2023 AGA Operations Conference & Biennial Exhibition

THE 2023 AGA Operations Conference & Biennial Exhibition was extremely well attended with great conference sessions and a fantastic exhibit floor. The event, which was held in early May in Grapevine, Texas, also had a feeling of a “reunion” as this was the first post-COVID experience where all travel restrictions, company and personal, had been lifted. Damage prevention and excavation safety are always important topics for the AGA and AGA members. Some of the highlights related to these topics included:

· 811 Emergency: Who Really Pays for the $61B in Waste? The 811 Emergency Study, sponsored by the Infrastructure Protection Coalition, calculated $61B in invisible waste imbedded in the damage prevention process. This session explored how these costs migrate to LDCs, what they can do to drive this waste out of the system, and how enforcement at the state level can place costs(s) with whom they originate.
– Presented by Wayne Gould, Senior Consultant with Continuum Capital and Jay Rendos, Director at Continuum Capital.

· Emergency Drills. This presentation discussed how gas teams partnered with local first responders to develop real life emergency scenarios to train and build capabilities.
– Presented by Aaron Coates, Senior Director – System Ops & Maintenance with PG&E and Brandon Cole, Construction Manager with PG&E.

· Establishment and Implementation of a Legacy Cross Bore Program. Delegates learned insights into how Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas began investigating and resolving cross bore damages to underground facilities after horizontal directional drilling (HDD) operations.
– Presented by Edwin King, Manager System Integrity with Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas.

· Leveraging Partnerships with Company Contractors to Enhance Performance in Safety and Quality. Over the past five years, Southwest Gas has enhanced and strengthened partnerships with all contractors to ensure alignment with safety and quality goals. An overview of how Southwest Gas established and maintained partnerships were discussed along with training / qualifications, PSMS, quality control, and performance measures.
– Presented by Carrie Heglund, Manager – Construction Operations Support / Operations Planning & Analysis with Southwest Gas, Justin Naylor, CEO with VW Connect and Kristine Brobst, Senior Director with SHEQ Centuri.

THE ANNUAL AGA OPERATIONS CONFERENCE IS THE NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY’S PREMIER GATHERING OF NATURAL GAS UTILITY AND TRANSMISSION COMPANY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT FROM ACROSS NORTH AMERICA AND THE WORLD FOR THE SHARING OF TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE, IDEAS AND PRACTICES TO PROMOTE THE SAFE, RELIABLE, AND COST-EFFECTIVE DELIVERY OF NATURAL GAS TO THE END-USER.

· Next Practices in Damage Prevention: The Influential Role of Gas Distribution in Reducing Dig-Ins. New research from the Common Ground Alliance detailed how innovators in the gas industry can leverage mapping improvements, technological innovations and thirdparty contracts to reduce damages and positively influence the entire American damage prevention system.
– Presented by Erika Lee, Vice President – Programs & Strategic Initiatives with Common Ground Alliance.

· Pipeline Safety Regulatory Update
– Presented by Christina Sames, Senior Vice President, Safety, Operations and Security with American Gas Association, John Gale, Director – Office of Pipeline Safety – Standards and Rulemaking Division with U.S. DOT / PHMSA

The annual AGA Operations Conference is the natural gas industry’s premier gathering of natural gas utility and transmission company operations management from across North America and the world for the sharing of technical knowledge, ideas and practices to promote the safe, reliable, and cost-effective delivery of natural gas to the end-user. The Operations Conference is AGA’s largest forum with more than 900 operations management in attendance, including 100 speakers, and over 120 technical presentations that run the gamut of topics, such as gas measurement, operations advocacy, safety, environment, storage, engineering, construction and maintenance, gas control, supplemental gas, corrosion control and piping materials.

The 2023 exhibition was held in conjunction with the conference. The exhibition attracted approximately 250 domestic/international vendors occupying 50,000+ square feet of Exhibit Space. For future exhibit inquiries, please contact AGA Exhibit Management at aga@epponline.com.