Brian Huffstetler, 29 year old lineman with the City of Alcoa Electric Department, was killed the evening of November 28 in the line of duty. Huffstetler was climbing a utility pole and was struck by a falling tree in what has been described as a "freak accident." A memorial fund has been established to assist his surviving wife and two small children. Our prayers go out to his family and everyone with the City of Alcoa.

When it comes to solar energy, residential customers want their utilities to serve as a trusted energy advisor and the public power community can point to specific examples of how its utilities are already having success in this area, panelists said at the American Public Power Association’s Public Power Forward summit in November.

Easy location solution to increase safety and productivity for contractors and crews Clevest has released the Clevest Automated Worker Location (AWL) solution for utilities which includes a mobile application that is now available on Google Play and the iTunes App Store as "Clevest Worker Location".

The Oak Ridge Electric Department and Tennessee JT&S, with the aid of TVPPA are hosting an underground distribution event. On January 26, 2017 instructors, vendors, designers and constructors will gather at the Civic Center in Oak Ridge for an event designed to provide quality education, showcase technology and promote exchange of ideas and information. The event, called the "East Tennessee Underground Distribution Roundup", was developed from an idea pitched to Electric Director Jack Suggs by members of the Department. "Employees from across the Department were interested in attending an event focused on Underground Distribution where they could see and handle the best tools, supplies, equipment and parts used in our industry today," he said.

In a previous Overlook article, we covered tips for avoiding e-mail phishing attempts. This article will take a deeper dive into real-life e-mail phishing events which were successful and caused significant damage to the companies and people affected.

How many of your employees could articulate the steps your utility takes to stay financially strong? I recently had the privilege of interviewing the CFO of a G&T who told me that it takes $15,000 a minute to run their company. One of his goals in using this simple metric was to communicate to his co-workers the amount of planning that goes into keeping the operation financially secure — and how these efforts impact not only their jobs but their member systems as well.

December always brings back the memory a special event for me; a 48 hour ribbon of time which I shall remember to the end of my days. The year was 1970. I was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, and OIC of security for the 48th Security Police Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, England.

As we come to the close of 2016 and look forward to a busy 2017, we wanted to share with you the news of the continued success of our TMEPA Training room and our Board Room. We have hosted many meetings this year, utilizing both the training room and the board room. Educational sessions that last for multiple days, Executive Committee meetings, Legislative Committee, Board and staff meetings and many other groups and gatherings. One member system used our facilities for an annual board retreat. Everyone continues to praise the central location, parking and personal service provided by staff.

"I start my day viewing the clips from TMEPA", "I'm retired now, can I stay on the clips list?", "I have your clips forwarded to me each day and I really like them. Can I get on the list?" Just a few of the comments received in the past week or so about our clips service. There's no doubt that our Members, Associate Members and many others appreciate this service. Staff reviews hundreds of newspaper articles each day, 7 days a week, "clip" 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.

Two weeks ago on Monday, December 4, TACIR met once again to discuss broadband in Tennessee, but this time commission members and the public saw the results of over a year and a half of work by TACIR staff in the form of a draft report that is slated to receive final approval in late January. The 147-page report covers a lot of ground and provides extremely detailed information and data while making recommendations and findings with the legislature about to go into session next month.

As a continuing service to our members, TMEPA offers training and informational sessions on the latest topics important to electric utilities and municipal electric systems in particular. Earlier this month TMEPA partnered with SecurIT360 to offer cyber security training which shared some best practices for monitoring network security along with information for utilities working toward compliance with NERC’s CIP requirements.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water is proud to serve Memphis and Shelby County as the primary provider of electricity, natural gas and water. With more than 420,000 customers, MLGW is the country’s largest three-service public utility. In addition to enjoying the best drinking water in the United States from the Memphis Sand Aquifer, our customers also benefit from some of the lowest utility rates in the country.

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.

PRESIDENT/CEO: PES Energize, Pulaski, TN, is seeking candidates for the position of chief executive officer (CEO). The current CEO has announced his impending retirement.

Weakley County Municipal Electric System is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Engineer. This position requires, as a minimum, a bachelor's degree in engineering from an accredited university, and 5 years’ experience in power system engineering.

Murfreesboro Electric Department (MED) is seeking candidates for the position of General Manager due to the current General Manager’s impending retirement in 2017. Murfreesboro is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation and MED currently serves approximately 60,000 customers. The American Public Power Association has recognized Murfreesboro Electric with the prestigious Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) Award, which recognizes utilities that demonstrate high proficiency in reliability, safety, work force development and system improvement.

Apply intermediate level functions to identify information system requirements to determine hardware/software solutions: implement, develop or maintain software solutions to meet system requirements.

Apply established engineering principles in the design/development of water distribution facilities.

Cleveland Utilities is seeking a Supervisor of Safety to administer, supervise, coordinate, train, and develop the overall safety and security program of Cleveland Utilities.

CDE Lightband, the City of Clarksville’s electric power and broadband services utility, showed off its new control center Thursday. The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition center, or SCADA, is the nerve center of CDE’s electric power delivery system. Using CDE Lightband’s fiber optic network, technicians in the center now monitor the system in real time, diagnose outages, redirect the flow of power if necessary and direct repairs

CDE Lightband brings home the 1st place trophy by showcasing their Christmas spirit at the City of Clarksville's 57th Annual Christmas Parade. This year's theme was "Christmas Trees and Memories". Click on "Learn More" to see photos of the Float.