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RMEL Report
From the Desk of RMEL Executive Director Rick Putnicki Who is Ready to MEET IN-PERSON at the 2022 RMEL Spring Conference? If you are READY, join us in-person for RMEL’s 2022 Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference, set for Monday-Wednesday, May 9-11th, at the Hyatt Regency Austin in Austin, Texas. If you remember, we were all set to enjoy some Texas BBQ and great Tex-Mex food in Austin for the 2020 Spring Conference, and then COVID happened! After two years of navigating through this pandemic, we are glad to have that opportunity to finally get back together and see our industry peers and leaders! We are ecstatic about the opportunity to see members from past events (in-person and virtual attendees). For those of you who haven’t attended an RMEL Spring Conference, I encourage you to register and experience this reunion! Attending is not just reconnecting with our industry peers, it is also taking advantage of timely and relevant content in the 25+ technical sessions that tie together trends, technology, operations, engineering, leadership and culture to build toward the electric energy future. We will share more details about the program soon! If you are managing people or projects, engineering, planning or operating systems in the electric utility industry, this conference is for you. The Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference has been a tradition since RMEL’s early beginnings. Known for providing outstanding continuing education and networking opportunities, this conference covers generation, transmission, distribution and management topics. The timely topics and breakout structure of the conference allow attendees to customize their education experience to focus on presentations and resources that align with their needs. Ample time is also provided to network with industry peers. A special room rate of $235 is available. The best way to book your room is online, but you can call (512) 477-1234 and mention “RMEL.” The reservation deadline to receive this rate is April 15, 2022. You must mention you are making your reservation as part of the RMEL room block when calling the hotel. By not doing so, you may be incorrectly told that the hotel is full or quoted a different room rate. If the contracted room block is not met, RMEL is financially liable for penalties. Government Employees: If you make your reservation at the federal government rate, please be sure to mention you are part of RMEL so you will be counted towards the room block. We hope to see you in Austin, and we will continue to offer additional virtual, hybrid and in-person events in the months leading up to the Spring Conference! Recap: FAC-008 Compliance and Best Practices Webinar/Panel A special thanks to Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association and Western Area Power Administration for delivering our first webinar of the year this week. The panel addressed FAC-008 requirements, the process for rating facilities, lessons learned from a NERC audit, as well as best practices for compliance with the FAC-008 Standard. One of the main topics raised in the panel discussion where the challenges achieving a successful audit and verifying that the data used in a FAC-008 study is up-to-date and accurate. Thank you, John Quintana and Lisa Sullivan from WAPA, and Curt Feinberg and Ryan Hubbard of Tri-State for your panel presentation. Special thanks goes out to Rick Hillis, from Tri-State, for moderating the event. This is Just the Beginning! We’ll announce many more 2022 opportunities to connect in-person and virtually soon! We hope you all have had a healthy and safe start to your year. Stay safe, and we’ll see you soon! The 2022 RMEL Foundation Scholarship Application Closes at the End of This Month! The 2022 RMEL Foundation Scholarship Application is open for one more week! 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. Nominate an Emerging Leader at Your Organization for an RMEL Award 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 years of experience within the industry. Emerging Leader Award Winners are part of a dynamic group of future leaders who are introduced to the RMEL membership and recognized during the Spring Conference. Those recipients are now part of a strong professional network of industry peers. In addition, these award winners are presented unique development opportunities. Each year, past and current Award Recipients participate in an exclusive development session with Keynote Speakers who facilitate an open conversation with our Emerging Leader group. Nominate an outstanding individual at your company today! Join the RMEL Team! RMEL is looking to expand their TEAM! If you know of anyone interested in being a part of this great Association team, please send me a note!
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
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) on Monday issued a 20-year draft transmission outlook plan for the first time, detailing the long-term infrastructure required to achieve clean energy goals in the grid operator’s footprint.
 Partners the City of San Diego and the San Diego County Water Authority will begin negotiations on a project development agreement with the BHE Kiewit Team to develop Phase 1 of the potential 500 MW San Vicente Energy Storage Facility Project.
Energy storage services provider Stem Inc. said it will provide smart energy storage services to NineDot Energy, a cleantech developer that designs and deploys community distributed energy generation and storage projects.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved seven additional exchanges of 13.4 million barrels of crude oil for release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
Constellation announced the completion of its separation from Exelon Corp. and its launch as a standalone, publicly traded company and the nation's largest carbon-free energy producer and leading supplier of clean energy solutions to millions of homes and businesses.
 The spot natural gas price at the Algonquin Citygate, a trading hub and the benchmark for the natural gas price in New England, averaged $20.55 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) during January 2022—the highest monthly average price since February 2014—and exceeded $28/MMBtu on several days as part of a pattern of price spikes this winter.
WEC Energy Group announced a pilot project to test co-firing hydrogen with natural gas at one of its Michigan power plants.
The nuclear power industry is betting its future on a new generation of reactors small enough to fit on a truck—an emerging technology that mostly uses alternatives to water for cooling, runs at lower pressure than traditional units, and costs far less than the behemoth power plants and cooling towers that define the nuclear landscape today.
Member Announcements
On Nov. 21, 2021, Kerry Whitford officially joined WAPA as the organization's chief strategy officer. Whitford brings decades' worth of experience in strategic planning, performance measurement, enterprise risk management and stakeholder relations to the role.
Two years after APS announced a bold Clean Energy Commitment to serve customers with 100% clean and carbon-free energy by 2050, Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) CEO Jeff Guldner sat down with Public Utilities Fortnightly magazine to discuss the progress made on clean energy goals, the continued investment in Arizona’s future prosperity and what else he is focusing on this year.
Construction of a Membrane Technology and Research (MTR) carbon dioxide capture pilot project at Wyoming’s Integrated Test Center (ITC) is expected to begin this fall but could be pushed back due to long lead times on equipment.
CPS Energy will begin construction on a new natural gas main being installed under Loop 1604 near IH-10 on the northwest side of San Antonio.
El Paso Electric (EPE) releases a request for proposal (RFP) for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) services for a 10-megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar generating facility coupled with an optional 3 MW battery energy storage system.
Daimler Truck North America LLC (DTNA), NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and BlackRock Renewable Power (BlackRock) announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to lay the foundation for a proposed joint venture (JV) to design, develop, install and operate a nationwide, high-performance charging network for medium- and heavy-duty battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the U.S.
Omaha Public Power District is laying the groundwork to provide the energy needed to power growing communities, while pursuing the goal of becoming a net-zero carbon producer by 2050.
 At a ceremony in Phoenix, officials with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA), Salt River Project (SRP), and leaders of the Navajo Nation agreed to extend a ground-breaking agreement that paved the way for the first-ever, large-scale utility solar farm on the Navajo Nation, the “Kayenta I” facility.
Sunflower Electric Power Corporation applied for a Solar Energy System Permit in Russell County on Feb. 7, 2022. Sunflower plans to develop the Sunflower Electric Solar @ Russell project, a 20-megawatt solar farm located three miles east of Russell.
Wholesale power supply cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association will have 100% of its members’ load in organized markets in 2023, following the announcement of Xcel Energy’s plans to join the Southwest Power Pool Western Energy Imbalance Service (SPP WEIS).
Charles Darwin put things into perspective when he noted, “it is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
White Paper
A research team has set a new record in the power conversion efficiency of solar cells made using perovskite and organic materials. Their latest work demonstrated a power conversion efficiency of 23.6%, approaching that of conventional silicon solar cells. This technological breakthrough paves the way for flexible, light-weight, low cost and ultra-thin photovoltaic cells for wide-ranging applications.
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