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RMEL Report
From the Desk of RMEL Executive Director Rick Putnicki As the end of 2021 nears, and we look to a hopeful but still uncertain 2022, I am reflecting on how amazing and resilient our industry continues to be. We have watched and listened in awe to the experiences, challenges and successes shared this year. Every time this industry has faced a new issue or growing uncertainty, you all have stepped up and figured it out! Thank you for all that you do, and thank you for being a part of RMEL! It’s been our privilege to connect RMEL members this year to share information and experiences. Through virtual, in-person and hybrid offerings, we once again increased attendance and engagement this year. We are excited to have more employees from member companies able to participate through the variety of ways our engaged education committees, speakers and instructors were able to identify and present timely and relevant content. We look forward to continuing to offer these different types of events in 2022, and we are planning to hopefully host more in-person events. As a matter of fact, we are targeting Austin, Texas, as the location for our 2022 Spring Conference! Virtual Project Management Workshop Closes Out RMEL’s 2021 Events We wrapped up our final event of 2021 in December with a 3-Part Virtual Workshop - Project Management Essentials: Initiation, Execution & Delivery. I want to thank HDR for instructing this popular topic for the second year in a row. With the challenges facing our workforce, it is critical to find options for our organizations to challenge processes and practices and allow us to create efficiencies that drive a more streamlined and effective result. We greatly appreciate the model and anecdotes HDR has provided to promote that transfer. Thank you to everyone who participated in our various events this past year, especially those taking time from their busy schedules to share their experiences and knowledge with our membership! The 2022 RMEL Foundation Scholarship Application is Now Open! The 2022 RMEL Foundation Scholarship Application is now open! Spread the word, and please let us know if you have college/trade school/university contacts who would like to receive the scholarship information. We are thankful for the solid year of scholarship fundraising our members provided the RMEL Foundation during this year. Thank you for the Corporate and Individual Cash Donations! The RMEL Foundation Auction raised $25,000 and an additional $15,000 has been raised in cash donations. Learn more about 2022 Named Scholarship Sponsor opportunities for your company. Become a "Friend of RMEL," and be part of something that has big impacts on the lives of students pursuing electric energy careers! As an individual or corporate Friend of RMEL your donation of $100 or more will go directly to a 2022 Friends of RMEL scholarship! It's inspiring to see how these Friends of RMEL donations add up. Visit RMEL.org/friend and click DONATE or call the RMEL office at (303) 865-5544 to join this prestigous group of Friends and BFFs today! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! From my family to yours, have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! Do not miss recognizing the chances you get to reflect on the spirit of the season. You all have accomplished so much this year, and we look forward to being there for you all in 2022. Stay safe and stay warm!
RMEL Member Information
RMEL's trusted network is now accessible on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. These are forums intended for RMEL members only. Working side-by-side in a cooperative manner, RMEL members band together for the common goal of bettering the industry and improving service for utility customers. For more than 100 years, these key principles have proven successful, and more importantly, are tried and true methods for building strong business relationships.
RMEL Champions is a prestigious group of RMEL supporters with access to useful and beneficial promotional opportunities. Thank you 2021 RMEL Champions!
Industry Information
Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November that includes $65 billion for grid infrastructure and $50 billion more for cybersecurity and climate measures.
 Ian Wright, one of Tesla’s five cofounders, is best known for developing electric cars and trucks over the past two decades but these days he’s applying his engineering skills to new ways to harden the utility grid from climate change and fire threats as tech chief for Petra.
Normally competitors in the quest to deploy long-duration energy storage, and replace fossil fuels with dispatchable clean energy at all hours of the day, 24 companies joined forces at the COP26 United Nations climate summit to form the Long Duration Energy Storage Council.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced its intent to fund projects through its University Training and Research Program, which is composed of the University Coal Research (UCR) program and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority Institutions (HBCU-OMI) program.
NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) in collaboration with Smart Energy Decisions published new research that shows cost savings and sustainability continue to top the list for customer needs when considering distributed energy resources (DERs).
 U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity has grown rapidly since the Lower 48 states first began exporting LNG in February 2016. In 2020, the United States became the world’s third-largest LNG exporter, behind Australia and Qatar. Once the new LNG liquefaction units, called trains, at Sabine Pass and Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana are placed in service by the end of 2022, the United States will have the world’s largest LNG export capacity.
We need to drastically increase flexibility within our power systems to ensure sufficient renewables integration and achieve the world’s net-zero pledges and Paris Agreement goals.
Member Announcements
 The 2021 holiday season will be marked by the dazzling return of electric light parades throughout the state.
A project at Dry Fork Station near Gillette, Wyoming, increased efficiencies in the air quality control system and will save Basin Electric $1 million annually.
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) has approved EPE’s Transportation and Electrification Plan (TEP) and authorized El Paso Electric (EPE) to move forward on investing more than $1.2 million in electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, and education and outreach across its Southern New Mexico service territory.
On Monday Nov. 8, Paragould, Ark., Light Water & Cable, the city’s Economic Development Corporation, and the Chamber of Commerce officials were joined in Paragould by representatives of Evergy for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the city’s solar array.
Students interested in pursuing careers in the electric energy industry are encouraged to apply for Platte River Power Authority’s Roy J. Rohla Memorial Scholarship. The annual $3,000 scholarship is offered through the RMEL Foundation and applications are due by Feb. 25, 2022.
a Recommended Decision was issued that would potentially allow PNM to exit coal seven years early and save customers millions of dollars. PNM is appreciative of this recommendation because it aids in New Mexico’s transition to clean energy and helps achieve the goals of the Energy Transition Act, New Mexico’s landmark energy policy statute.
 Susan Gray assumed leadership of Tucson Electric Power at a critical point in our clean energy transition, as we resolved to retire our remaining coal-fired power plants and reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2035. It was also at the peak of a pandemic that forced a similar revolution in the way we work.
White Paper
Two of the biggest power grids on the planet are connected by seven small threads. Those seven threads (technically, they're back-to-back, high-voltage, direct-current connections) join America's Eastern and Western interconnections and have 1,320 megawatts of electric-power handling capacity. (The seam separating the grids runs, roughly, from eastern Montana, down the western borders of South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas and along the western edges of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. Texas, with its own grid, is mostly outside the two big grids.)
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