Top Design Firms Named

Congratulations to the team for again being listed among the EC&M Magazine Top 40 Electrical Design Firms and the Engineering News-Record  Top 500 Design Firms!  This year, Commonwealth was particularly excited to be profiled among the EC&M  Top 10 firms, coming in at #8. 

It is always an honor to appear alongside such talented and impressive firms!  We certainly are passionate about what we do and proud to serve the electric utility industry, municipalities, industrial clients, and some of the world's most prestigious educational, healthcare, and research institutions.

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IEEE in the Windy City

In just a few short weeks, we'll be in Chicago for IEEE PES T&D Conference and Expo 2014!  If you're planning to join us for some green screen fun and a complimentary souvenir photos, and haven't already done so, you might want to check out and download the official app.  With the app, you can:

• 
  
• Easily locate Commonwealth at Booth 8033 (hint, hint!)
• Populate a schedule of other things you’d like to attend/see
• Explore a list of exhibitors with information about each and the ability to “favorite” the exhibitor, schedule a visit with them, and/or get directions to their booth
• View various maps -- exhibits, halls, hotels, etc.
• View technical program session info, locations, duration and more
• See a list of speakers, their employers, and when/where they’ll be speaking
• Access general information about shuttles, the schedule, special events, etc.
• View and contribute to a photo gallery
• Follow and contribute to a live Twitter stream using the hashtag #TandD2014
• Download and view handouts and videos
• Scan QR codes for more information
• Figure out where you are in relation to another point
• View an easy-to-follow ordered map of the exhibitors you choose to bookmark to make the most of your time
• Discover local Chicago attractions
• Follow “IEEE PES T&D Conference” on Facebook, and check-in on Facebook when you arrive, for the latest postings there and to contribute to that page
• Post on LinkedIn regarding the conference 

It's a great resource -- I hope you'll check it out!  See you in Chicago!

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Giving thanks

 

Maybe it's because Thanksgiving is right around the corner, or maybe it has something to do with the great news we received recently, but Commonwealth is just bursting at the seams with gratitude these days!

First, let us just say how very much we appreciate you -- our clients, employees, future employees, retirees, friends, and...most of all...our families.

To our clients...thank you for the opportunity to provide you with engineering and support services.  We enjoy getting to know you on job sites and golf courses, at restaurants, and in your offices or ours.  We value your time and work to continually earn the trust you place in us. 

To our employees...thank you for your commitment to Commonwealth and for giving your very best every day to achieve our shared vision of being a recognized leader, the preferred consultant, and the employer of choice in the markets we serve.

To our retirees...thank you for the extraordinary 25 years we celebrated this summer!  We are grateful for your participation in our events and for your willingness to mentor others.

To our future employees...thank you for considering employment with Commonwealth.  We can't wait to see what the future holds.

To our friends and family...a very special thank you for your support and encouragement as we pursue a career we love, even when it takes us on the road or keeps us at work a bit later than planned.  You make it all worthwhile.

Lastly, one more thank you to our employees.  It's a big one!  THANK YOU for your wonderful feedback on the Workplace Dynamics survey.  Because of you driving us to be the very best and your willingness to share your thoughts and feelings, Commonwealth can proudly say we are a Detroit Free Press 2013 Top 100 Workplace! 

What are you most thankful for this year?

From the Commonwealth Family to yours --

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

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25 Years...and Counting!

This July, Commonwealth celebrated 25 years of being an employee-owned engineering firm providing world-class consulting expertise to the electric power industry and our utility, municipal, institutional, and industrial clients.  You can read more about this particularly meaningful milestone on p. 28 (p. 30 of the .pdf) of Jackson Magazine's August issue. 

The festivities included monthly fun activities, the official unveiling of new glass panels in our hallway of history; a Friday evening gala at the newly renovated Robert Snyder Hall in Jackson College's impressive Potter Center, where we recognized our founding shareholders and employees; and a spectacular day full of food, frolicking, and fun at our employee family picnic on the grounds of our headquarters in Jackson, Michigan. 

