NEPPA eNewsletter

We survived! Better than that, we had a great time! Going into Sunday River there was some nervousness within staff. Kris DiGirolamo led me and two new staff up to Maine to conduct our Annual Conference. We were all glad to have such a great host in Sharon Staz and Calvin Ames, who provided attendees with T-shirts and was rewarded on the last day of the conference with a new granddaughter (congrats Calvin!).

The overwhelmingly positive feedback we received for our speakers was amazing. We started with a packed house of 180 people to hear Robert Bryce (author) speak on green energy and our future fuels consumption. By the time he finished the crowd was geared for a debate. After Dr. William Strauss and Les Otten gave their presentation on bioenergy, attendees were primed to see all three square off after lunch. Many ignored the beautiful afternoon to participate.

The irony of the presentations and debate was that about 80 percent of the time the three speakers were in agreement. Their positions on corn-based fuels and the future of the natural gas market were very similar. A couple of the key takeaways from the day were: that the politicalization of energy needs to stop in order for the US to create a rational and functional energy plan for the future; and that an honest debate that weighs costs and environmental concerns needs to occur.

Day two’s education did not let the audience down. Deborah Sliz (of Morgan Meguire, LLC) gave us an honest look at what is transpiring in DC. The key takeaway for members was that we all need to keep an eye on the current Cybersecurity Act, which was offered by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine). NEPPA will keep members apprised of this bill and may be reaching out to you to help ensure that it does not undermine the soundness of our currently mandated cyber security oversight with less effective directives.

For Patriot fans, David Nevius (Senior Vice President of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation) coming in to speak in place of someone from Kuerig was like Brady coming in for Bledsoe. Both would be good, but Mr. Nevius brought home the ring. His direct conversation with attendees on the function of NERC was a great session. Copies of his power point are available on our website here.

A conference’s success is not based on speakers alone. We had a great charitable fundraiser with our Monday Football Squares contest. The storm on Tuesday night kept us from making it up to the summit as the chondolas were not running. But that did not diminish the spirit of the barbeque and beer tasting that evening.

One of the most important events of the conference is our Awards Banquet. This year we honored five commissioners and five Century Award recipients, as well as several outstanding members. For the full list of winners please click here.

Finally, thank you to our sponsors who made the event possible and to our hospitality suite hosts who kept spirits high going well into the night!

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TCI of New York, LLC Receives Affiliate Member of the Year Award
This award recognizes companies that are associate or corporate members of our association that provide exceptional levels of support or assistance to our organization and our members. TCI of New York, LLC received this award after a very difficult year, where their building was leveled by a fire. Through this hardship, they still serviced all of their customers and have continued to be a generous and loyal supporter of NEPPA.

NEPPA Service Award Presented to Kristin DiGirolamo
Kristin DiGirolamo of Northeast Public Power Assocation was presented with a NEPPA Service Award, which is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to NEPPA. Kristin has been with NEPPA for 24 years.

"She is the hub that keeps the NEPPA wheel rotating," said NEPPA Executive Director Larry Brownell, who presented the award.

Century Awards Presented
Barbara Grimes, NEPPA vice-president, presented the Century Award to NEPPA members celebrating 100 years of service as a public power system. They are Boylston Municipal Light Department, Georgetown Municipal Light Department, Holden Municipal Light Department, Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments and Middleton Municipal Electric Department.

Distinguished Service Award Presented to Burlington's Manager of Power Supply
NEPPA’s Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to their public power systems and their communities and this year it was awarded to Kenneth Nolan, Manager of Power Supply at the Burlington Electric Department in Vermont. He has served Burlington for 14 consecutive years. Ken has lead the charge to hold GMP, CVPS and VELCO accountable to BED and in doing so has helped other municipal utilities and coops. Ken has also taken active roles in town politics and appointed boards.

Six New England Commissioners Presented with Awards
The Commissioner Service Award is presented annually to Commissioners and Directors of public power utilities who have served their systems with distinction for at least 10 years. NEPPA recognized six individuals for their outstanding service to their utilities with Commissioner Service Awards.

From New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc. – Chuck Braxton
From New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc. – Sharon Davis
From New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc. – Dave Talbot
From the Town of Stowe Electric Dept. in Vermont – Arthur Lloyd
From Groveland Municipal Light Dept. in Massachusetts – Robert Brady
And from the Marblehead Municipal Light Dept. in Massachusetts – Philip W. Sweeney

Francis "Skip" Willey Individual Achievement Award Presented to Bill Guertin
This year's Francis "Skip" Willey Individual Achievement Award was awarded to Bill Guertin from Pascoag Utilities. This award is given to an employee of a NEPPA system who demonstrates a professional commitment to public power through personal development and participation in NEPPA’s educational programs and other association activities. For six years Bill Guertin has been a champion for our education efforts assuring that our training facility was always equipped, accessible and functional for our classes.

