The 2009 Conference for the Cascade Users Group was held at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon during October 4-8, 2009. Eighty-six Cascade users attended the thirteenth annual conference. Although attendance was lower than last year due to economic considerations, the 42 utilities that were represented enthusiastically pursued new CASCADE features through presentations and hands-on training and nominated many new features. There were a number of new, first-time attendees this year along with many CUG veterans contributing their experience and ideas to the group.

The 35 sessions covered new Cascade features as well as existing Cascade workflows. This year five people took advantage of the Continuing Education Credits program. We had three to four inches of snow on the ground on Sunday, but things dried out and warmed up by Tuesday. The "Introduction to Cascade" session held on Sunday provided a background to the conference sessions held during the rest of the week.

Monday morning presented new features found in the released Cascade 3.31 and gave us a look at some of the exciting changes coming in Cascade 3.4, including Cascade Maps. The User and Partner Showcase was held on Monday afternoon. It was an opportunity for attendees to see demonstrations by Cascade users and ask individual questions. A special thank you to the following Cascade users and partners who took the time to demonstrate their use of Cascade during the Showcase:

• Drew Reindel, Manger T&S Equipment and Maintenance Engineering at PECO, an Exelon company demonstrated "Query and analyze Cascade data using Excel and Microsoft Query."
• Jon Loeliger, Senior Engineer, Asset Information and System Policy at PECO, an Exelon company demonstrated "PECO Energy’s Oil Sampling, Analysis, and Reporting Process."
• Maynard Coulson, Sr. Engineering Technical Analyst at Consumers Energy demonstrated "CHR for Maintenance. Building Condition-based Algorithms to drive maintenance inspections."
• William Vandiver, Meter Technician at Texas-New Mexico Power Company demonstrated "Using Cascade for primary and secondary metering equipment."
• Steve Pylypczak, Cascade Administrator at ComEd, an Exelon company demonstrated "Custom reports, integration reporting, and MxOrders in Passport."
• Janis Harmon, Apparatus Technical Advisor at Idaho Power Company demonstrated "Cascade Training and Documentation materials developed at Idaho Power."
• Barry Rogan, Coordinator & Jeffery White, Lead Analyst at National Grid demonstrated "The value in using Cascade Positions at National Grid."

Also exhibiting during the showcase were the following hardware and software vendors:

• ENOSERV demonstrated viewing relay setting and test records in Cascade with the PowerBase Module.
• Xplore Technologies demonstrated their ruggedized tablet computers with Allvue™ technology.
• Delta-X Research demonstrated Transformer Oil Analyst (TOA4 Online) for managing and interpreting insulating oil dissolved-gas and physical test data.
• Panasonic demonstrated their ruggedized Panasonic ToughBook® portable computers.
• Trimble demonstrated Cascade FieldUnit and PocketPatrol on their rugged portable computers that enable worker to be more efficient in extreme outdoor and industrial environments.

The most interesting sessions always seem to be the topics that directly come from other Cascade users. A special thank you goes to the Cascade users who presented at the Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.

• Brent Wehry from FirstEnergy Corp. presented "Cascade Patrol Validation Rules."
• Susan Clark from San Diego Gas & Electric presented "Cascade 3.31 Upgrade."
• Laurie Hryckiewicz from VELCO presented "Cascade Forms."
• Tony McGrail and Barry Rogan from National Grid presented "Criticality, Health, and Risk Formulas at National Grid."

Tuesday afternoon included the focus groups where attendees interested in specific topics joined small discussion groups. The groups were moderated by the following Cascade users:

• Christine Rohr from Northeast Utilities moderated the Cascade Administration discussion.
• Laddie Arient from Eugene Water & Electric Board moderated the Relays discussion.
• Jeff Woosley from Texas-New Mexico Power and Maynard Coulson from Consumers Energy co-moderated the Substations discussion.
• Jim Anderson from Bonneville Power Administration moderated the Transmission discussion.
• Joe Armstrong from Pasadena Water & Power moderated the Distribution discussion.
• Barry Rogan from National Grid moderated the CARE discussion.

This year, there were ten hands-on Cascade sessions. Conference attendees had the opportunity to use the following features of Cascade in an instructor-lead workflow:

• Using the Cascade-TOA4 Interface
• Using the Schedule Viewer
• Using Cascade Forms
• Using C.A.R.E.
• Using Cascade Maps
• Getting Your Data out of Cascade
• Advanced Reporting Techniques & SQL
• Installing/Upgrading to Cascade 3.31
• Using CHR
• Cascade Tips & Tricks

The Hospitality Suite is a perennial favorite, and this year was no different. The computers and tables in the Suite were in constant use to demonstrate the functionality of Cascade or investigate ways to apply Cascade with the Digital Inspections Team. All members of the Team enjoyed getting to know everyone and discussing ideas for the Cascade Futures.

Another perennial feature of the Conference is the Cascade Futures nomination and voting. Conference attendees nominate features and enhancements they would like to see in future versions of Cascade. At the 2009 Conference over 90 futures items were nominated. Fifteen of the nominations were voted by the attendees as being the most wanted. Send an e-mail message to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to request your copy of the Futures Final Vote for 2009.

We hope everyone learned a lot and had a little bit of fun at this year's conference and look forward to seeing everyone at the 2010 Cascade Users Group Conference.

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