Sunday River Flows on!

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!