Electrical Engineer and Utilities Operations consultant with many years of forensic, utility and project management experience. He is an experienced investigator, engineering reviewer, and engineering manager. He has extensive experience as a senior project engineer with substation design, construction management, customer engineering and system planning experience.
Mr. Simpson has experience with all phases of utility operations including design, distribution, transmission, substation, relaying, generation, plant accounting, systems planning and materials management. He designed and built the first multi story SF-6 gas bus substation involving 69 kV high pressure oil filled pipe type cable supply in the Washington, DC area.; and oil and paper supply feeders include 13kV paper and lead, 34kV and 69kV low-pressure oil filled cable, 69kV, 138kV, and 230kV high-pressure oil filled pipe type cable. Experience also includes a number of 34kV and 69kV low-pressure oil filled cable river crossings involving armored cable, divers, long high-tension pulls and very critical time schedules. Construction scheduling and coordinating at project and corporate levels. Computer system development for construction scheduling and materials management systems. Materials management experience includes corporate purchasing, stores, inventory control, investment recovery, materials systems and disposal of hazardous waste.
Has acted as an arbitrator and given testimony in depositions and in court.
Academic Background
- B.E.E., Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, Villanova University, 1962
- Graduate Courses, Protective Relaying, U.S. Department of Agriculture 1963-1964
- College of Business Administration Management Development Program, Northeastern University 1983-1984
- Southeastern Electric Exchange Utility Management Program
- Taught Materials Management, University of Tennessee Utility Program
- Taught Fault Tree Analysis, Zurich-American Risk Engineering, 1991
Professional Experience
- Electrical Engineer and Utilities Operations consultant, RTI Group, LLC, Annapolis, MD, 2005 – present.
- Electrical Engineer and Utilities Operations consultant, Reynolds Technologies International/FTI Consulting, Annapolis, MD, 2003 – 2005.
- President and Principal Engineer, private consulting, 1997 – present. Investigates electrical contact cases and electrical engineering questions. Focus on utility-related issues dealing with electrical contact, code interpretations, emergency response to system distributions, power and distribution dispatching issues. Cases include electrical contacts involving ladders, cranes, aerial trucks, telephone trucks, cable TV, gas and electrical personnel and the general public. Electrical failure of power plant and substation switchgear, transformers, commercial equipment including switchgear, switchboards, power cables and residential services. Safety reviews electrostatic spraying systems, fire truck electrical systems, and electrical origin fires. Conducts safety surveys, reviews joint line agreements and arbitrates disputes based on electrical issues.
- Consulting Director, Utility Group, FTI Corporation, Annapolis, Maryland, 1990-1997. Focus on utility industry, electrical contact, code interpretation and EMF issues. Directs and investigates electrical contact cases, electrical engineering questions and engineering animation presentations. Cases include a wide variety of electrical contacts involving ladders, cranes, aerial trucks, telephones, cable TV, utility personnel and the general public. Safety review of electrostatic spraying equipment, contamination of electrical equipment and electrical origin fire. Safety program surveys of CATV companies and review of joint line agreements, utility contractor agreements, and related safety and contractual issues.
- Materials Manager, Potomac Electric Power Company, Washington, D.C., 1980‑1990. Administered major construction and maintenance contracts for operating groups including production plants, and transmission and distribution systems.
- Project Manager, Materials Management Information System, Potomac Electric Power Company, Washington, D.C., 1979-1980. Directed the development of a corporate system for cataloging, tracking, forecasting, counting, issuing, receiving, and accounting for stock material including computer system development.
- Manager, Construction and Budget Coordination, Potomac Electric Power Company, Washington, D.C., 1972‑1979. Created and managed a department responsible for the development and control of corporate construction expenditures including reporting to the Board of Directors. Directed monthly construction meetings, issued scheduling progress reports, and prepared and explained monthly and annual operating budgets.
- Senior Project Engineer, Substation Design, 1966 – 1972. Designed, built and modified distribution through high voltage substations ranging from 4kV through 500kV. Facilities included specifications and drawings for all major power equipment such as transformers, switchgear, relaying, supervisory, station service, switching and supply considerations. Coordinated with T & D, Civil and Substation engineering on building and feeder requirements. Project Team Member for design of construction management computerized scheduling system.
- Engineer, System Planning, 1962 – 1965. Assisted in the analysis and planning of distribution and subtransmission systems. Performed load flow and system stability analysis. Worked on interconnection high voltage studies involving PJM companies and power dispatching considerations.
Professional Associations
- National Society for Professional Engineers
- Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
- Edison Electric Institute, Materials Management and Procurement Systems Subcommittee
- Southeastern Electric Exchange, Materials Management Task Force
- Purchasing Management Association of Washington, Chairman Ethics; committee to review National Association of Purchasing Management ethics policy
- Utility Purchasing Management Group, Executive Committee
- American Arbitration Association’s Panel of Arbitrators