NEPPA eNewsletter
August 2012
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2012 continues to be a transformational year for NEPPA. I think that those who retired from the industry in the past few years might not recognize us come January. We will use our new training center for the first time on Aug. 8 for our General Foreman’s Roundtable. At this event GFs will be given the opportunity to comment on NEPPA’s new performance standards for apprentices. These new standards will go into effect on Jan. 1. We will end the month with Apprentice I and Advanced Lineworker at the site. During this time, we will continue the site build-out including the pole yard, confined space and substation areas. While we are finishing off our new home, some of our family has chosen not to move with us. Dave Fabrizius retired in May and Mary Harrington will be retiring soon. Sharon Davies, who has been that voice on the other end of the line for all of you for the past five years, will be leaving us just days after you receive this. As a resident of Pascoag the drive to Littleton will be too far. She is already training her replacement. Over the next month or so we will also be releasing the information on our fall We have also been working on changes to the Mutual Aid Program. After the committee's last meeting, Scott Edwards and I have been meeting with the New York organizations and it appears that we will be adding to our program in the near future. As soon as this is buttoned up we will release all of the details. This will greatly improve our assistance to western members and will help the New York municipals that also would like to improve their response times to some of their areas. With this much happening it makes attendance at the Annual Conference (Sept. 16-19 in Sunday River) more important than ever. So if our Sunday night Football Party and great speakers like economist Dr. William Strauss and Les Otten of Maine Energy Systems aren’t enough, come meet your new crew. Come and get a handle on all of the changes and give your voice to what else we need to do. This will be my first opportunity to spend significant time with many of you and I really would like get your opinion on NEPPA’s direction. ##SHARELINKS##
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To commemorate the 100th anniversary of their founding, the Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments recently hosted a special open house that drew more than 500 customers to their administrative and operations facilities. The day-long event featured dozens of demonstrations, displays and activities, all designed to promote the functions of the departments and offer fun for families. From bucket truck rides and pole climbing demonstrations to an electric vehicle charging station and a display featuring tools of the trade, the departments offered a full slate of both educational and entertaining exhibits to share with their customers. "For us, this open house presented a unique opportunity to highlight the important functions we perform every day to ensure the delivery of safe, reliable power and water to our customers," commented General Manager Savas Danos. "And in a larger sense, it gave us a chance to underscore our standing as a leading public institution and community partner over the course of this last century," he added. Other demonstrations over the course of the day illustrated how line workers locate underground services, how water reaches a home’s tap, how meters have evolved through the years and how the engineering staff employs GIS technology in its work. The business office also used the event as an opportunity to promote some of its offerings, particularly online bill presentment and payment and a community notification system that advises customers of outages and other events. DVDs on water conservation and the functions of a public power line worker were also screened. The Coast Guard Auxiliary, Rotary and Fire Department also participated, with the latter offering tours of service vehicles and equipment demonstrations. Food, drinks, music, a bouncy house and balloons, as well as party favors, which included an LED night light, rain gauge and shopping bag – all emblazoned with a commemorative centennial logo – added to the day’s festivities. "By marking this milestone with our friends and neighbors, we were able to reflect on our founding spirit, share our sense of pride and celebrate our enduring value," Danos remarked. "True to our inaugural maxim as public utilities ‘owned by the people we serve,’ we recognize and respect our role as leading municipal citizens committed to assisting with projects and programs that enrich and enhance the quality of community life. In the year ahead – and far beyond – we pledge to make every effort to affirm our standing as an exemplary public institution and community partner."
Littleton employee participates in a pole climbing demonstration at Littleton's open house. ##SHARELINKS##
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Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department General Manager Pete Dion signs his name to the last beam placed on the WMGLD’s new Mark A. Delory Facility currently under construction on North Avenue. General Manager Dion joined WMGLD Commissioners and construction officials during a topping-off ceremony followed by a tour of the facility which will house all WMGLD operations when it is completed next summer.
