POWERGRAMS

with galvanized-steel poles. "Alabama Power was the only operating company using weathering-steel poles, which basically depend on a coating of rust to protect the pole from further deterioration," said Transmission Lines Services Manager Jeff Roper. "We made the decision to use standard galvanized-steel poles. In the past, when we purchased galvanized poles, the manufacturer would have to grind off a portion of the galvanizing used by most of the industry and apply a special coating for us. That meant we had to pay additional labor and material costs. Now we're saving money by using the standard galvanized-steel design, and we expect to get a good lifespan out of these poles." The organization also developed a different type of 500-kilovolt transmission tower. Instead of a laicework tower that required a week or more to build, the new design is constructed of poles that can go up in a maer of days. Like Distribution, Transmission has found that using identical materials and equipment is a bonus during storm restoration. "If we all use the same design and the same structures, then our crews can go from Alabama to Georgia or Mississippi and install those structures," said Vicki Chaney, Corporate Headquarters Transmission Lines Services supervisor. "Whether they're puing up a pole or building a tower, they know those structures because they're building them every day." One of the changes Substations made is to adopt a standard design for control houses. "There are federal compliance guidelines coming in the future that will necessitate us to have more hardened system specifications in the design of our substation control houses," Morgan said. "We decided to make some of those changes before they are required, such as adopting a boom- cable method for bringing circuits into the control house." Bringing these standard materials into inventory will be an ongoing effort and could take several years, said Chaney. As items in stock are depleted, they will be replaced by the new materials that meet Southern Company Power Delivery standards. Gilmore said he knows these changes will take time to implement, but it will be worth it. "We've been doing things a certain way for decades and we've been successful," Gilmore said. "And yet, we want to further improve and have made that a top priority. By standardizing our materials and construction applications, we know we can work smarter and beer serve our customers." Power Delivery Senior Vice President Sco Moore said this project has been a team effort, with Power Delivery Materials and Standardization commiees, lead project engineers, Supply Chain Management and Safety and Training working together. "As we look to the future, a significant measure of success will be defined by how effectively and efficiently we run our business," Moore said. "The standardization effort is just one example of how our teams have been engaged to discover opportunities to enhance operations within Power Delivery. Without a doubt, standardization will create synergies that have already proven themselves worthwhile through an extremely difficult storm season in 2020. I appreciate everyone remaining focused on this effort and continuing to discover opportunities to enhance Power Delivery operations." By Carla Davis Hicks puts the finishing touches on a repair. 35

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