Connecting with customers is essential in any industry. For public power utilities, it can be especially challenging. Power, while vital to everyday life, is rarely at the forefront of customers’ minds. When it is, it’s usually triggered by negative experiences (the lights are out, the bill was unexpectedly high) rather than positive perceptions. In today’s customer-focused, highly personalized consumer culture, building those positive perceptions intentionally, meaningfully and consistently is more crucial than ever.

You only want software that expedites what you do. The Milsoft E&O system does just that. Choose Milsoft for the most powerful engineering, operations and customer service software. Milsoft software will enable your utility to reduce capital and operational costs, streamline work flows, bolster customer service, and increase productivity. And it will exceed your expectations for enterprise interoperability and data management.

Marking the latest chapter in legal wrangling over the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, a federal appeals court in late September heard oral arguments in a court case that challenges the Clean Power Plan, the EPA’s final rule that seeks to curb carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. Hundreds of people lined up at sunrise on Sept. 27 at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, D.C., to witness the oral arguments, which got under way at 9:30 a.m. and lasted for just under seven hours.

According to the FCC, an explosive growth in wireless demand will mean 37 million small cell installations will be in place nationwide by 2017, and 16 million distributed antenna system (DAS) nodes may be deployed by 2018. Companies are targeting a familiar place to put infrastructure to meet this demand: your utility's poles.

E-mail phishing is a form of cyber fraud. The e-mail sender tries to "lure" the receiver into taking an action which will - 1. Disclose valuable information such as user id’s and passwords, 2. Steal your money (complete a fraudulent financial transaction, 3. Install a virus that will damage the operation of the user's computer, 4. Install malicious software that will give the sender access or control of the user's computer. Any or all of these can cause tremendous harm to both the user's computer and potentially the entire company's network.

If your utility is taking the time to host an event for the public, you should make sure as many of your customers attend as possible. In today’s world, schedules are busy and it can be difficult to get hundreds of people to your office for a Customer Appreciation Day or an Earth Day celebration. But, many of your customers have access to Facebook even when they can’t be somewhere in person. Facebook Live is a video streaming service that is free, simple to use, and can be an effective way to make sure your event gets noticed.

It’s football time in Tennessee, and what a difference from how it was in the post-Philip Fulmer days, when the Vols won its second national championship in 1998 defeating Florida State 23-16. The only other national title came in 1951 under coach Neyland (although some folks from Maryland might disagree). This year is a refreshing change from a too painful recent past. But this isn’t about football... this is about that song you hear echoing throughout any given stadium when the Tennessee Volunteers are on the field, court, or diamond!

Last month we talked about our daily news clips service. The response was remarkable. We thought we'd run the article again just in case you missed the opportunity to be added to our daily clips service. Staff reviews hundreds of newspaper articles each day, 7 days a week, "clips" those we believe are of interest to TMEPA members and send them out, most days by 8:00 a.m. (Central). You can also see the current and past 6 days on our website. If you don't receive the clips and would like to, just send an email to any of the staff and we'll add you to the list (mvinson@tmepa.org, susans@tmepa.org or jelrod@tmepa.org). Click on the link below to see the articles for today and the last 6 days.

With the presidential election grabbing nearly every election headline, it's easy to forget about the state legislative races on the ballot. Here's a few races to watch...

Erwin Utilities has been providing essential utility services to residents and businesses within Erwin, Tennessee for over 70 years. From humble beginnings as an electric power provider in 1945 with only eight employees, Erwin Utilities has grown to employ 47 full-time employees who work diligently each day to live out the organization’s mission: "To deliver safe, reliable, and efficient services to our community and every customer every day". The history of Erwin Utilities’ growth from 1,973 customers in 1945 with total assets just over $441,000 to 8,944 electric customers, 5,191 water customers, 3,613 wastewater customers within Unicoi County, and total assets of more than $56 million today has been made possible through superior leadership, innovative thinking, and highly skilled employees.

Have an important meeting or event coming to your town? Let us know and we'll put it on the TMEPA Calendar. Stay up to date with all the TMEPA meetings and other events around the state and even nationally for TMEPA Member Systems.

The Fall E & O Meeting was held in Brentwood TN, at the 4 Points by Sheraton on October 6 and 7. Mark Kimbell, former E & O Chair and current General Manager at Gallatin Electric offered the opening remarks. In a surprise presentation to Mark and his Son, Daniel Kimbell, the current E & O Chair, and engineer for Clarksville Dept. of Electricity; Mike Vinson, Executive Director of TMEPA presented them both with plaques acknowledging their achievement as the first father and son to Chair The TMEPA E & O Section. It was a special moment in the long and cherished History of the E & O Section.