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RMEL Report
From the Desk of RMEL Executive Director Rick Putnicki Happy New Year From RMEL! As we wrapped up the final items for 2021, scratching our heads in amazement of how we navigated through it all again, we now find ourselves diving into 2022 with continued uncertainty, but with the thought of "let’s roll up our sleeves and we’ll figure it out!” Our focus will continue to be on how we can best serve our membership in these challenging and changing times. With a couple successful face-to-face meetings behind us, we are proceeding with the idea of having more in-person meetings this year. Back when COVID cancelled the 2020 Spring Conference in Austin, we negotiated with the hotel, allowing us to bump our commitment to 2022. We are currently planning to host the Spring Conference in Austin this May. And if necessary, we will shift back to the "virtual” platform to keep our members safe! Each of your RMEL Education Section Committees are planning in-person conferences, as well. We will also continue to offer a variety of timely webinars for 2022. We are heading into a better and different world of new opportunities to support RMEL members. Many of the tenured board members have passed the baton to others in their organizations. The current environment, both external and internal, have made the timing right for the RMEL Staff and Board to take a deep dive into our critical areas of focus and action. This allows staff to focus on the right areas and deliverables, as well as provide our new Board members a better understanding of our Association. The RMEL Strategy Map will build activities around RMEL’s purpose, what we do to get to that purpose, how we support those that drive us toward our purpose, and RMEL’s values. I look forward to sharing more details with you all as we keep moving forward toward our Vision, Mission and Values: Vision: The Trusted leader in Networking and Educational Programs for the Electric Industry 2022 RMEL Spring Conference is Coming to Austin May 9-11th As I mentioned in the opening, the 2022 Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference is set for Monday-Wednesday, May 9-11th, at the Hyatt Regency Austin in Austin, Texas. We are thrilled to bring back the in-person RMEL conference experience, and we are hopeful that many of the new virtual attendees from the past two years will have the opportunity to experience the camaraderie and productivity of an in-person RMEL Spring Conference. Registration is now open, and we will share more details about the program soon! We encourage any of our members to use the Call for Presentations form to let us know of topics your company can present and/or keynote speaker and general topic suggestions to be considered for the event. RMEL is looking for technical, non-commercial presentations. 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 Virtual 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. RMEL is Looking for New Team Members With all the activities I mentioned above, I’m happy to tell you that we are expanding the RMEL staff so that we can move forward on our many new opportunities! If you know of friends or family who would be interested in joining our dedicated team, please have them contact me at rickputnicki@rmel.org. We will share full job description(s) soon! Emerging Leader Awards Submit your nomination for RMEL's Emerging Leader Award, and recognize an individual who has 5-10 years of experience and is already making an impact at your organization. RMEL's Emerging Leader Award recognizes and honors individual members who have made significant contributions within their organization, and have demonstrated the potential for leadership and outstanding service for the electric utility industry. The nominee must have no less than 5 years of experience, and no more than 10 year's experience within the industry. RMEL Board of Directors In closing, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the quality and engagement of the RMEL Board of Directors. They are a group of true professionals that represent our industry to the fullest, and commit 100% to what they do. We are successful as an Association because of them. We have had considerable turnover this past year and appreciate the quality of candidates they have nominated to represent their Organizations and serve RMEL. Thank you for your service: Elaina Ball (El Paso Electric), Paul Barham (CPS Energy), Doug Bennion (PacifiCorp), Joel Bladow (Tri-State), John Coggins (SRP), Scott Fry (Mycoff, Fry Partners), Nick Gardner (Black Hills Corp), Sue Kidd (APS), Mark Mansfield (UNS/TEP), Kevin Noblet (Evergy), and Dawn Roth Lindell (WAPA). Welcome to our new Board Directors: Bruce Akin (Evergy), Lisa Barbato (Colorado Springs Utilities), Steve Buraczyk (El Paso Electric), Ana Bustamante (UNS/TEP), Chris Janick (SRP), Joshua Jones (PacifiCorp), Marne Jones (Black Hills Corp), Kevin Howard (WAPA), Lisa Lewis (CPS Energy), Ruth Marks (Tri-State), and Tony Tewelis (APS). We continue to be in great hands! I can’t express my appreciation for all that Paul Barham has meant to me in both my personal and professional life. After a stellar 35-year career at CPS Energy, Paul will be retiring at the end of the January and leaving the RMEL Board. I was blessed to have the opportunity to work with him in my utility career, as well as with the RMEL Board. I believe life is about the people you have the opportunity to cross paths with. Paul thank you for sharing your path with me! I wish you and Lisa the very best as you turn the page to a new chapter. Thank you and God Bless!
Education and Upcoming Events
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
There were 498 grid modernization-related policy and deployment actions in 48 states in Q3 2021, but regulators so far have approved only a small percentage of proposed utility investments.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved a third exchange of two million barrels of crude oil for release to ExxonMobil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
The New York Power Authority (NYPA), the country's largest state-owned public power organization, announced that it will deploy grid enhancing technology to help unlock additional transmission capacity to enable more renewable energy to reach the grid.
in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic substantially affected the U.S. and world economy, energy markets, and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Member Announcements
At APS, we believe that belonging matters. And when our more than 6,000 employees feel seen, heard, and valued, they can more effectively unite behind our APS Promise.
On Dec. 20, the North Dakota Industrial Commission awarded funding to Bakken Energy for a project that could transform the Great Plains Synfuels Plant into the largest and lowest-cost, clean hydrogen production facility in the United States.
Evergy proposed a suite of energy efficiency programs to the Kansas Corporation Commission. Evergy’s proposed programs would provide Kansas residential and business customers with $42 million in anticipated net bill savings, offer $13 million in enhanced assistance for low-income and rural customers, and would unlock community benefits through job creation, energy education and agency partnerships.
Nebraska Public Power District’s (NPPD) Board of Directors approved a goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from generation resources by 2050 during Thursday’s regularly scheduled board meeting.
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) voted unanimously to approve a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility for the High-Tech Interconnection Project (HIP), a proposed transmission project that will provide reliable power to the recently announced expansion of Intel’s Chandler campus.
Scott City, Kan., is the latest community to attain certification for its industrial business development site through the Sunflower Certified Sites Program.
Not-for-profit wholesale power supply cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s Board of Directors has approved the return of $10 million in patronage capital refunds to its members.
White Paper
Researchers have incorporated phosphorene nanoribbons into new types of solar cells, dramatically improving their efficiency. Phosphorene nanoribbons (PNRs) are ribbon-like strands of the 2D material phosphorus, which, similar to graphene, are made of single-atom-thick layers of atoms. PNRs were first produced in 2019, and hundreds of theoretical studies have predicted how their properties could enhance all kinds of devices, including batteries, biomedical sensors, and quantum computers.
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