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I would like to take this opportunity to say goodbye to all my friends at NEPPA as I will be retiring on Aug. 13 after 25 years with the association. I wish NEPPA’s new Executive Director Larry Brownell and the entire NEPPA organization all the best in their new endeavor, the training facility at Littleton. This is an exciting time to be part of NEPPA. If you’ll bear with me, I’d like to mention some highlights of my long career with NEPPA:
What I will remember the most is all the utility people who welcomed me into their systems, gave of their time, and taught me everything I ever wanted to know and more about substations, power supply and disaster recovery. I will remember our corporate and associate members who livened up our conferences and events and cheered the NEPPA staff on, on so many occasions. I have a quote from W.B. Yeats over my desk at home: Mary Harrington ##SHARELINKS##
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NEPPA's Annual Conference has traditionally been an outstanding networking opportunity for friends and associates of public power. This year promises to be no exception. Sunday River Resort offers a restful and amicable atmosphere for renewing old friendships and meeting new friends and potential customers. All sponsors, regardless of dollar amount, will receive distinctive conference nametags, recognition at events and names on signs. Or, you can just send a check payable to NEPPA, 100 Medway Road, Ste. 201, Milford, MA 01757 and we’ll take it from there. ##SHARELINKS##
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Aug. 8 Sept. 16-19 Nov. 14-16 Public Utility Management Program Cranwell Conference Center Lenox, Mass. ##SHARELINKS##
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NEPPA has added two new courses to its training program. The first one is an NESC course that will be a two- or three-day seminar on the purpose and scope of the NESC and a look at the major changes to the code. The second is an APPA Safety Manual class, a regular three-hour class (similar to a regular safety class) that covers the 15th edition of the APPA Safety Manual. It will cover several content changes and the new additional sections that include the new substation portion as well as a section on the use of electronic equipment while on the job. There will be more details soon. ##SHARELINKS##
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On July 26, the Senate voted 84-11 to proceed to debate on the merits of the "Cyber Security Act of 2012" (S. 3414), advanced by Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME). While there is significant opposition to the bill as drafted – including strong concerns raised by the electric sector coalition – many Senators on both sides of the aisle did not want to block debate on the bill, in the hope that bipartisan efforts to modify the bill will produce a solution.
The cloture vote represents Senators’ willingness to continue the process; members will be working hard to cut enough deals to win final passage. Morgan Meguire anticipates numerous amendments, and it remains to be seen whether the final product will pass. The many contacts that Senators received from all parts of the entire electric sector, including members of the NEPPA legislative committee, have increased attention to the problems the bill creates – in terms of giving FERC expanded authority to adopt standards directly, by-passing the current FERC-NERC process. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said he will accept amendments, but has not reached a final agreement with Senate Republicans on the timing and number of amendments. We expect debate on the bill to spill over into next week, and – with the pending month-long August recess – possibly into September. There are very fluid discussions among supporters of the Lieberman-Collins bill, the Republican alternative known as the "SECURE IT" bill (S. 3342), and a yet-to-be-seen compromise being drafted by Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and others. The electric sector cyber coalition is drafting amendments to fix the problems in Lieberman-Collins and the "SECURE IT" acts. In a related development, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned in a July 25 letter that the group may include the vote in their annual legislative scorecard, should Senators support the current version of the Lieberman-Collins bill. Despite the sponsors' claims to the contrary, the Chamber, one of the staunchest opponents of the original bill and a supporter of the "SECURE IT" act, said it still "strongly opposes" the legislation and argued that the standards are not truly voluntary. The same day, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) wrote to Senate leadership to again express their support for "SECURE IT" and say that they have "serious concerns" with the Lieberman bill because it "does not allow manufacturers to share information among themselves and also receive liability protection." NAM also said that the creation of "a new government-administered program in an agency yet-to-be-named forces unnecessary regulatory uncertainty on the private sector, creates a system that