Links

• National utility associations
• Regional utility associations
• Federal resources
• Professional societies and standards bodies
• Specialized resources
• Specialized telecommunications equipment optimized for electric utility use
• Hands-on fiber splicing training
• Periodicals and e-zines
• Recommended books
• Miscellaneous links

For useful links to over 60 Fiber Planners' client utilities that already have installed fiber, see the Fiber Planners client list page.

National utility associations:

• ALTS - Association for Local Telecommunication Service
• UTC - United Telecommunications Council (formerly the Utility Telecommunications Council)
• APPA (American Public Power Association)
• NRECA - National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
• EPRI - Electric Power Research Institute

Return to Top

Regional utility associations:

• NEPPA - Northeast Public Power Association
• TVPPA - Tennessee Valley Public Power Association
• NCAMES- North Carolina Association of Municipal Electric Systems
• ElectriCities (NC, SC, VA)
• Municipal Electric Utilities Association (NY)
• CARILEC - The Association of Caribbean Electric Utilities
• California Municipal Utilities Association
• Florida Municipal Electric Association

Return to Top

Federal resources:

• USDA Rural Development - Rural Utilities Service (RUS) main page
  • RUS Electric Division
  • RUS Distance Learning and Telecommunications initiatives

Return to Top

Professional societies and standards bodies:

• IEEE - Institute of Electric and Electronics Engineers
  • IEEE Power Engineering Society
    • IEEE PES Power Systems Communications (includes Fiber Optics Subcommittee and Fiber Optics Standards JWG)
    • IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution (includes Towers, Poles & Conductors Subcommittee and Overhead Line Construction WG)
  • IEEE Standards Association
  • National Electrical Safety Code Committee
• IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission
• CIGRE - International Council on Large Electric Systems
• Optical Society of America
• SCTE - Society of Cable Television Engineers
• FSAN - Full Service Access Networks (Fiber-to-the-Home standards)

Return to Top

Specialized resources we have used and/or recommend:

• Virchow, Krause & Co, LLP (Telecommunications feasibility and marketing studies)
• Powerline Systems, Inc. (world leader in transmission line design and analysis software)
• FLI-MAP¨ John Chance Land Surveys, Inc. (helicopter laser surveys)
• RSoft Design Group (network optimization tools)
• Kinectrics (formerly known as Ontario Hydro Technologies -- premier independent test lab for utility fiber cable and hardware)
• Telcordia Technologies, Inc. (formerly known as Bellcore -- network optimization tools, network operating systems, Bell System standards)

Return to Top

Specialized telecommunications equipment optimized for electric utility use:

• Dymec
• RFL Electronics, Inc.
• Pulsar Technologies, Inc.
• GE (JungleMUX SONET Multiplexer)
• GarretCom)

Return to Top

Hands-on fiber splicing training:

• Corning Cable Systems Training Program
• Light Brigade
• Bill Graham, Mississauga Training Consultants
• AFL Telecommunications

Return to Top

Periodicals and e-zines:

• Community Fiber Networks (News and comments on community fiber networks, the communities deploying them and the technologies that support them.)
• In the Loop A Monthly E-zine / Newsletter Serving The Fiber To The User Market
• Light Reading - The Global Site For Optical Networks
• Electric Light & Power
• Lightwave
• Outside Plant
• T&D World (Transmission & Distribution World)
• Telephony
• America's Network
• CED (Communications Engineering & Design)
• UTC Journal
• Fiber Optic Product News

Return to Top

Recommended books:

• National Electrical Safety Code 2002
• NESC Handbook, Fifth Edition
• Electric Power Distribution Systems: A Nontechnical Guide
• The Essential Guide to Telecommunications, 3rd Edition
• Communications Systems and Networks, 2nd Edition
• Telecommunications Essentials
• Lineman's and Cableman's Handbook
• Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers, 14th Edition
• Fiber Optics Technician's Manual, 2nd Edition
• Understanding Fiber Optics
• Fiber Optic Cables, 4th Edition
• Telecommunications Cables: Design, Manufacture and Installation
• Theory of Wire Rope, 2nd Edition
• Cable Television Handbook
• Modern Cable Television Technology: Video, Voice, and Data Communications
• The ARRL Handbook for Radio Amateurs 2003
• Optical Networks: A Practical Perspective, 2nd Edition
• Special Edition Using TCP/IP (2nd Edition)
• Internetworking Technologies Handbook, 3rd Edition (Cisco Press)
• Understanding SONET/SDH and ATM
• Overhead Conductor Manual (Southwire)
• IEEE Standard Construction of Composite Fiber Optic Overhead Groundwire (IEEE Std. 1138)
• IEEE Guide to the Installation of Overhead Transmission Line Conductors (IEEE Standard 524-1992)
• IEEE Std 1222 -- ADSS cable -- is not in the IEEE catalog yet
• Telecommunications: The Governmental Role in Managing the Connected Community
• Handbook for Electricity Metering, 9th Edition
• Ice and Snow Accretion on Structures
• Power Line Communications

Return to Top

Miscellaneous links:

• Protective Relaying Links a very comprehensive list of web links to everything connected with protective relaying -- companies, associations, etc.

Return to Top

Utility management consulting and strategic direction:

• Telecommunications strategy consultants' conceptual glossary -- where those high-priced wizards get their good ideas
• Executive Level Strategic Management Consultants for Utilities -- how they add value

Return to Top