We feel truly honored to work with such accomplished colleagues, many of whom serve on the committees setting tomorrow's industry standards, and even more honored to be given the trust and loyalty of our outstanding clients -- among them major utilities, industrial leaders, and some of the world's most prestigious educational and healthcare institutions. 

Here is a look back at some of the best memories from this past week...we hope you enjoy them!

 



On Thursday, President Dennis DeCosta proudly revealed
 two new commemorative panels representing the past 25 years.











Friday evening's gala attendees enjoyed the culinary delights of
Continental Services before the program.



 

 

Guests raved about the humorous delivery of keynote speaker, author,
and former professional comedian, Garrison Wynn.

 

 

 

 Saturday's family picnic included: two bands, one dessert contest, a pinewood

derby championship, inflatables for kids, and the Great Anniversary Giveaway.

 

 

 

25 years meant 25 lucky employees took home 25 very cool prizes.

 

The other winner was the fight against cancer, as President DeCosta
and the VPs took to the dunk tank to raise money for Relay for Life.

 

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Utilities and system protection

 

Protective relaying work directly impacts system reliability.  In fact, you could say that it's the insurance policy for protecting the assets of a utility.  That’s why it’s vitally important that the consultant a utilities hires possesses the necessary expertise and judgment to make the right call, and can easily adopt the preferred standards and protection practices used at that utility.  Protective relaying is not something learned in a standard electrical engineering curriculum.  It takes years of practice to become competent. 
 

Expertise

Charles Mason aptly described protective relaying as both an art and science.  That’s because there is not a singular, scientifically-proven “best approach” to setting relays.  In fact, there occasionally are circumstances in which perfect coordination and protection simply cannot be achieved and the engineer is required to make a judgment call.  (Fortunately for our clients, Commonwealth's roots in the industry date back to 1888 and we have engineers with over 40 years in the business, so we bring a wealth of knowledge to client projects and have a proven track record of making the right call.) 
 

Insight

Modern digital relays are complex.  Each client will have unique features used, philosophy, settings criteria, and relay set up.  This “tribal knowledge,” developed over the years, may not even be known to all internal engineers.  We are helping clients to capture and document this knowledge, and providing a more rigorous, standardized format for presenting study results.  We also help translate this knowledge into standards that enable consistent relay setting by utility employees or consultants.
 
Software
There are two major protection software programs in the electric utility transmission system arena – CAPE and ASPEN OneLiner^TM.  With nearly a 2-to-1 utility market share, ASPEN is considered quite user-friendly. CAPE is more robust in modeling capability and running system simulations, but requires a steep learning curve and is more difficult to learn compared with ASPEN.  Commonwealth is one of a very few consultants highly experienced with both.  
 

Here are the Top 10 reasons to connect with Commonwealth for system protection services:

 

1)     We can be a seamless extension of your staff, following your utility’s philosophy and settings criteria.

2)     You get the benefit of our extensive experience with CAPE & ASPEN.

3)     You can trust us to review your settings or utility practices for NERC compliance.

4)     We can perform your system wide upgrades, including design work, updating protection standards, and relay studies and analysis to provide the relay settings.

5)     You can address the increasingly important arc flash issues by using the automated process we developed in CAPE to efficiently perform calculations in the utility environment.

6)     You can tap into our experience with analyzing event files from digital relays for troubleshooting or independent review of relay settings to diagnose misoperations.

7)     We can provide databases and data management to build combined short circuit models using data from both CAPE and ASPEN users.

8)     We have extensive field experience with commissioning and testing of new relaying systems.

9)     We can provide protection studies, coordination, arc flash, and troubleshooting for power plant electrical systems.

10)  We can help you with overflow work or get you through a period of new staff development.
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Commonwealth New Board Members Announced

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 13, 2013

Contact: Kelly Engler (517) 768-7137

 

 

Commonwealth Welcomes New Board Members

 

JACKSON, MI - Commonwealth is pleased to announce that Samuel R. Barnes, P.E. and Robert J. Millies, P.E. have been newly elected to the company's Board of Directors.