allows for new, overly prescriptive regulations, and is a disincentive to share information." On July 26, the White House formally backed the Lieberman-Collins measure through a Statement of Administrative Procedure – but suggested the President would not back a bill that reduced the critical infrastructure provisions, pulled back the government's current work in cyber security or weakened "the statutory authorities of the Department of Homeland Security to accomplish its critical infrastructure protection mission." To read the complete legislative update including the following topics, click here. McMorris Rodgers’ Hydro Bill Passes House Unanimously Appropriations Process Progressing Senate Votes to Extend Some Bush Tax Cuts: House Consideration Next Week CFTC Approves Swap Definition, Triggering Compliance Deadlines for Derivatives Rules House Financial Services Panel Examines Dodd-Frank Impacts on Municipal Finance Bingaman, Snowe and Feinstein Introduce Industrial Energy and Water Efficiency Bill House Freshmen Ask Leadership to Extend PTC McCarthy Testifies on GHG Regs After Court Upholds Rules ##SHARELINKS##
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Great managers surround themselves with exceptional talent – star performers. These are the folks who have good skills, who believe in what they are doing and who will do whatever it takes to achieve their organization’s goals. Great managers focus on attracting the best talent and get the most value from them. They understand the goals of their organization, effectively communicating them to their people, defining the roles workers must take and then providing them with the necessary resources and tools to guarantee success. Great managers understand that they are "talent managers" first. Their focus must always be on attracting new talent, engaging, developing and challenging and retaining the stars they employ. One organization that has mastered the philosophy of talent management is the New England Patriots. This organization has won three Super Bowl titles and nearly won two others. How did they do it? Their secret is based on their philosophy of always building a team that competes for a championship. This is not a short-term philosophy of win this year and worry about next year later, but a philosophy of winning now, while always keeping an eye on the future. A big part of this philosophy is talent acquisition. The talent they go after is special. It is the talent that fits with the Patriot’s belief system. Once assembled, the coach must then build a culture in the locker room that is in line with the philosophy of the organization. The culture of the locker room is key and everyone must buy into their overriding philosophy. Coach Belichick believes that the best players are going to play now, but that the team is always developing their players to be ready to play whenever they are needed. In a highly physical sport like football, players must always be ready to play. Each player understands his job and his role. The team looks for competitive players who are mentally tough and who embrace the team’s philosophy. Players who do not share this philosophy go. The Patriot’s goal is simple: build a cohesive team because teams win championships. So what can we learn from the Patriots that can be applied to public power? Four key points: 1. Organizations must have an overriding philosophy and belief system to guide them in how they operate their business. 2. All employees need to buy into this philosophy and hiring decisions must be based in part on whether the candidate can adhere to this philosophy. Any employee, new or current, who does not embrace the philosophy, must go. 3. All employees know their jobs and the roles they play in the organization. 4. The manager’s job is to put together the best available team for today, while simultaneously preparing for the future. While the Patriots may have a seemingly endless supply of talent who want to play pro football, most employers do not. This is not the case with public power. There is a critical shortage of engineers, line workers and managers and it is getting worse as a significant percentage of our workforce is beginning to prepare for retirement. So what’s the solution? Focus your efforts on developing your existing talent through work experiences and development programs. Put in place both a strategic and succession plan to position your organizations for the future.Create a strong bench. If you don’t have the talent, begin plans to find the talent on the outside. And lastly, take care of your high-potential star employees to ensure that they remain with you. Remember, the Patriot’s philosophy of developing a team that can win today, while always preparing for the future, has proven to be quite successful. It works. Rick Dacri is a workforce expert, management consultant and author of the book "Uncomplicating Management: Focus On Your Stars & Your Company Will Soar." Since 1995 his firm, Dacri & Associates, has helped organizations improve individual and organizational performance. He can be reached at 207-967-0837, 207-229-5954 (cell) or rick@dacri.com and www.dacri.com. ##SHARELINKS##
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