NEPPA eNewsletter
September 2010
NEPPA recognized several organizations and individuals with awards at the Annual Conference banquet held in Providence, R.I. on Aug. 16.
Barbara Grimes of the Burlington (Vt.) Electric Department presented the Commissioner Service Awards, which are presented annually to Commissioners and Directors of public power utilities who have served their systems with distinction for at least 10 years. The recipients were Thomas J. Reynolds from the Braintree Electric Light Department, Earl Hansen from the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative and John A. Stoddard Jr. from the Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant. Pat Mageau accepted a posthumous award for her husband, William Mageau from the Pascoag Utility District, who passed away earlier this year after a long and distinguished career as both an employee and a commissioner.
Grimes also presented the Century Award, which recognizes NEPPA members celebrating 100 years of service as a public power system. Three systems celebrated a century of service. Linda Soucy, general manager of the Rowley Municipal Lighting Plant accepted the award on behalf of her utility. Soucy also was general manager of Merrimac Light Department during its centennial. Two other systems celebrating their centennial this year are the Sterling Municipal Light Department and the West Boylston Municipal Lighting Plant.
The Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to their public power systems and their communities. This year it was awarded to Frank Hadley, who retired after 55 years of service to the Reading Municipal Light Department, serving most recently as general line foreman, along with many other positions during his tenure. It is reported that he is the longest-serving employee of a public power system in NEPPA’s history. The award was presented to Hadley by Vincent Cameron, general manager of Reading Municipal Light Department.
The NEPPA Service Award is presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the association. This year’s recipient was George Lague, who plans to retire this year as Village Manager of Swanton, Vt., where he is responsible for the village electric department as well as all other municipal services. In addition to his responsibilities at Swanton, Lague has been a public power leader in his state through his service on the Board of Directors of the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority, and in New England, as Director and former President of NEPPA.
"Many of us have served together with George on the NEPPA Board for a long time, and have come to respect his judgment and candor as well as his practical approach to problem-solving," said Gary Babin, who presented the award. "We have also come to appreciate his sense of humor and his enthusiasm for travel, good stories and spirited debate."
Barbara Grimes presents a commissioners award to Tom Reynolds with the help of Braintree General Manager Bill Bottiggi.
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The NEPPA Person of the Year Award is NEPPA’s most prestigious award and is presented to those individuals who have distinguished themselves through their sustained, outstanding service and contributions to NEPPA and to the entire public power community. This year, the association recognized Ted Garille of the Pascoag Utility District.
John Bilda presented the award citing Garille’s many contributions to the association and thanked him for playing so many different roles with NEPPA during his tenure as the general manager of the Pascoag utility, from which he will retire later this year. As Rhode Island’s only public power system, Pascoag has an extra burden to carry in representing public power in the state.
"Ted has been an exceptional representative, spokesperson and all-around cheerleader for the values and principles of public power," Bilda said. "Through his leadership, Pascoag has been recognized as an outstanding, customer-focused utility in the state of Rhode Island, and has been cited by state officials as an example of how an electric utility should be operated."
Garille was also cited for his leadership role in NEPPA, serving on the Legislative and Executive Committees, as a member of the Board of Directors, and as President from 2006–2008, when the association developed a new strategic plan.
"To all of these roles, Ted has brought his customary enthusiasm, thoughtfulness and dedication, along with his ever-ready sense of humor and perspective," said Bilda. "He has been a great colleague and a strong and loyal supporter of our association, and we are very pleased to recognize him this evening for all of his contributions."
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Every year at the NEPPA Annual Conference invited speakers are asked to provide our members with some new insights and information about their assigned topics. Ideally, as a NEPPA member once told me, people can walk away from a conference with at least three or four new ideas to bring back to their own organizations, and thereby receive a practical return on their investment of time and money to attend.
For those NEPPA members and guests who attended most of the speaking program at our recent Annual Conference in Providence, RI, I believe that this goal was achieved. Our speakers addressed a variety of topics, including leadership skills, the smart grid, wholesale power markets, the challenges of offshore wind energy, and the intricacies of carbon emission markets. In addition, our Monday afternoon roundtables covered two subjects of interest to virtually every manager and commissioner in attendance: how to use your time more productively in the office and how to search for and recruit new executive talent for your organization.
Dale Collie, former U.S. Army Ranger and professor at West Point, provided a personal perspective on leadership under stressful conditions, and the importance of a clearly defined mission and backup plan for every important undertaking. He also reminded us that successful leaders in all walks of life share at least one common attribute: they do not quit, under any circumstances. His personal testimony to the courage of American men and woman in uniform was powerful and heartfelt, and touched a nerve with everyone in the audience. (click here to view a summary of his presentation)
Harold Adams, an electrical engineer and consultant to Downes Associates, provided a grid operator’s perspective of the challenges of integrating wind power into the exisiting electrical grid. He helped us understand that renewable energy, for all of its positive attributes, poses unique technical and operational issues that must be overcome if renewable power is to play a major role in our nation’s energy supply. (presentation can be found on the NEPPA website by clicking here)
Dale Collie and Harold Adams
On the same theme, Commissioner Paul Roberti of the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission described the long and difficult review process that his commission has taken with respect to the approval of an offshore wind "pilot" project near Block Island. His description of the technical, operational and political factors that were involved in the process illustrated the difficulties that similar projects in New England are likely to face in other states.
Michael Walsh drew on his experience as executive vice president of the chicago Climate Exchange to discuss carbon markets and how they will work.
