Charter

ORGANIZATION

This association is organized and shall be administrated and operated exclusively to receive, administer, and expend funds to promote and represent the common business interests and improve business conditions among, members of the utility industry, within the meaning of Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

No part of the net income of the association shall inure to the benefit of or be distributable to its officers or other private persons.

Upon dissolution of the association or the winding up of its affairs, the assets of the association shall be distributed exclusively for the common business interests of its members or to organizations which are exempt from Federal income tax under Section (c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

MISSION

The Western Underground Committee’s Mission is:

To promote, on an industry wide basis, the exchange of information, ideas and experiences of all electric and communication utility members in the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of transmission and distribution systems to meet our customer’s need for electric service in a safe, reliable, cost effective and environmentally acceptable manner consistent with sound utility practices.

To develop guidelines for members’ voluntary use in their specification and application of materials, designs, work methods, polices and procedures that will minimize the life-cycle costs and improve the performance of the system to best meet customer’s needs.

To maintain a liaison with domestic and international organizations such as IEEE, EEI, ANSI, and other regional underground committees.

This will be accomplished through the individual participation of every attending member in the general sessions and in the various subcommittees, presently consisting of Operations, Engineering/Substructures, System Planning and active AD HOC Committees.

SUBCOMMITTEES’ ROLE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

The Subcommittees will aggressively seek presentations at its meeting from members and manufacturers on new products, methods, and innovative uses of established products.

In all Subcommittee activities, it shall be the objective of the members to learn together so that members will increase their productivity within their organizations.

To help its members in extending the benefits of Western Underground Committee activity into their organizations, the Subcommittees will actively pursue the production of packaged presentations, the exchange of presentations prepared by member organizations and the use of other appropriate educational and communication tools.

Subcommittee 1 – Operations

The objective of the Operations Subcommittee is to create and maintain a safe and efficient working environment with the exchanging of ideas and sharing of problems.  Topics addressed in the Operations Subcommittee may include, but are not limited to:

Work Methods

  • Training Programs
  • Tools
  • Operating Procedures
  • New Equipment
  • Vehicles
  • Safety and Accident Prevention Programs
  • Training Methods
  • Review Accidents, Injuries, Near Misses and Related Trends

Subcommittee 2 – Engineering and Substructures

The objective of the Engineering and Substructures Subcommittee is to provide an open forum for the exchange of information and ideas on materials and equipment plus related engineering issues concerning electric power and communications systems.  Topics addressed in the Engineering and Substructures may include, but are not limited to:

  • Cables
  • Cable Systems
  • Cable Components
  • Material Management
  • Testing
  • Structures
  • Conduits

Subcommittee 5 – Planning

The objective of the Planning Subcommittee is to exchange ideas which enhance the planning of distribution and sub-transmission systems.  The Planning Subcommittee provides an open forum to discuss planning issues.  Topics addressed by the Planning Subcommittee may include:

  • Planning and system design criteria
  • Reliability measurements, reliability improvements
  • Power Quality
  • Modeling Techniques
  • Facilities Utilization and Management
  • Load Forecasting

AD HOC Committee

AD HOC Committees will be formed on an as needed basis.

Active Committee:

SAFETY

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

It shall be the objective of the Western Underground Committee’s Safety Ad Hoc Committee to promote items and issues related to the safe operation of electric and telecommunication systems.  Presentations on materials, equipment and methods by vendors or member that are related to safety issues may be made to the group.  Incidents and accidents that are safety related may also be presented; however, these will be presented under the “Closed Door Sessions” as described in Section E of the WUC Committee and Membership Guidelines.

MAJOR GOALS

Each subcommittee will address a minimum of one topic on an annual basis that will result in the development of a useful guideline.  The guidelines will address materials/equipment, designs, work methods, polices or procedures; these guides are intended to reduce life-cycle costs, increase public and/or line worker safety, improve reliability or quality of service, or otherwise enhance the planning, design, construction, operation or maintenance of (underground) distribution systems.  The Chairperson of each subcommittee shall keep the Executive Committee and the membership informed of progress at each meeting.  The bulk of the work to draft and review guidelines will be conducted as part of each member’s normal duties for their employer prior to the formal Western Underground Committee meetings.

The topics for the main committee meeting will consist of two utility presentations and two presentations from the manufacturers/vendors/technical organizations.  These topics will focus on new equipment and construction procedure, modification concerns regarding safety and the environment, utility customer modification needs and expectations and areas resulting from the annual membership survey.  The Vice-Chairperson will be responsible for developing a list of topics and including them as part of the Executive Committee Report.

A Year End Summary Report will be prepared by the outgoing Chairperson relative to the Committee’s activities and accomplishments.  It will be submitted to the Treasurer/Secretary for publication in the September Meeting Minutes.

An annual survey will be conducted to obtain the general membership’s feedback related to the activities of the Western Underground Committee and their usefulness as it applies towards achieving their utilities missions and goals.  The outgoing Chairperson will be responsible for summarizing the survey results and including them as part of the Year-End Summary Report.  These results will be reviewed by the Execute Committee to guide the Committee’s activities for the following year.

ADOPTION

The officers listed below hereby formally adopt this Charter of the Western Underground Committee on May 2, 2001

Chairperson: Dewey Reay-Arizona Public Service Company

Vice-Chairperson: Louis Romero-Idaho Power Company

Secretary/Treasurer: Mark Cardoza-Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Additions

May 18, 2006 – TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT to page 29, Committee was approved at September 2005 meeting in Long Beach. Wording was never added to the Charter.

May 30, 2006 Via E-mail to all “E”-board members it was agreed, the “Term” Chairman was deleted and Chairperson was inserted into all WUC Documents.

Printable charter Document