, etc.)
    
  • DERMS for reliability vs new revenue streams
    
• Storage
  • Emerging Technologies - not limited to battery storage
  • Business case on declining costs
  • Residential, community and utility scale
  • Storage Management of Large Static Files
  • Storage backup, and media management of Huge/Static Files –In-house or Cloud Services?

Distribution Automation

• What advanced programs are utilizing or facilitated by Distribution Automation and what impacts has Distribution Automation had on your Cooperative?
• Real-time distribution system monitoring and analysis
• Intelligent automation and control
  • Fault location, isolation, service restoration (FLISR)
• Outage prevention
  
• Demand-side management
• Distributed energy resources monitoring and control
• Energy production, storage and management
  
• Different use cases may be best suited for different technologies
  
• How should cooperatives do the assessment – application for which technology/communications platform

EV’s

• Rate Design
• Effect/Planning for EV’s on the Distribution System
• Fleet Charging Stations
  
• Charging stations for additinonal revenue
  
• Load Control
• Distribution grid operation challenges
  
• Federal Grants Available for EV Charging Stations / Buses

Facilities Management; Logistics, Maintenance Innovations and Best Practices

• Physical security
• Warehouse layout for improved efficiencies
• Barcoding and other innovative processes (for ordering, charging, tracking materials), etc.
• Purchase guidelines for new technologies, products, services: broadband, fiber optics, drones/UAS, solar, etc.
• Charging and tracking materials
• Building inspections and preventative maintenance
• Disaster planning and recovery

Fleet management

• Establishing specifications for digger derricks and bucket trucks
• Vehicle tracking/GPS devices
• Maintenance records and software
• Payload securement

GIS Solutions

• The Power or Operation Dashboards
• Integrating O365

IT Operations

• Designing an ICS (Industrial Control Systems) Disaster Recovery Framework – SAN framework
• Automated Offline and Offsite Backups
  • Vendor selection and services available
  • Shared service model
• Managed Security Service Providers
  • How to properly select an MSSP
• Automation of Patch Management with Worked Examples
  • Free & low-cost tools & services
• Weighing benefits between Cloud and On-Premise solutions (O365, AWS, Google)
• Expanded use of Office 365 services throughout the cooperative, ie OneDrive, SharePoint, etc.
  
• Cybersecurity with grid operations
  

Procurement/ Supply Chain Management

• Workflow Automation
• Contract Management Systems
• PO systems
• Vendor Management Systems
• Storm stock packages
• Pole and other inspections – steel, concrete, wood, etc.
• Penta replacement – alternatives and evaluation process

• Cyber security challenges with 3^rd​ party products and services
  

Procurement Policies, Standards and Processes

• Ethics
• Record retention and the effects of going paperless
• Quality Control (Supplier Certification, etc.)
  • How to evaluate quality
• Procurement Authority
• Inventory management
• Assessment practices; Performance criteria
• Change management; Continuous/Process Improvement
• Audits
  

Procurement/Supply Chain Management – Contracting and Negotiation

• Delegation of spend
• Preparing for bids; Competitive bidding plan
• Negotiating terms and conditions
  • ​Uniform Commercial Code
    
• Contract administration

Procurement/SCM - Cost and Finance

• ​Spend Profile, cost/benefit analysis
  
• Financing and leveraging strategies
• How accounting controls the impact of the procurement work order processes

Regulatory Issues

• Impacts of climate change/weather events/Fires/ETC
• Report on TX weather event
• Critical intrastate interdependencies
• Implications of FERC 2222
• Executive order on securing the bulk power system

Risk Management /Compliance; Strategic Planning and Forec​asting

• Legal Issues
• Security evacuation planning; Contingency planning
• Oil Spill Response and Containment Strategies
• FEMA do’s and don’ts
• Buy American: Do’s and Don’ts
  

Strategic Sourcing and Vendor Management

• Analyzing and evaluating sources; Vendor Rationalization
• Insource vs Outsource
• How materials are sourced​
  
• Logistics of transporting raw materials, products
• Vendor relationships: development, recognition, performance evaluation, exit state

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