NEPPA eNewsletter

The APPA 2013 Legislative Rally will be held March 11-13, 2013 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C. Public power professionals who want to get involved and advocate on behalf of their community and the industry should plan to attend. Go here for details.

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December’s focus became legislative and regulatory. Your Legislative Affairs Committee, Morgan Meguire and I found ourselves fixated on government when traditionally we would have been wondering what the new year and leadership would bring.

While the fiscal cliff discussions were happening, one of the major concerns for NEPPA members became protection of tax-exempt financing. Either by executive order or last-minute legislation, many of us were concerned with what tax measures were not either party’s primary focus. Tax-exempt financing was one that neither side seemed to be drawing a line in the sand over. Taking away this essential source for financing growth, maintenance or capital improvement could potentially cripple any municipal department. Because of this, we began monitoring this important asset the minute the November elections concluded. When it became clear that no early deal was to be struck, our concern turned to the potential impact of an Executive Order.

In December, APPA reached out with two initiatives to protect this important funding source. NEPPA supported and participated in both efforts. First, was a get out alert campaign, where we asked members to reach out to their local leader (town manager or mayor). Using the information and our contact sources at APPA, the goal was to get other local leaders to understand the threat and begin to communicate their concerns to elected officials.

The second program was to ask members to reach out directly to elected leaders and inform them of the potential harm to their constituents. If you need sample letters for this activity, please contact our offices, as we do have draft templates. At the date of this writing there is no agreement so I can’t comment on the effectiveness of these two programs or any budget movement and the impact on our utilities.

The second focus that recently occupied our attention is the December 3rd filing with FERC by ISO New England. The effects of the filing, if accepted, would have extremely detrimental impacts on municipal electric providers in the Forward Capacity Market. APPA was also concerned with the potential impacts and we collaborated on a pleading for Docket No. ER12-953-001. Sue Kelly of APPA drafted the document and was able to get NRECA to collaborate and sign on. NEPPA also discussed the pleading with MMWEC and CMEEC who have also filed pleadings. 

We now turn our attention to our upcoming March hill visits. The APPA Rally is March 11-13 and NEPPA will be doing hill and regulatory meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week. If you are planning to or would like to participate please let me know. This will allow us to ensure we schedule meetings with your elected leaders. For more information, click here to access APPA’s Rally website. We will be scheduling a briefing call in late February for attendees to go over the talking points and leave behinds. We will also host a breakfast on the 12th for NEPPA members to review points and meetings schedules.

It is extremely important that New England represent its members and issues with a strong constituency, so I ask you to seriously consider attending. We have an experienced group of leaders to ensure that all of our meetings will have capable representation, but nothing impresses like numbers.

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NEPPA is accepting nominations for the Carol A. Tracey Customer Service Award. This award is presented to employees of NEPPA member utilities who deliver outstanding service to their customers, either through sustained exceptional performance in serving their customers or the development of new and/or innovative programs to meet customer needs. Written nominations must be signed by the utility General Manager and submitted to the NEPPA office by no later than March 30, 2013. Click hereto print the form. Mail to Northeast Public Power Association, 200 New Estate Road, Littleton, MA 01460 or fax to 978.952.7320.

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MTV Solution is a new Corporate Member of NEPPA. Their company is new and has been running for two years now. They can be found at 782 Plymouth Street in Holbrook, MA 02343. The Owner/CEO of the company is Thomas Keough and he can be reached by phone at 781.963.1100 or by email at MTVKEO@aol.com. The company’s nature of business is storm restoration and they can also be reached by fax at 781.963.0071.

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August 25-28, Stowe Mountain Lodge, Stowe, Vermont
For more than a century, Stowe has attracted the world’s most discerning travelers, who have cherished the beauty of the area’s covered bridges, sparkling lakes, rambling woodlands and majestic peaks. Those who frequent Stowe treasure its ability to welcome the world, while still remaining a quintessential small New England town; Stowe Mountain Lodge reaffirms the mountain’s reputation as a world-class resort. Mark your calendars!

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16 Days
January 22-25
February 19-22
April 16-19
October 28-31

This one-year program, offered every other year, builds on the knowledge and skills lineworkers already possess. Students are awarded a certificate in Advanced Lineworker Skills. Click here to learn more.

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16 Days
February 12-15
May 7-10
September 17-20
December 10-13

This program will combine classroom instruction with hands-on practical applications in the field. Click here for more information.

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4 Days
February 11
March 4
April 8
June 3

This program will cover the basics of electric metering concepts and hardware, and combines classroom instruction with hands-on practical application. Click here for more information.

