2010 Annual Conference and Training Summary

September 27-October 1, 2010
Marriott Union Station
St Louis, MO

The classic movie Meet Me in St Louis provided the theme for the 2010 Annual Conference and Training. St Louis was not only centrally located and easy to reach but also offered great entertainment, sports, shopping and dining. And Monday night conference attendees enjoyed the opportunity to attend a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The St. Louis Union Station, once the largest and busiest passenger rail terminal in the world, is now one of America's great marketplaces. First opened in 1894, Union Station ceased operation as an active train terminal in 1978. The Station reopened in August 1985 as the largest adaptive re-use project in the United States. Today, this 114-year-old National Historic Landmark of unmatched beauty and elegance has been dramatically restored and redeveloped as a dynamic mixed-use project.

Rob Pierce, CDP, chaired the 2010 Annual Meeting Committee. The Annual Meeting began with a reception Sunday evening and continued through Tuesday morning.

Monday's outstanding lineup of presenters and breakout session leaders included:

• Keynote speaker Branko Terzic, U.S.& Global Regulatory Policy Leader - Energy & Resources for Deloitte Services

• Mark Nelson, Southern California Edison

• Richard Clarke, CDP, Gannett Fleming, Inc

• Rhonda Watts, Alliance Consulting Group

• Nancie Poppema, Executive VP, Communication Counsel of America

• Jon Wierda, KPMG

• Martin Schmidt, KPMG

• David Davis, AEP

• Aly Elfar, Farconsult

• Earl Robinson, CDP, AUS Consultants

• Don Clayton, CDP, Tangibl

Tuesday we benefited from excellent presentations by:

• Mark Heinemann, PowerPlan

• Dave Picconi, Xcel Energy

• John Spanos, CDP, Gannett Fleming

• John Ferguson, CDP, Ferguson Associates

• Curtis McElwee, CPA and SDP Membership Chair

• John Lacey, PhD, California State University, Long Beach.

Topics covered over the 2 days included:

• The current regulatory environment and changing technology

• Renewables and emerging technology

• Wind and solar depreciable lives

• An alternative approach to witness development

• An update on IFRS

• Decommissioning and other depreciation issues

• Depreciation of life span property

• An accounting update

• An update on SDP membership.

Dr. Susan Jensen, CDP, again coordinated the outstanding SDP training which began Tuesday afternoon and continued through Friday morning. The regular session was comprised of the following concurrent classes:

• Depreciation Basics

• Life and Net Salvage Analysis

• Life Analysis for Valuations

• Preparing and Defending a Depreciation Study

And new in 2010 we offered a Brief Introduction to Depreciation Sunday afternoon.

We thank our organizers, sponsors, presenters and expert instructors for their valuable contributions toward making our 2010 Annual Conference and Training a great success.