2012 IEEE  Orlando, Florida

May 7 – 10, 2012

ECP Utility, Booth #781

Please join us in our Booth #781, during the 2012 IEEE Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition. ECP Utility will be displaying Transmission and Distribution Anchors proudly manufactured in the USA.  In addition, we will have a live demonstration of our Digital Wireless Torque Monitor in our booth.

ECP Utility offers USA made T/D anchors. In addition we offer Light Pole Foundations, Pole Line Hardware and Torque Monitoring Devices.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), an association dedicated to advancing innovation and technological excellence for the benefit of humanity, is the world’s largest technical professional society. It is designed to serve professionals involved in all aspects of the electrical, electronic and computing fields and related areas of science and technology that underlie modern civilization.

IEEE is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. IEEE and its members inspire a global community through IEEE's highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities. 

IEEE’s roots, however, go back to 1884 when electricity was just beginning to become a major force in society. There was one major established electrical industry, the telegraph, which—beginning in the 1840s—had come to connect the world with a communications system faster than the speed of transportation. A second major area had only barely gotten underway—electric power and light, originating in Thomas Edison’s inventions and his pioneering Pearl Street Station in New York. By 2010, IEEE had over 395,000 members in 160 countries. Through its worldwide network of geographical units, publications, web services, and conferences, IEEE remains the world's largest technical professional association.

ECP Utility looks forward to seeing you in Orlando

T/D Anchors and Hardware 

Made in USA is very important to ECP Utility (A division of Earth Contact Products). We are very proud to proclaim that our manufactured products are Made in the USA with steel and workers that are all American. As a manufacturer that supplies the majority of our products to USA corporations and companies we take this responsibility very seriously and are proud to do so, especially when so many seek cheap foreign products with no regard  to quality or consistency.

As the US economy continues to struggle ECP has seen others attempt to deceive with various claims of product origin. To us, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), it is fairly simple. Use raw materials that are Made in USA, employ USA workers and technology to manufacture the final product and display the Made in USA label.

The following is from www.FTC.gov - The FTC is charged with preventing deception and unfairness in the marketplace. The FTC Act gives the Commission the power to bring law enforcement actions against false or misleading claims that a product is of U.S. origin. Traditionally, the Commission has required that a product advertised as Made in USA be "all or virtually all" made in the U.S. After a comprehensive review of Made in USA and other U.S. origin claims in product advertising and labeling, the Commission announced in December 1997 that it would retain the "all or virtually all" standard. The Commission also issued an Enforcement Policy Statement on U.S. Origin Claims to provide guidance to marketers who want to make an unqualified Made in USA claim under the "all or virtually all" standard and those who want to make a qualified Made in USA claim.

ECP Utility is the only anchor supplier for the electric utility industry that can proudly display the Made in USA label on all of its anchors and poleline hardware products. From power installed anchors to rock, no wrench and square bar anchors, ECP Utility not only has a full line of anchoring products but also the technical and practical support for everyone from linemen, engineers and electric utility companies. USA made anchors is our primary business, contact ECP Utility at 800-325-9375 or at www.ECPutility.com

Southern Company invited ECP Utility to help with their testing efforts on tranmission line guy anchors at their Alabama Power, Calera, AL facility. In their never ending quest for constant improvement Southern Company has asked ECP Utility division to witness anchor installations and help design testing criteria for guy anchors.

ECP Utility openly obliged the request and  spent the day reviewing installation practices along with meeting with representatives from NEETRAC, Alabama Power and Georgia Power. ECP Utility also introduced their Smart Anchor Monitor (ECP SAM) during the field installation. The ECP SAM has the ability to monitor and record torque, depth, speed of installation and angle of installation on any anchor installation equipment. This unique device has proven very reliable and invaluable to linemen and design engineers alike. 

At one point during the field installation demostration, when the linemen thought they had a broken anchor, the ECP SAM showed that they had actually only hit a soft spot int he soil. When encouraged to keep the installation going the linemen quickly realized that the anchor found a new, tougher soil layer to reach torque requirement in. Upon reviewing the recorded data it was clearly noted that the guy anchor penetrated a 4-5 foot layer of soft soil embeded between two stiff layers of clay. The installing linemen agreed that the ECP SAM would be a valuable timesaving addition to their toolbox.

ECP Utility looks forward to working with everyone at Southern Company and NEETRAC on all future testing and design criteria for transmission line anchors.

Earth Contact Products has always been a leader in the industry when it comes to user friendly designs. This is readily apparent when it comes to our cutting edge technology on helix anchors. Designed and Engineered to Perform is our philosophy and it is the strategy that ECP uses throughout our Concept, Design, Manufacturing and Installation procedures. The ECP cutting edge is just one of the reasons the electric utility industry relies on Earth Contact Products.

 You can count on all ECP guy anchors to incorporate our cutting edge technology. ECP places a cutting edge on each helix that helps each anchor to slice through the soil much easier than the competitors’ blunt edge. This becomes especially important during hot and dry summer months when the soil has consolidated and becomes very hard. Our cutting edge will still slice its way through these hard soils and pull the anchor down to its designed depth. The ECP cutting edge works very similar to a knife like edge without adversely affecting the anchors performance.