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We are in the process of working on the 2013 Safety & Training Schedule for your site training. Within the next couple of weeks we will be notifying your municipality of training dates and class topics, as well as the trainer who will be teaching these classes for this upcoming year. After you receive your 2013 Training Schedule it will be posted on the Google Calendar. Please be aware that we have posted the Apprentice Program I-IV on the Google Calendar; however, the dates are tentative and it too will be finalized within the next couple of weeks. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email Courtney Miller at cmiller@neppa.org.

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Students in NEPPA's apprentice lineworker program recently completed their fourth year of study with NEPPA Instructor Steve Socoby. Year four of the program covers overhead/underground line design; system operation and automation; trouble investigation; vegetation management; and crew leadership.

Todd Burnham of Littleton Electric Light & Water Department, Benjamin Christopher, Jr. of Reading Municipal Light Department, Adam Davies of Middleton Municipal Electric Department, Brenton Dimock of North Attleborough Electric Department, Matthew DuPuis of Pascoag Utility District, Michael Hoogendoorn of Concord Municipal Light Plant, Brendan Jackson of Middleton Municipal Electric Department, Keith Lemoine of Groton Utilities, Kevin MacGregor of Peabody Municipal Light Plant, Douglas Menard of Pascoag Utility District, Joseph Parker of Templeton Municipal Light and Water Plant, John Pierlioni of the Town of Wallingford Electric Division, Kevin Stone of Marblehead Municipal Light Department, John S. Tombeno of Concord Municipal Light Plant, William Vanski of the Town of Wallingford Electric Division and Thomas Wood of the Village of Greenport.

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Eight apprentices from upper New York state graduated from NEPPA's lineworker training program in late 2012. NEPPA trainer Bill Hesson taught the course at MEUA’s training facility in Fairport, N.Y.

The following students graduated from the four-year program:

Lou Szabo of the Village of Arcade, Charles Orr of the Village of Solvay, Justin Kent of Allegany State Park, Patrick Seager of the Village of Bath, Donald Kreher of the Village of Akron, Phil Whynot of the Village of Ilion, Mike Ritz of the Village of Fairport, and Nicholas Fisher of the Village of Silver Springs.

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By Elizabeth K. Nevitt and Lori Pickford

President Obama is bringing congressional leaders to the White House today (12/28) in a last-ditch effort to find agreement to avoid across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts set to begin at year’s end. However, there appear to be several signs that indicate that neither side is willing do what is needed to reach a grand compromise. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he received a rare call from President Obama asking top leaders from both parties to sit down at the White House on Friday. As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reconvened the Senate for a rare holiday week session, he bluntly predicted "it looks like the country is headed over the fiscal cliff without a bipartisan deal."

Speaker John Boehner, on the other hand, announced he would call the House into session on Sunday, Dec. 30; however, most insiders agree there is not enough time to procedurally pass a bill through both chambers before the end of the year.  

Prior to the Christmas break, the House scrapped efforts to vote on Boehner’s "Plan B," developed in case an agreement could not be made. "Plan B" would have made permanent the Bush tax cuts for those with incomes below $1 million annually – a far higher threshold than the $250,000 per household Obama first proposed and the $400,000 level he recently offered to Boehner. The bill did not address unemployment insurance, the debt ceiling or the Production Tax Credit and other business tax extenders.

Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, a group that holds elected officials accountable for pledges made to not raise taxes, said that a vote for Plan B would not be a violation of its pledge. Nevertheless, some Republican House members still refused to support the bill because it would have resulted in higher taxes for the very wealthy.

On pulling the bill, Boehner said, "Now it is up to the President to work with Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff." The House has previously passed legislation to avert the fiscal cliff, but it was not the product of bipartisan negotiation.  

Of special relevance to public power, in his recent counter-offer in the negotiations, President Obama reportedly proposed the immediate enactment of a 28% cap on the tax value of deductions and exclusions, including the exclusion for municipal bond interest. According to one description, the cap would take effect on Jan. 1, 2014, serving both as a fail-safe if Congress fails to enact tax reform legislation in 2013 and as an incentive to affected interest groups (who will work to enact tax reform so as to mitigate the damage done by the pending 28% cap). APPA has encouraged its municipal members to contact their Congressional delegations in opposition to this proposal.

APPA, Others Send Letter to the President and Congress on Muni Bonds

Governors Meet with President, Warn Against Shifting Costs to States

State and Local Group Make Case for Municipal Bonds

President Obama Signs Energy Efficiency Bill

Sen. Kerry Nominated to Head the State Department; Markey to Run for the Senate

EPA Jackson Resigns Post

NERC Releases Reliability Assessments

FERC, Not NERC, Will Exclude Distribution Lines From BES

Senate Letter to Request LIHEAP Funds

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson to Lead NRECA

AWEA Calls for Phase-out of PTC; Plan Quickly Rejected by Exelon

Report: U.S. Reducing Dependence on Foreign Energy

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