For many years, RUS has published Informational Publication 202-1, "List of Materials Acceptable for Use on Systems of RUS Electrification Borrowers" (List of Materials). We are constantly trying to improve this publication. The following is a summary of the initiatives RUS has started recently and initiatives we plan to undertake to improve the List of Materials.

Already Initiated

1. T&D Materials Subcommittee.  NRECA’s Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Committee has established a new Materials Subcommittee to identify needed improvements in the RUS List of Materials. The Materials Subcommittee has met some three times since formation and has completed a thorough review of the RUS List of Materials and has already provided RUS with valuable feedback.

The subcommittee has identified a number of product categories included in the List of Materials that are outdated and no longer needed RUS is currently considering removal of the items identified as outdated. The subcommittee has also identified a number of new item categories that should be added.

Some of the new items identified by the subcommittee include such materials as fiberglass crossarms, motor-operated switches, more types of anchors, and Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) equipment. The RUS staff is currently evaluating some of these items for possible listing. This evaluation involves developing requirements under which Technical Standards Committee "A" would consider prospective manufacturers' products. As soon as these requirements are developed and Technical Standards Committee "A" agrees, RUS staff will begin inviting manufacturers known to produce these products to submit applications for RUS acceptance consideration.

The Materials Subcommittee also advised that it was requesting that NRECA establish a WEB site repository whereby NRECA members could post requests for information about various products and, conversely, provide feedback on the performance of various products. This new tool would also allow the Materials Subcommittee and the other T&D Subcommittees to pass subcommittee minutes, action item notices, and enable them to function faster and more effectively. RUS believes that the WEB site will be invaluable in helping identify new categories of products of significant and growing interest to borrowers.

2. RUS WEB Listing.  RUS has included the List of Materials on the RUS WEB site at:

http://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/listof.htm

Currently a borrower can connect to this site and download the entire list as an Adobe Acrobat "PDF" file. We are currently updating this listing on a biweekly basis after each meeting of Technical Standards Committee "A." This initiative offers borrowers the most up-to-date listing possible.

New Initiatives

In addition to responding to applicable recommendations from the Materials Subcommittee, RUS also plans to vigorously pursue the following actions to improve both the quality and usefulness of the List of Materials:

1. Consider More Choices in Specific Product Listings.  Our current regulations in 7 CFR 1728 specifically limit acceptance of one product per manufacturer per product category in the List of Materials (dual listing prohibition). We know that some RUS borrowers would like to see more than one of a manufacturer's products in the same categories because, in some instances, the sole product accepted for the manufacturer does not satisfy the borrower's needs for a specific application. We believe that there may be a number of categories where a multiple listings of manufacturers' products are justified on the basis of functionality and there is no conflict with the dual listing prohibition. One example is in the "anchor" category. We believe that in addition to anchors already included, a more rugged anchor could also be listed and provide borrowers added utility for installing anchors in extremely hard soil.

We plan to initiate a review of categories to see if there are product categories where we can offer more choices like the anchor listing example. After identifying such listing, we will then invite all the listed manufactures to submit applications to have appropriate products considered by Technical Standards Committee "A."

2. Addition of New Product Categories.  We are currently working or expect to begin work on establishment of the following new product categories:

a. Meters with AMR Capabilities – We are currently investigating and preparing a requirements sheet for possible inclusion of a new category of watthour meters which have AMR capabilities. When we complete this preliminary phase we plan to send letters to all known manufacturers of such products and invite them to submit applications for RUS acceptance consideration of their products.

b. Wood, Steel, and Concrete Poles - We are currently working with the NRECA Transmission Subcommittee to prepare guide specifications for steel and concrete poles. When this task is completed, we will consider using the documents produced, along with RUS' Wood pole specifications, as a possible basis for listing and acceptance of all three pole types; and

c. Wood and Fiberglass Crossarms - We hope to initiate the same actions as cited in item "a" above in the near future.

3. Data Base List.  We are planning to move the List of Materials from its present word processing format into a data base format. We believe that in data base format borrowers will be able to better utilize the listings and run queries and compare products with greater ease. This project will be a high priority of the new Chair of Technical Standards Committee "A."

4. Revision of 7 CFR 1728.  We are currently evaluating the regulation which controls the RUS listing and acceptance process. We are hoping to introduce new provisions which will allow us to maintain the list more effectively. As an example, we hope to make obsolete listing a thing of the past through periodic relisting of accepted products.

We are very excited about these initiatives and the improved impact they are expected to have on the List of Materials. However, these initiatives will involve significant resources to accomplish and therefore will take some time to complete.

If you would like more information or have any questions, please call Don Heald, Acting Chair, Technical Standards Committee "A" (Electric), at (202) 720-0980.