Samuel R. Barnes, P.E.

With over 22 years in the industry, Barnes is Vice President of Power Generation and Energy at Commonwealth.  He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Jackson College, as JC’s Representative on the Board of Directors for The Dahlem Conservancy, and as President of the Jackson Cascades Lions Club.

Robert J. Millies, P.E.

 Millies, a civil engineer, is a Section Manager in Commonwealth’s Transmission and Distribution Line Engineering Department.  He has been with Commonwealth for over 15 years and in the industry for over 20.  Millies serves as Secretary for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Transmission Line Construction Working Group.

Commonwealth is proud to recently have been ranked 9th in the nation among the 2013 Top 40 Engineering Design Firms by EC&M Magazine.  We provide solutions for utilities, municipalities, industrial clients, and world-class educational and healthcare institutions.  This year the corporation celebrates its 25th Anniversary as an employee-owned company.  Headquartered in Jackson, Michigan, the company has offices in Mount Vernon, Washington; Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; and Roanoke, Virginia.
 

# # #

 

Commonwealth Associates, Inc.  I PO Box 1124, Jackson, MI 49204 I 517-788-3000 I www.cai-engr.com

For more information, please visit: www.cai-engr.com.

On Facebook at: www.facebook.com/commonwealthassociates

On Twitter at: www.twitter.com/caiengr_dot_com

Top Design Firm Rankings Announced

Last month, we learned that we had again made Engineering News-Record's Top 500 Design Firm list, so the question became how could we possibly repeat such excitement this month? 

By making the 2013 Top 40 Design Firm list put out by EC&M Magazine, of course!  This year, we come in at 9th in the nation...not too shabby!

Of course, this would not be possible without the loyal support of our clients, and the absolute passion for, and commitment to, technical excellence in engineering by our dedicated staff of employee-owners.  To them all we say a very big, very heartfelt THANK YOU!

New rankings out today!

 

Most days around here are really good (although we almost unanimously agree that real "Spring" can arrive any time now), but you know it's going to be a particularly exceptional day when you see your name up 39 spots in the Top 500 Design Firm List put out by McGraw Hill's Engineering News-Record.  

We think the formula's really pretty simple...combine technical excellence with world-class client service, all for a fair price. 

To see the complete list: http://enr.construction.com/toplists/Top-Design-Firms/001-100.asp

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Getting the green light

Susquehanna-Roseland line

Just this week, a project in which we are involved was in the news as having received court approval to proceed: http://www.northjersey.com/news/NJ_court_OKs_transmission_line_upgrades_in_the_Highlands.html?c=y&page=1.  

This project involves designing a new 45-mile double-circuit 230 kV/500 kV steel pole transmission line to replace an existing 230 kV transmission line on a narrow 150-foot-wide right-of-way.   A portion of the line has to remain energized during construction to keep a substation fed from two sources.   The remaining line will be constructed in a way that will allow the re-energization of the line in a 14-hour turn-around time frame.

 

Commonwealth has provided an electrical effects analysis; assistance with permitting; and design that entails traversing the Delaware Water Gap area, crossing existing transmission lines, and interconnecting to a new 500 kV switching station.  Commonwealth also was involved with the alternative route analysis and the preferred route evaluation.   A feasibility report and cost estimates were prepared initially for the preferred route, and then the design began.   Commonwealth also assisted in the permitting documentation phase.

 

The final deliverables will be a construction package for the entire line and support by Commonwealth during construction.   The structures are double-circuit tubular steel poles, sometimes mini-legged design, and double-circuit lattice towers.   The 500 kV circuit consists of four-bundle 1590 kcmil “Falcon” ACSR. The heights of the structure were required to be less than 200 feet.  This project began in 2008 and is ongoing.

 

We are pleased to be a part of the work taking place to help the client meet reliability standards while being good environmental stewards.