"Without him many of our certificate programs and rodeos would not be possible," said NEPPA Executive Director Larry Brownell. "He would seek out our instructors and volunteer improvements and services and his hard work drew as many people to our rodeo as the competition itself."

Bill could not attend the Annual Conference so Mike Kirkwood, General Manager of Pascoag Utilities, accepted on his behalf.

Special Recognition Award Presented to Scott Edwards
This award is for a specific accomplishment advancing the interests of public power and is not usually given out every year. Since 2010, Scott Edwards has worked tirelessly seeking perfection for NEPPA’s new training center and offices located in Littleton, Mass. He has personally walked the project at least twice a day since it began and because of his obsession with perfection, NEPPA will have the best public power training facility in the country.

Bob Jolly Receives Person of the Year Award
The person of the year award is given for sustained outstanding service and contributions to NEPPA and to public power. Bob Jolly recently retired from Marblehead Municipal Light Department after a distinguished career. During his volunteerism with NEPPA he served as board secretary and chair of the Annual Conference Committee. Bob concluded his service to NEPPA in April seeing us through the transition to a new executive director and the process of committing to our new home. Bob has always been a cornerstone of the annual Washington, DC rallies.

"Like all good volunteers, Bob did not stop volunteering, he just added another cause," said NEPPA President John Bilda. Since retiring from Marblehead and NEPPA Bob is fulfilling a volunteer commitment as Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts.

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Each year, NEPPA is the beneficiary of financial and other contributions by its affiliates and friends through their sponsorship of the NEPPA Annual Conference. Their contributions are very important to this event, and NEPPA is grateful for their support. The 2012 sponsors were:

The Okonite Company

Public Utility Risk Management Association

Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Inc.

Utility Services, Inc.

Duncan & Allen

Century Bank

Spiegel & McDiarmid

Rubin & Rudman

Morgan Meguire, LLC

Energy New England

Arthur J. Hurley Company, Inc.

EDF Trading

HQ US

RISO, Inc.

NextEra Energy Resources

Invoice Cloud

BillTrust

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While everyone is gearing up for winter and the holiday season the buzz around the NEPPA offices is about our move to our new Training Center in Littleton. Coming into my first year the challenge of working on a new facility seemed daunting. But, in reality, because of the folks in Littleton it has been far easier than anyone would have expected.

In September we wrapped up our weekly builder meetings and Littleton turned the facility over to us. We were incredibly fortunate in that when we took possession we were down to building out the office, creating a meter lab and getting a decommissioned sub-station installed. Next month, I will talk about the great contributions we have received, but this month I think it is important that we properly thank our new landlords at Littleton.

I got to know the folks at Littleton pretty quickly as a result of the project and they have a good team with skills and personalities that balance each other very well. We honored Scott Edwards, the Assistant General Manager, at our Annual Conference with a Special Recognition Award for his efforts. Scott was the builder captain of the project, running the building meetings and working directly with the general contractor. Midway through the project he had to adapt to a new superintendent, which coincided with the pace of the project picking up. 

But, like I said, it was a team effort and Savas Danos, the LELWD General Manager, was in all the meetings and at times, when things weren’t going as well as they should have, his sense of humor really helped!

As we reach the finish line I have enjoyed working with Alan Brown, the LELWD IT manager. He has been coordinating the server, lines, security system and programming for our new phone system. While working with him I realized that he has a great depth of knowledge about cyber security for utilities.

But if there is one unsung hero in Littleton is has to be Jerry Moscariello. If there is anything that Jerry doesn’t know about facilities or construction it didn’t show up on this project. If one of the subs didn’t do something properly, it was often Jerry who found it and frequently wound up fixing it. In the process of moving the training center from Pascoag and coordinating with the ongoing construction Jerry was the go-to guy. It got to a point where I was afraid to have a discussion on things we needed to do on site, because if Jerry overheard it, it would be done before I could even begin to follow up. My fear was about overtaxing this great guy.

Overall, all of the folks in Littleton have been great. Thanks to the crews who also got our pole yard up for our August classes.

The other unsung hero is our Steve Socoby. Steve is committed to creating the best training center possible and he had to perform a quick turnaround for us to execute the apprentice and advanced crew programs in August!

