The beginning idea of the Oklahoma Power and Communications Association belonged to David L. Boneau, then Induction Coordination Specialist for Southwestern Bell Telephone. In attempting to coordinate problems with induced voltages on their system, the total lack of coordination and even communication between utilities became very apparent. Few power companies talked to each other regularly and the same was true for communications organizations. The stockholder owned companies met in groups and the cooperative and privately owned organizations met in their groups. In Oklahoma, there was no common meeting ground or open lines of communications especially between the power and communications industries in Oklahoma. David decided that should be corrected if possible and probably dreamed of how much easier it would make his job to educate several companies at once about the induction problem instead of one at a time.
David started asking power company representatives with which he had coordinated problems for support. He also contacted other telephone companies at professional organization meetings. Out of this group, he achieved at least limited support for a loose knit organization to coordinate power and telephone problems. These individuals agreed to serve on a “Steering Committee” until a formal charter was instituted. The first meeting was November 19, 1980 and the members were:
- David L. Boneau – Southwestern Bell Telephone
- John D. Freed – Oklahoma Gas and Electric
- David M. Garrison – East Central Okla Electric Cooperative
- David Roundtree – Northeast Okla Electric Cooperative
- Charles R. Harvey – Public Service Company of Okla
- Bob Douglas – Allied Telephone
- Ronnie Dane – General Telephone
- Monte R. Lee – Monte R. Lee & Co.
A second meeting was held on January 19, 1981 to plan a Spring 1981 general meeting. Officers were elected from and by the Steering Committee (a practice that continues to this day) and those elected on Jan. 19, 1981 were:
- John D. Freed – President
- David L. Boneau – Secretary and Treasurer
Although some of the group wanted to discuss more than just induction problems, the first meeting covered mainly induction. March 4, 1981 had the first meeting of the “Oklahoma Inductive Coordination Association” at the Ramada Inn then at Reno and Eastern in Oklahoma City. The subjects of the one day meeting were Induced Voltages (how they affect telephone and power systems and how to measure them), Proper Grounding, and Trouble
Shooting Techniques. Boneau, Freed, Garrison, and Lee of the Steering Committee served as the majority of the speakers. The fee was a modest ten dollars with lunch provided (to get the conference room free). Boneau made all the reservations and physical arrangements as he did for the next five years. The meeting was a success and it was agreed to hold another in the fall. There were 80 prepaid registrations from 38 organizations. And most importantly, the finances barely stayed in the black thanks to Boneau’s extensive personal attention and eight paid no-shows.
The end of the first session was a question and answer period that showed considerable interest. To follow the success, the fall 1981 meeting scheduled the first of many very popular panel discussions. The first one addressed specifically coordination problems encountered with joint construction, and perceptions of our obligations and rights concerning other utilities. Nine participants started the discussion and the audience readily joined in. Such has been the case all along.
Spring and fall meetings continue to present, but the format changed in spring 1982 to two four-hour meetings on adjacent days. This allowed travel time both ways and provided an informal evening get together than probably enhanced open communications more than any one other feature. The half hour breaks were also intended to further this goal. Almost immediately after the young O.I.C.A. birth, the idea of a joint test of induced voltages on both power and telephone systems was promoted by Boneau. The first of three joint tests took place near Fairland, Okla. on the Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative system on May 11, 1982. Participants were:
- David L. Boneau – Southwestern Bell Telephone
- David Roundtree – Northeast Okla Electric Cooperative
- David M. Garrison – East Central Okla Electric Cooperative
- Bill McCoy – General Telephone
- Phil Sinnett – Oklahoma Gas and Electric
- Dick Baker – Oklahoma Gas and Electric
- John Cease – Public Service Co. of Oklahoma
- Don Batorsky – Bell Telephone Laboratories
… and several field personnel of the host company.
Subsequent repeats of the tests at Oklahoma City and Okemah only strengthened the data showing a direct correlation between harmonics found in the power system and those measured in the adjacent telephone system. Proof of the validity of the use of ground wire probe measurement to quickly track the causes and effects was one of the major achievements. Inductive interference was shown to be caused as much by the phase angle displacement of the current waveform as the magnitude of the unbalanced ground return current. The data was sampled by spectrum analyzers and stored digitally in the on-board HP computer in the SW Bell induction van for later recall. Photographs and later videotapes were made of subsequent joint tests and used as program material in later semiannual meetings. These test results have been of significant interest to many involved in inductive coordination and are even mentioned in IEEE Standard # 776 (1987) covering Inductive Coordination.
Meeting content built on the knowledge of previous meetings and the sessions were soon split into Technical and Operations slanted meetings. This allowed interested people to attend just the day of their interest which helped keep operating people who claimed the Technical too technical and just for engineers.
Spring 1982 found the group at the Holiday Inn Northwest trying to contain costs. The next meeting moved to the Trade Winds Central at Reno and Eastern where it stayed until 1986. On June 23, 1983, the O.I.C.A. was dissolved by the Steering Committee and a new organization was formed named the Oklahoma Power and Communications Association (O.P.C.A.). This better identified the organization and its purpose. The Steering Committee regretfully accepted the President’s resignation from John Freed and elected new officers which were:
- David L. Boneau – President and Assistant Treasurer
- David M. Garrison – Vice-President
- Monte R. Lee – Secretary and Treasurer
Additionally, four working groups were established to represent the diverse interests of the members and to assist in developing presentations for the semiannual general meetings. The working groups were:
- Inductive Coordination Electrical Protection
- Operational Coordination Joint R/W and Contracts
The character of the meetings never changed. Professional presentations were the norm with a few memorable exceptions. The working groups membership was recruited with difficulty and they were encouraged to meet during or before the general meetings. This met with only limited success. Most members were content to attend the general meetings only but thanks to the dozen or so dedicated people who migrated voluntarily to the Steering Committee, the subject matter of the annual meetings drew good attendance. Shrewd management of the funds available and judicious guarantees at mealtime left the treasury healthier each meeting.
The Steering Committee authorized the establishment of a fund to be used to pay expenses of major out of state speakers and the process has enabled the group to view presentations that widened their horizons. Difficulties with sound systems and seeing visual presentations soon led the group into owning sufficient audio and visual equipment to put on seminars for around 200 participants. Boneau started videotaping sessions with his personal equipment early on and the O.P.C.A. purchased their own equipment in the mid 80’s. Presentations continued with the occasional demonstration until videotaping allowed the demonstrations to be edited.
1986 provided the opportunity for the organization to fail. Boneau had changed jobs within an organization and was unable to continue with the time demands and resigned. His resignation was regretfully accepted and he was persuaded to remain on the Steering Committee. The new officers elected on January 27, 1986 were:
- David M. Garrison – President
- Murray Olsen – Vice President
- Monte Lee (Lynn Merrill) – Secretary
- Phil Dean – Treasurer
David Lee Boneau was presented a plaque as outgoing President, founder, and the driving force of the O.P.C.A. during it’s first five years. The fall 1986 meeting was moved to Meridan Plaza Hotel to provide larger meeting rooms and encouraged by a change of ownership of the Trade Winds and for economic reasons. But the organization has continued to provide the forum for communications between all Oklahoma power and telephone utilities. Both operating and technical people have met and have access to names of counterparts in the sister utility. And they can expect to see them again at the next meeting only six months away.