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DeCosta named 2012 Outstanding Engineer

 

 

 

 

DeCosta to Receive Southeast Michigan IEEE Power and Energy Society Award

 

Commonwealth is delighted to announce that President Dennis F. DeCosta, P.E., will receive the 2012 Outstanding Engineer Award from the Southeastern Michigan chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power and Energy Society (IEEE-PES).  The award will be presented on January 28, 2013 in Southfield, Michigan. 

DeCosta has a long history of involvement in establishing new standards for the industry, including chairing a Substation Committee Working Group and authoring articles in industry publications.  DeCosta was among the founders of Commonwealth when it began in 1988.  He assumed the role of President in 2001.  Under his leadership, the company has grown to 260 employees in six states: California, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington.  “I enjoy what I do and sharing that passion with others,” said DeCosta, “I thank the chapter for their industry leadership and for this honor."

 

We are proud of Dennis' accomplishments and congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition. 

 

For more information about the award, please visit: http://ieee-pes.org/chapters/resources/awards/power-and-energy-society-awards/outstanding-engineer-award

# # #

A very special year

 

When the ball drops as tonight turns into January 1, revelers the world over will be celebrating the successes of 2012 and the opportunities that lie ahead in the New Year.  Commonwealth will have an extra special reason to celebrate -- 2013 marks our 25th Anniversary of being employee-owned.

Beginning in January, and running through mid-July, we'll be kicking off the festivities with fun monthly activities for employees at each of our locations.  On July 26th, we'll be hosting a party and hearing from dynamic speaker Garrison Wynn at Jackson Community College's Potter Center, in the newly-renovated Robert Snyder Dining Hall.  A legacy gift will be presented honoring all founding shareholders and original employees.  The celebration will conclude on July 27th with a casual employee family picnic on the grounds of our headquarters in Jackson, Michigan.  We couldn't be more excited!  We hope you will take a few minutes now and again to visit our pages -- on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and here -- to watch as this exciting year unfolds.

Whether 2012 year was your best year ever, saw some struggles, or landed somewhere in between, we now close the book on another chapter and, with gratitude and optimism, wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

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Wishing You Joy

SEE you in Atlanta!

Commonwealth is proud to be a sponsor of the Southeastern Electric Exchange (S.E.E.) Engineering & Operation, Accounting, Customer Billing & Finance Annual Conference and Trade Show, which will take place this week in Atlanta.  The S.E.E. Annual Conference attracts executives and decision makers from leading American utilities.

From 6/20-22, Commonwealth will have staff members on-hand to meet with attendees and will be sponsoring the following session prizes:

• General Session -- A top-selling Amazon Kindle Fire
• Transmission Session -- A handsome leather portfolio and a $40 Amazon gift card
• Substation Session -- A handsome leather portfolio and a $40 Amazon gift card

If you plan to attend, we warmly invite you to look us up while you're there.  Good luck and we look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!
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More winners and pictures from Orlando

Commonwealth is pleased to announce the remaining Kindle Fire winners from Orlando:  G.T. Heydt, Franklin Lu, Dan Chaply, and Brian Booker.  Professor Heydt is the Regents' Professor and Center Director for the Power Systems Engineering Research Center at Arizona State University.  Mr. Lu is  Principal Engineer for System Planning and Protection with Snohomish County PUD.  Mr. Chaply is with PPL Electric Utilities.  Mr. Booker, T&D Lead at Arizona Public Service, is seen below with Commonwealth's Darryl Sentell.  Congratulations to all of our Kindle winners and a big "Thank you!" for visiting our booth and playing along.

G.T. Heydt

L-R: Franklin Lu, Dan Chaply

L-R: Brian Booker, Darryl Sentell

The team had a wonderful time in Orlando and after working hard for several days, decided to take a minute to relax their feet and enjoy the booth's comfy seats.

On Fire at IEEE in Orlando

We are pleased to announce the winners of our 2012 IEEE PES T&D Conference Kindle Fire Giveaway in Orlando!  Seen below with Commonwealth's Vice President of Business Development, Linda Gray, are winners Bob Sier and Ricardo Rodriquez.  Bob is an engineer in Substation Services with ATC.  Ricardo is an engineer with San Diego Gas & Electric.  Congratulations to both!