In order to truly appreciate the full scope of all of the work that went into our Training Center, please join us on Nov. 9 for our Annual Membership Meeting. We will also be performing the ribbon cutting ceremony. So, be ready for photo ops! Please come help celebrate this major milestone for all of our members and to thank our affiliate members for service to us this past year!

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Linemen from the Town of Stowe Electric Department worked hard after an animal got into the weatherhead and caused an outage with a 3-phase customer in Stowe, Vt.


Silas Power, Lineman in Town of Stowe Electric Department in Stowe, Vt.

 

Norman Griffith, Lineman in Town of Stowe Electric Department in Stowe, Vt.

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Oct. 25
Utility Accounting 101 & Power Purchasing
Littleton Training Center
Littleton, Mass.

Nov. 9
Annual Membership Meeting
Littleton Training Center
Littleton, Mass.

Nov. 14-16
Public Utility Management Program
Cranwell Conference Center
Lenox, Mass.

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The newly revised APPA Safety Manual has more than 69 changes in content, along with 22 new parts or sections in the 15^th edition. NEPPA has developed a safety program on all the new content changes, new parts and sections. This was done for your utility's convenience so that the NEPPA trainers can instruct all employees of all the new changes, work procedures and safety aspects of the manual. The new additions developed for the manual by the APPA Safety Manual Revision Task Force and the APPA Safety Committee were: Wireless Electronic Devices, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), Bucket/Aerial Rescue, Lockout/Tagout, Hearing Conservation and Substations.

The content changes include: General Rules, Housekeeping, Welding and Cutting, CPR and First Aid, Job Briefings, Poletop Rescue, Health and Environmental Control, Confined or Enclosed Spaces, Fall Protection, Hours of Service, Security, Chemical and Physical Hazard Control, Compressed Gases, Noise, PCBs, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Eye and Face Protection, Head Protection, Wearing Apparel, Care and Use of Rubber Gloves, Electric Utility Operations, Vehicle Operations, Cranes, Derricks, Hoisting Equipment, Tools and Equipment, Straight Ladders, Overhead Distribution and Transmission, Working On or Near Exposed Energized Lines and Equipment, Live-Line Tools, Working On Capacitors, Grounding, Setting and Removing Poles, Metering, Tree Trimming, Underground Lines and Equipment, Working on Energized Cables and Equipment, Excavations, Moving Energized Cables, Communications Facilities and Radio Frequency Radiation. This is a large program with much classroom participation. Call the NEPPA office to schedule this important updated Safety Manual review meeting for your utility employees. You can also at the same time order the new 15^th edition Safety Manuals for your utility.

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By Elizabeth K. Nevitt and Lori Pickford

On Sept. 23, the Senate passed a six-month Continuing Resolution (CR) funding the government through Mar. 27, 2013. The House passed an identical bill on Sept. 13, and the President is expected to sign the measure before the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30. Once the CR was passed, Congress recessed for the duration of the campaign season, planning to return in mid-November for a "lame duck" session. 

The Nov. 6 election will determine the pace and tenor of any lame duck session, including how Congress will deal with an impending "fiscal cliff" of expiring tax provisions and the sequestration put in place by last summer’s Budget Control Act (see story below).

Acknowledging the progress made on individual funding bills in the FY13 appropriations process, congressional leaders have said that the CR could be superseded by an omnibus bill in the lame duck or early days of the 113th Congress. An omnibus bill may be a more likely course of action if congressional leaders decide to once again delay action on the tax and fiscal issues by extending their effective dates into 2013. An omnibus bill would allow the inclusion of policy provisions, such as the pilot program for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel, which was part of the Senate energy and water appropriations bill.

Members of Congress may also consider pushing back the sequestration deadline, with members on both sides of the aisle agreeing to "kick the can down the road" to allow more time to reach agreement on a broader deficit reduction deal. Among the models being discussed is a scaled-down version of the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles plan released in December of 2010. That plan included a proposal whereby state and local governments, including public power utilities, could no longer issue tax-exempt bonds. The provision is strongly opposed by NEPPA and APPA.

To read the complete legislative update including the following topics, click here.

Administration Releases Sequestration Report to Congress

Administration Action on Cybersecurity Weighed, FERC Creates New Cyber Office

Senate Advances Energy Efficiency Bill

President Issues Executive Order on Industrial Energy Efficiency

Ag Chair, EEI Weigh In On CFTC "Sub-Threshold" Concerns

Dold Municipal Advisor Bill Passes House

GAO Studies Spent Fuel at Shut-Down Reactors; MA Reps Introduce Relicensing Bill

More Companies Weigh In for PTC; Tax Writers Continue Negotiations

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