Reliability improvements rarely come from a single project. They come from sustained planning, leadership alignment, and infrastructure choices designed to perform when the system is under stress. This APPA-hosted webinar will feature Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments’ reliability journey following the 2008 Northeast ice storm, including how LELWD evaluated system vulnerabilities and invested in Hendrix Spacer Cable by Marmon Utility as part of a broader storm-hardening and overhead distribution reliability strategy.
David Ketchen of LELWD and Ted Gardner of Marmon Utility will discuss lessons public power utilities can apply when prioritizing capital investments, evaluating aerial spacer cable systems and covered conductor solutions, reducing outage impacts, and strengthening customer service during severe weather events.
What Attendees Will Learn:
- How Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments evaluated storm-related distribution system vulnerabilities after the 2008 Northeast ice storm and built a long-term reliability strategy around targeted system hardening.
- How Hendrix Spacer Cable by Marmon Utility supports overhead distribution reliability by helping reduce outage exposure from tree contact, severe weather, and heavily wooded service territories.
- Why aerial spacer cable systems and covered conductor solutions can be strategic infrastructure options for public power utilities seeking to improve storm resilience, outage performance, and customer service reliability.
- How public power utilities can prioritize capital investments by identifying high-risk circuits, evaluating overhead line design options, and targeting areas where improved distribution reliability can have the greatest operational impact.
- The role of leadership alignment, board support, vegetation management, and consistent infrastructure investment in sustaining long-term reliability improvements.
Who Should Attend:
This webinar is designed for public power utility leaders, engineering teams, operations professionals, and distribution planning stakeholders focused on improving reliability, strengthening storm resilience, and evaluating long-term overhead distribution investments.
Ideal attendees include those involved in system hardening, outage reduction, capital planning, vegetation management, aerial spacer cable evaluation, covered conductor solutions, and customer reliability performance.
Speakers:
Ted Gardner, Applications Engineer - Marmon Utility
Ted Gardner brings more than 30 years of electric utility industry experience, with a background in distribution engineering, utility equipment solutions, and overhead system design. He began his career with American Electric Power and has spent more than 15 years with Marmon Utility / Hendrix Aerial Cable Systems. As Application Engineer and Project Manager for Overhead Solutions, Ted works with utilities to develop reliable, field-informed solutions that support system performance and long-term service reliability.
David Ketchen, Assistant General Manager - Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments (LELWD)
David Ketchen joined Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments in 2015 as an Electrical Engineer and was promoted to Assistant General Manager in 2018. In his current role, he supports planning, operations, and long-term reliability across Littleton’s electric, water, and wastewater systems. David holds a bachelor’s degree from Wentworth Institute of Technology and an MBA from UMass Lowell. He also serves on APPA’s DEED Board and NEPPA’s Mutual Aid Committee.
Technology Requirements:
- Zoom Platform: You’ll need a strong Internet connection to run the Zoom platform. Visit Zoom.us/test to ensure you can join a meeting.
- Audio: We recommend using your computer mic/audio to listen to the webinars (alternatively a call-in number will be provided).
Log-In Credentials and Recordings:
- Zoom Links: Zoom log-in credentials will be sent 24 hours before the start of the webinar and a reminder will go out one hour before the event.
- Recordings: The webinars will be recorded and will automatically be emailed to attendees within a week after the event.
Can't participate in the live webinar? Register anyway to access the recording!
Following the webinar, we’ll email you a link to the presentation and webinar recording to view at your convenience.
Questions?
This is a sponsored educational opportunity.