L-R: Bob Sier, Linda Gray

L-R: Ricardo Rodriquez, Linda Gray

Commonwealth's team is having a great time visiting with friends and making new ones, sharing the exciting new happenings at Commonwealth, and honing their expertise in the various technical sessions.  Among those in attendance is Steve Miller, seen below.  If you see Steve around Booth 955, you'll want to ask him how our newest transmission planning software releases in the Transmission Grid AnalyticsTM family -- namely Mapping and Cascade Analysis -- can help you plan smarter and easier.

Stephen S. Miller, P.E.

Conferences, Speakers, and Expos -- Oh My!

This week, we're in sunny Orlando, Florida, for the IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution Conference and Expo.  It's certainly warm and only getting hotter as our booth visitors can register to win a hot new Kindle Fire.  On top of that, we're spicing things up by giving away tasty spice blend packets again this year.  You can find great recipes on our website to put those spices to the test.

Next week, we'll be in Baltimore, Maryland, for Electric Power 2012 where Commonwealth's Vice President of Power & Energy, Sam Barnes, will be co-presenting "My Coal Ash Pond Will Be Closed - What Do I Do With the Wastewater?" in a session about power plant wastewater and environmental compliance.

Last week, Commonwealth's Ian Hutt co-presented "Using Locational Marginal Prices to Estimate Real-Time Emissions From Electricity Use" to the Michigan Association of Hazardous Materials Professionals with Michelle Rogers, a graduate student at Wayne State University.

So, as you can see, we're not letting any grass grow under our feet.  Check back often to learn more about what we're doing to share knowledge, actively participate in the industry, and have fun in the process.

Week's End Website Trivia

In case you missed it, we've launched a brand new website!  You can check it out here.

For those playing our Commonwealth Trivia game, the answer to our website trivia question follows.

Q:  In what year did the Foote brothers construct the Croton Dam?

A:  In 1908, the Croton Dam was constructed with a new, unbelievably high voltage (110 kV) transmission line, prompting engineers from as far away as Russia, France, England, Japan, and Italy to travel to Michigan to see the new line and meet its designers.

ELECTRIC POWER 2012 Registration Discount

Planning to register for ELECTRIC POWER 2012 May 15-17 in Baltimore, Maryland?  If so, Commonwealth's Vice President of Power Generation & Energy, Sam Barnes, would like to extend a special discount to you.  Simply click here and enter VIP code SBARNES to save $100 on your full conference registration.  Please feel free to share this information with your friends and colleagues.

Sam will be speaking at the conference on Wednesday, May 16th in Session 8B - Water and Wastewater Issues.

If you have any questions or need assistance registering, please contact the ELECTRIC POWER registration team at registration@tradefairgroup.com or (713) 343-1876.  Please be sure to provide them your VIP code so that you receive your discount.  

Commonwealth Soars in Top 500 Ranking

What an exciting way to end the week!

Influential industry authority, Engineering News-Record, has released its highly-respected 2012 Top 500 Design Firms list and Commonwealth has secured a coveted spot again this year, as determined by annual revenue.  Even more exciting is that we've moved up 61 spots from last year's ranking!

Commonwealth President, Dennis F. DeCosta released the following statement today:

Power projects -- who benefits, who pays?

Yesterday, an article came out suggesting that Wisconsin ratepayers are upset with potentially paying for a power line project which, if authorized by the Midwest system operator, they assert will benefit Michigan and which came about in response to a blackout which took place last year in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.).

"It appears that customers in Wisconsin may be paying for the project, and most of the benefits go to the U.P., to customers in another state," said Charlie Higley, executive director of the Citizens' Utility Board.

Recently, we posted about Commonwealth's Steve Miller presenting a paper on the potential for MISO multi-value projects to provide a benefit to Michigan as one of the featured speakers at the Michigan Forum on Economic Regulatory Policy put on by Michigan State University's Institute of Public Utilities.  Given its relation to the conversation taking place in Wisconsin, we present the paper again here.