Paul Roberti and Michael Walsh
Finally, Mark Crisson, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association, provided a national perspective on the operation of wholesale power markets in the United States and described the activities that APPA has undertaken to analyze these markets and identify their deficiencies both to federal regulators and to the US Congress. He described the proposed "competitive market plan" developed by APPA to reduce the opportunities for the exercise of market power and to cap daily bid prices at actual short-run marginal costs, contrary to current bidding practices. His comments reminded us that wholesale power markets in the United States are still very much a work in progress, and that consumer protections in these markets must continue to be the focus on market reform activities as we move forward. (presentation can be found on the NEPPA website by clicking here)
These and other conference speakers provided NEPPA members and guests with useful insights and perspectives on many critical issues. They reminded us that providing leadership and making progress in our industry requires focus, attention to details, and a commitment to act, once the facts are known. For all of us who were able to attend these sessions and listen to each of them, it was a valuable learning experience.
A panel discussion on Public Power and the Smart Grid included Hamid Jaffari, director of engineering and operations at Danvers Electric: Bob Jolly, general manager of Marblehead Municipal Light; and Doug Bergholm, metering supervisor at New Hampshire Electric Coop. (Jolly's presentation can be found on the NEPPA website by clicking here)
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ASSOCIATION HAPPENINGS
Gary Babin, director of the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department and outgoing president of NEPPA, presented the President’s gavel, the official symbol of the NEPPA Presidency, to incoming president, John Bilda, general manager of Norwich (Ct.) Public Utilities.
"It has been my pleasure to serve as NEPPA President for the past two years," said Babin, "and I want to express my thanks to the Board for their support as well."
Bilda thanked Babin on behalf of the Board of Directors for his distinguished service as president of the association.
"Gary has done a great job in leading us through some difficult decisions and keeping us focused on the important issues," said Blida. "He has also taken the time to attend many NEPPA functions and programs during the past two years as president, greeting our members and thanking them for their participation. He has been a hands-on president and has provided strong leadership and support to the association."
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Each year, NEPPA is the beneficiary of financial and other contributions by its affiliates and friends through their sponsorship of the annual conference. Their contributions are very important to this event, and NEPPA would like to thank the following for their generosity:
- Rubin & Rudman
- Duncan & Allen
- Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Inc.
- Utility Services
- Century Bank
- Spiegel & McDiarmid
- Energy New England
- The Okonite Company
- Public Utility Risk Management Association
- HQ Energy Services US
- Arthur J. Hurley Company
- Hendrix Wire and Cable Corporation
- Morgan Meguire, LLC
- NextEra Energy Resources
- Mark Altman & Associates
- Invoice Cloud
- Noble America’s Gas & Power
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EDUCATION & TRAINING UPDATE
NEPPA’s popular Crew Leadership program will be held at the Chocksett Inn in
Sterling, Mass. on Oct. 13 and 14. It will again be team-taught by NEPPA’s
director of training and education, Rockie Blunt, and senior trainer, Steve Socoby.
The program, featuring such topics as "Transitioning to Crew Leader," "Job
Briefings," "Delegating and Giving Instructions," "Motivating Your Crew" and "Dealing
with Challenging Employees," is designed for line superintendents, truck foremen,
general foremen, lead linemen or operations managers. It is also open to newer
personnel who may be selected for leadership positions in the future. "Regardless of
their level of experience," says Steve, "effective crew leaders are those who want to
do a good job—and we hope to help them achieve that goal." For more information about the program and instructions on how to register, click here.
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THE LEARNING CORNER
It’s September. School is starting up again, and that always makes me think of books. Even if the classroom is not in your plans this year, your learning never stops, and now that summer vacations are over, it’s a good time to catch up on your reading.
For that reason, I thought I would list some books you might find helpful if you are looking to build your professional skills in a variety of areas. These are books I typically use when I design communication, supervisory or leadership skills training. None of them are textbooks; they’re very readable, and some are available as audio books.
Michael D. Abrashoff, It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy. Warner Business Books, 2002.
(This is a good book on leadership and bringing about change, written by a naval commander.)
Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Freedom Press/Simon & Schuster, 2004.
(A ground-breaking book on personal and professional effectiveness, covering a variety of topics from values and personal mission statements to time management, communication skills, dealing with differences in people, and problem-solving.)
Edward de Bono, Six Thinking Hats. Little, Brown and Company, 1999.
(A very interesting book on our thinking and decision-making patterns. The main idea is that when we are faced with an important decision to make, we have to think in a variety of ways—that is, wear of variety of different "hats.")
Ferdinand F. Fournies, Coaching for Improved Work Performance. McGraw-Hill, 2000.
(Good book on coaching and motivation. Various discussions on how to handle employees who are not performing well.)
John Whitmore, Coaching for Performance. Pfeiffer & Company, 1994.
(Another impressive book on coaching people, one that advocates coaching by asking questions.)
Spencer Johnson, M.D., Who Moved My Cheese? G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1998.
(This well-known book is a short but thought-provoking fable about anticipating and adapting to change. It can be read in about an hour.)
David W. Merrill and Roger H. Reid. Personal Styles & Effective Performance. Chilton Book Co., 1981.
(This book profiles four personality types—"analytics," "drivers," expressives," and "amiables"—and how they interact with each other.)
Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen, Fish! Hyperion Books, 2000.
(A short, immensely popular book that is based on the exceptional customer service philosophy and practices of an innovative business, Pike Place Fish Market, in Seattle, Washington.)
Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, MD., The One Minute Manager. Berkley Books, 1982.
(The business classic, which distills management practices into one-minute goals, praisings and reprimands.)
Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. Jossey-Bass, 2002.
(Another "story" book, this one dealing with teamwork, and why teams fail.)
Happy reading! If you read one of these books and would like to discuss it with me, I can be reached at 508-482-5906 or rblunt@neppa.org.
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