Protect Your Substation Asset Data: Insights from the City of Ames

Ken Tiarks has been with the City of Ames for over 28 years, currently serving as the Technical Services Supervisor for the City of Ames Electric Department. In this role, he manages the Meter & Relay Division and the Substations Group. The City of Ames operates 11 substations, including 2 transmission substations (161kV – 69kV) and 9 distribution substations (69kV – 13.8kV). The City also generates its own power with two units at the Power Plant: a 72 MW gas unit and a 40 MW gas unit. Additionally, there are two peaker units, a 15 MW unit and a 25 MW unit. The City maintains two transmission tie-lines, with a third interconnection currently under construction. All interconnections are 161kV. 

Ken has been in his current position for 9 years and 7 months, including 4 months as Interim Supervisor. Prior to this role, he worked for 17 years and 10 months as a Meter/Relay Technician for the City. One of Ken's significant accomplishments for the Substation Group has been the implementation of a proactive maintenance program. This program includes a comprehensive check-up of every substation transformer (17 in total) on a 10-15 year rotating schedule. The City utilizes Cascade software to create and track these maintenance schedules, store and catalog all testing results and repairs, and alert the team to any anomalies within preset tolerances.

Paul DiGiulio is a seasoned account manager at DNV Digital Solutions, where he focuses on the electric industry. Based in Fort Collins, CO, Paul is committed to assisting customers in enhancing the inspection and maintenance of critical assets through the use of Cascade software. Paul brings over 8 years of experience working with electric and gas utilities. His career has been marked by his role as a technical resource and project manager, where he has successfully implemented software solutions to optimize utility operations. Paul has partnered with numerous utilities across the United States and internationally, leading large-scale IT deployments of mobile software that have significantly improved operational efficiency and reliability. 

Paul's journey in the utility sector began with his expertise in GIS. This foundational experience allowed him to develop a deep understanding of the complexities and challenges faced by utilities, and he has leveraged this knowledge throughout his career to drive impactful solutions. At DNV Digital Solutions, Paul is passionate about leveraging technology to solve industry challenges and improve asset management practices. His dedication to innovation and his ability to build strong relationships with customers make him a valuable asset to the team and a trusted advisor in the industry.

Mike Beehler P.E. is the national spokesperson for the Power Delivery Intelligence Initiative and the chief opportunity officer for Mike Beehler & Associates LLC. He started his career designing and building transmission lines and substations for Tucson Electric Power and the Hawaiian Electric Co. and then spent more than 20 years designing T&D infrastructure and consulting on emerging trends at Burns & McDonnell. He has written, presented, and consulted on reliability-centered maintenance, critical infrastructure protection, and program management.

In addition, he is a well-known industry writer and speaker on the early definition of the smart grid, 3-D and building information modeling applications in T&D, and development plans for smart cities. Most recently, he is sought for his strategic leadership and vision on the application of emerging technologies in changing business models to include the integration of distributed energy resources, augmented/virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. He authored the book, The Science of the Sale.

Beehler is a registered professional engineer in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Georgia, and Alabama. He also is a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of IEEE and CIGRE.