Ray Rugg
President and CEO of UE

Utility Engineering (UE) is a full service engineering corporation wholly owned by Xcel Energy, the holding company for utilities SPS, PSCO, NSP and NRG. “I believe UE is unique in the power industry being a non-regulated part of Xcel Energy, an investor owned utility and having four wholly owned subsidiaries,” Ray Rugg, President and CEO of UE told World-Generation from his headquarters office in Denver during the Class of 2004 interview.

“UE has provided engineering services for over 30,000 mws of diverse generation since we were formed in the late 1940’s as the design group of Southwestern Public Service Co. (SPS). In 1985, UE became a wholly owned, non-regulated subsidiary of SPS, which allowed us to provide power plant design services to customers serving the entire power industry in the US and abroad. UE has completed coal, gas and betterment projects for utilities, industrial facilities, cogeneration facilities, developers and others,” Rugg added.

SUBSIDIARIES

Quixx Corporation based in Amarillo, TX specializes in the development, ownership and operations of domestic independent power production and cogeneration facilities. The portfolio includes a wind power plant for lower Colorado River Authority, a cogen plant for General Motors and supplies steam to Phillip’s Petroleum and Dupont. UE was awarded the Leon Creek project consisting of four, LM 6000 peaking units for San Antonio Public Service scheduled for June, 2004 and for the 250 mw Walnut Energy Center green field site in Turlock, CA for completion by mid 2005. “These are only two of the seven new contracts we were awarded last year,” Rugg said.

Proto-Power Corporation based in Groton, CT was acquired in 2000 and provides the nuclear power industry with a broad range of engineering, design, software development, project management services, license renewal or decommissioning technical support. Proto-Power provides expertise in the development of nuclear containment inservice inspection and aging requirements developed from nearly twenty years of experience in performing containment evaluations, condition appraisals, aging reviews, and preventive maintenance assessments.

Proto-Power has assisted utilities in performing specific system analysis and providing a cost effective alternative to identifying, scoping, and implementing the plant modifications to achieve higher powerlevels . Proto-Power offers various capabilities for both PWR and BWR plant types. “Our focus has been in supporting regulatory issues and programs; performing engineering analysis to support design basis and licensing basis reconstitution; assessment of thermal/hydraulic margins and margin recovery options; and the preparation and implementation of plant design changes,” Rugg said.

“Our Nuclear Quality Assurance Program complies with the requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 50 Appendix B) and American National Standards Institute. And, our proprietary software products are also developed, validated and controlled under this program.”

Today, over 80 percent of the 103 operating nuclear power plants in the United States use one or more of Proto-Power’s system modeling software products . Proto - Power’s array of proprietary software products are specifically designed to support the design, performance assessment, and trouble-shooting of piping systems and associated equipment in fossil or nuclear power plants, petrochemical and other complex process facilities.

Universal Utilities Services, LLC offers a full range of cooling tower services, substation maintenance programs, piping rehabilitation, investment recovery for retired or surplus assets, a complete in-house wood fabrication facility and predictive maintenance programs. As industrial engineering specialists for both buried and above-ground piping system rehabilitation projects, “We provide cost-effective solutions for in situ water, sewer, gas and industrial process pipe integrity problems with an array of trench less technologies,” Rugg offered.

Precision Resource Company is a personnel services company providing employment for temporary and full-time professionals staffing power and energy projects . Offices are located in Amarillo, TX, Denver, CO, and Minneapolis, MN.

SOFTWARE PRODUCTS

PROTO-FLO™ calculates steady-state incompressible flows, pressures and temperatures in piping systems and models pumps, valves, heat exchangers, and other components. A transient analysis module is also available to evaluate system transients within an existing PROTO-FLO™ database.

PROTO-HX™ calculates temperatures and heat transfer rates in heat exchangers, chillers and air coolers and predicts system performance .

PROTO-HVAC™ calculates flows, pressures and temperatures through control dampers, fans and duct systems for system balance and performance.

PROTO-SPRINKLER™ models and evaluates fire sprinkler systems of any complexity following the standard methodology and approach for calculations as specified in NFPA13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, and NFPA 15, Standard for Water Spray Fixed Systems for Fire Protection.

“Our products may be engineering services, but the mainstay of UE’s business is our people. We take pride in our successes, “can-do” attitude and dedication to our clients,” Rugg said in closing.

M r. Rugg became President & CEO of Utility Engineering Corp. (UE) in February 2002. The UE subsidiaries Quixx Corporation, Precision Resource Company, and Universal Utility Services, LLC, and UE’s offices in Amarillo, TX; Denver, CO, Minneapolis, MN, Groton, CT, Omaha, NE, and regional offices in Naperville, IL and Atlanta, GA report to Mr. Rugg.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Rugg was Senior Vice President, Business Ventures, and Sales & Planning and also Director, Business Development of Proto-Power Corporation, UE’s nuclear engineering services subsidiary. Mr. Rugg earned a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree from Providence College. He completed the Executive Management Program at Northeastern University and attended the CED Program in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Rhode Island.