This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
Course Outline
Introduction to Underground Distribution
- Planning considerations
- Introduction to UG equipment types and applications
- Device-locating and system-layout philosophies
- Policy considerations and examples
- Terms and conditions of customer interconnection and service
- Easements and ownership of facilities
- Industry codes/standards, cost recovery methods
Planning and Design Criteria
- Transformer loading
- Circuit capacity ratings and configurations
- Circuit switch and protection
- Voltage regulation and surge protection
- Intro to Strategic Undergrounding
Underground Cable
- Cable theory and construction
- Electrical and mechanical properties
- Conductor and insulation types
- Selection, ratings, and loading practices
Cable Accessories
- Voltage stress relief
- Terminators and splices
- Selection, ratings, and installation practices
Underground Structures
- Direct burial trenches, conduits and ducts, vaults and manholes
- Riser poles
- Technical specifications and installation practices
Pad-Mounted and Submersible Equipment
- Transformers, switches, fuses, and lightning arresters
- Selection ratings
- Installation practices
Cable Installation in Underground Structures
- Cable pulling limitations and calculations
- Pulling equipment and methods
National Electrical Safety Code (NESC®) Requirements, Including Notable Applicable Provisions of the 2017 Edition of the NESC
- General requirements
- Grounding and safety rules for UG systems
Cable Testing and Maintenance
- Why cables fail
- Test methods
- Maintenance options
- Rejuvenation
Pad-Mount Transformer Specification
Overvoltage (Lightning) Protection on Underground Systems
- Nature of lightning and switching impulses
- Effective Grounding
- Basic insulation level (BIL)
- Insulation coordination
- Arrester theory and design/selection and application
Overcurrent Protection on Underground Systems
- Types and characteristics of faults
- Fuse selection and coordination
(will come with fuse selection exercise)
Operation and Maintenance of Underground Systems
- Cable locating and marking
- Switching operations
- Cable replacement vs. rejuvenation
- Physical and infrared testing of equipment
- Preventive maintenance methods
Course Schedule
Registration Date/Time:
9/23/2025 7:30am Central Time
Event Dates/Times:
- 9/10/2025 8:00am - 5:00pm Central Time
- 9/11/2025 8:00am - 5:00pm Central Time
- 9/12/2025 8:00am - 3:00pm Central Time
Location
Venue
Accommodations
Room: rates start at 183
Group Code: Use the ONLINE RESERVATION link below
Reserve by: Aug. 19, 2025
Accommodations include:
Additional Information
This course is taught in-person only in Madison, WI.
Active attendance is required to receive the course certificate. Seats are limited. Please enroll now if you are interested and avoid being waitlisted.
Program Director & Instructors
Program Director
Kevin Rogers
Michael Smalley
Principal Engineer
Mike Smalley has 28 years of electric utility engineering experience. The last 20 years have been focused on underground electrical distribution materials and standards, with a primary responsibility of low and medium-voltage underground cable systems. He is a senior member of the IEEE insulated conductors committee and a past chair of the AEIC cable engineering committee. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering technology from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and a M.S. in engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Mike is a registered professional engineer in the state of Wisconsin.
Thomas Callsen
Principal Engineer/Consulting Engineer
Thomas Callsen has over 30 years of related utility experience. During his 25 years at Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), Thomas held numerous engineering roles, culminating as a principal engineer/consulting engineer in the distribution standards department where he was responsible for distribution transformers, capacitors, fuses, reclosers and distribution automation hardware. In 2006 Thomas received DistribuTECH’s prestigious “Project of the Year Award” for his “Distribution Center in a Box” substation. In 2009 he received the award again for industry’s first real-time overhead fault indicator communicating over a mesh network radio system. (Both products are now commercially available.) He received a US patent for the invention of the DC in a Box transformer design. Thomas is a senior member of the IEEE and an active member of the IEEE transformer committee that writes the industry standards for transformers in North America. Thomas holds a BSEE from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and is a licensed professional engineer.
Kevin Rogers
Program Director
Kevin Rogers is an electrical engineer with a background in electrical power systems. He is a registered professional engineer, and his 18 years of industry experience spans across electric utility, government, commercial, and industrial applications. His technical responsibilities have included design and commissioning of mission-critical facilities, underground medium voltage distribution planning, design, and operations, high-voltage substation design, and relaying protection and control for complex interconnections.