The ECP cutting edge technology is also employed in our “sea-shell” style helix plates. Sea-shell anchors are designed to help anchors advance through cobbled and hard soil layers. When combined with the cutting edge technology the sea-shell helix plates can be advanced into some weather limestone layers. The combination of the helix shape and the cutting edge allows ECP anchors to supply large holding capacities in soils that anchors normally could not penetrate. Once again we have proven to the electric utility industry that the products manufactured by ECP are Designed and Engineered to Perform.

In an industry that is known as stodgy, old, immobile and other not-so-pleasant descriptions there is one company that is breaking the mold and becoming progressive. Ironically enough the company’s name is Progress Energy, and they have introduced a open online energy community in the form of a blog.

According to Progress Energy “the goal for this new online energy community is to be a place where everyone from government policy experts to soccer moms can come together to learn about technology, discuss our shared experiences and help chart the path forward to a new energy future”.

On this Energy Forum you will find:

·         A new blog to be a springboard for discussing innovative ideas and tough energy challenges;

·         An open discussion forum where you can ask and respond to questions; and

·         Informational pages on various energy sources and topics that will grow and expand with time.

The Raleigh-based Progress Energy is providing and maintaining the Energy Forum that is open to discussing hot-button energy issues in an uncensored manner.

The sign-up process is simple and can be accessed by clicking on Energy Forum

 
What you can expect:

·         Timely, honest responses to your questions and comments;

·         Genuine effort to have a two-way conversation and not just a billboard to post our achievements;

·         Engagement of outside voices – and not always people we agree with; and

·         Variety of topics and issues but a special emphasis on renewable energy resources.

What we ask of you:

·         Follow the community guidelines and respect each other’s views;

·         Provide thoughtful and engaging insights and questions; and

·         Promote the Energy Forum to your friends and colleagues – the more the merrier.

The Energy Forum provides a progressive way for a large electric utility company to provide information and an open dialog about issues that affect each and everyone of us. No longer can we say that our local utility is not listening or concerned about your views. Progress Energy is leading the way towards a new generation of concerned businesses in rapidly evolving times. As a vendor to Progress Energy, ECP Utility is proud to be associated with such a forward thinking company.

About Earth Contact Products

ECP is a leading specialized manufacturing company, providing products for the civil construction, electric power, natural gas and pipeline and telecommunication industries. The company's comprehensive product offering include guy wire anchors, light pole and tower foundations, foundation repair and pipeline support anchors nationwide. Additionally, ECP provides preliminary engineering and design support for customers and engineers of record. Based in Olathe, KS ECP provides distribution throughout North America. ECP has the manpower, resources and expertise to provide products to projects that are local, regional, national or international in scope.  For more information, please go to http://www.earthcontactproducts.com/ or www.ECPUtility.com

History will note the spring of 2011 being riddled with tornados. Not just the big spring storms the race through Kansas and Oklahoma every spring, but huge man killing tornados all across the South. Tornados that create so much havoc and destruction that, reporters liken the damage to a war zone. These tornados attack cities and homes without conscience or bias.

April 22^nd, 2011 – St. Louis Lambert Field is devastated by tornados. Tornadoes were reported in several counties in the St. Louis area, and at one point utility company Ameren Missouri reported more than 47,000 power outages, with another 7,000 reported in Illinois.

Ameren Services of Missouri had restored power to essentially all customers impacted by outages resulting from this severe storm by April 26^th. The company has deactivated its Emergency Operations Center as power restoration efforts and cleanup work continue in its final stages.

April 27^th, 2011 – Storms and tornadoes have left more than 10,000 Alabama Power customers with so much damage to their homes that they are unable to receive power from the company. In hundreds of cases, the homes that Alabama Power served no longer exist. In all, 412,000 customers were without power at the peak of the storms. The historic tornadoes and severe weather damaged or destroyed more than 5,200 poles and more than 400 transmission system structures. In addition, more than 300 substations lost power and six substations were either destroyed or suffered significant damage. In many places, the electrical system has to be completely rebuilt.

The unsung heros are the linemen who work tirelessly to restore our power. Crews from Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and the Carolinas joined Alabama Power crews and support staff in the effort to restore power to all customers. At the peak of the restoration operation, about 10,000 personnel were working across Alabama Power territory to restore power.

May 23, 2011 - Empire's electrical system has sustained severe damage due to the devastating tornado that tore through Joplin. As Empire Electric continues to make assessments to their system, but both Empire crews and contractor crews are making repairs. Reports of nearly 100 deaths and hundreds of injuries continue to pour in from this killer storm. Approximately 20,000 Empire customers have reported a loss of power as crews feverishly work to restore power to critical infrastructure.

The product demands of these storms are felt across the nation by those who supply products to our electrical infrastructure. Many manufactures, like ECP Utility, gear up to keep the supply of guy anchors and pole line hardware available to the Utility Companies. Jeff Wilkinson, ECP Utility spokesman, said “our production lines are constantly churning our product to keep up with the demand”. Wilkinson went on to say “while these storms put a strain on the raw material supply, we are working with steel mills to make sure that we can supply everyone’s needs in a timely manner”.

While history will likely remember 2011 as the year of the killer tornados, those close to the electric utility industry will remember this year as a year full of challenges for the unsung heroes within the industry. From suppliers to engineers and linemen, many will spend sleepless nights working to help homeowners and cities regain power so that recovery can start.