NEPPA eNewsletter

Take this quick quiz:

1. What are the four core components to the electric industry for a public utility?
2. How many degrees separate the phases in three phase generation?
3. What does the acronym SMART stand for?
4. What are the five elements that comprise the basics of communications?
5. How does the "Rambler" affect group dynamics?
6. What is the Federal Tax Credit for Distributed Generation Projects?
7. What area of running a municipal utility does Sarbanes/Oxley impact?
8. Should you use the phrases "shall," "will" or "may" in your human resources handbook?

If you are a general manager, you should have been able to answer seven out of nine of these questions without referencing any resources. 

If you are a commissioner, you should have been able to answer six out of nine of these questions without referencing any resources.

If you have any management responsibilities at your utilities, you should have been able to answer at least five out of nine of these questions without referencing any resources.

If you attended NEPPA’s Public Utility Management Program last week, you aced this quiz. 

After 22 years of operating PUMP, NEPPA is now exploring offering CEUs for this and other programs. These CEUs could be used to certify commissioners, managers and other leaders. Why do this? Because the industry has many pathways to Board seats and opportunities for advancement into management. There must be a core knowledge base that those occupying these positions possess for their decision making.

Why NEPPA? Because while the New England public utility market has commonality with other areas, it has unique requirements and attributes. We hope to collaborate with other training and education providers in New England to ensure the most well rounded and highest caliber training for those certified. NEPPA, as the organization created by the public power utilities in New England, ensures quality training and information resources and is uniquely qualified to fulfill this role. In the near future we will publish the core knowledge components for the commissioner, general manager and management roles. 

Please look for further information as we proceed. This will not be a quick process, but it is long overdue.

Congratulations to this spring’s graduates and to all of the participants and instructors over the past 22 years. You have laid the foundation for a stronger industry!

If you haven’t registered for the 2014 Engineering & Operations Conference, hurry and do so! This year’s event is at the Boxborough Holiday Inn, May 14th and 15th. The committee has done an outstanding job in recruiting speakers and vendors. This year’s event will have an Engineering Roundtable. See you there!

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1. Operations, Business, Community & Governance & Regulatory
2. 1200
3. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound
4. Sender, Medium, Receiver, Feedback & Barriers
5. They can detract from focus
6. 30%
7. It impacts the financial and management functions through the audit process
8. No

On April 5, 2014, Terri M. Scott was elected to the Middleborough Gas & Electric Department’s Board of Commissioners. She will be working with Commissioners John Healey, Glenn Montapert, Thomas Murphy, and Dan Farley.

Energy New England is pleased to announce that Dan Ciullo will be joining the wholesale team at ENE on Monday, March 31, as our new Credit and Contracts Manager. Dan will fill a key role in managing all contracts with customer trading counterparties and will be responsible for monitoring all the customer trading counterparts for credit and market exposure. He will also be instrumental in developing mechanisms to allow ENE to aggregate buyers into various types of structured transactions, aimed at leveraging ENE’s corporate structure as a Massachusetts cooperative to the benefit of our customers.

Dan has a breadth of experience working in Origination and wholesale Power Marketing roles at Capital Power Corporation, PSEG Energy Resources & Trade, Calpine, and Energy Management, Incorporated. He is well versed in deal structuring, which includes all of the credit and contract issues that ENE deals with for our customers. "Dan will work very well with his ENE counterparts on the transaction structuring front, and can work with our Regulatory Manager to support our efforts on the regulatory affairs front, since he played that role for PSEG for a couple of years. Furthermore, we aim to leverage his contact base and transaction experience on the business development front," said John G. Tzimorangas, President and CEO of Energy New England. "We are looking to leverage Dan’s experience and are excited to have a well known, well respected, high character individual joining the ENE team," commented Tzimorangas.

Dan holds an MBA from Bryant University and a Bachelor’s degree from Framingham State University, and lives in Fall River with his wife and two children.

Formed in 1998, ENE has grown significantly over the past few years, and is a leading provider of both supply and demand side services to the public power community. The company works with more than 35 municipal systems on a dedicated basis in the provision of one or more supply or demand-side services. In addition, it manages more than 1,000 MW of load and 550 MW of generation throughout New England.

The Wellesley Municipal Light Plant ("WMLP") is pleased to announce the promotion of Debra J. Healy to Assistant Director and James W. Verner to Electric Superintendent.

Prior to joining the WMLP in June 1995, Debra was employed at the State of New Hampshire as Audit Supervisor and by Northeast Utilities as Treasury Support Supervisor. In March 2005, Debra was promoted to Business Manager. As the Assistant Director she is responsible for the WMLP’s administration, financial and customer service functions. 

Jim started his career at the WMLP in 1984 in line operations. He was promoted to Line Supervisor in June 2004 and Assistant Superintendent in February 2013. As Superintendent Jim is responsible for all line operations and electrical engineering functions.

Each year, NEPPA seeks to recognize individuals who have made contributions to their utilities, communities, and to public power. Award presentations are made during the Annual Conference in August.  To help identify these individuals, NEPPA asks its members to submit nominations of worthy candidates.  The award categories are as follows:

NEPPA, the quality leader for public power education in the Northeast, is seeking a new full-time instructor for its Littleton, Mass., Training Center and other remote training sessions.

NEPPA offers competitive compensation and presents a positive environment. Candidates must have crew experience and be proficient in operational/technical and safety areas of public utility operations and must be comfortable with public speaking and group management. NEPPA will train the right candidate in our programs. For information or to apply, please contact either Steve Socoby, ssocoby@neppa.org, or Larry Brownell, lbrownell@neppa.org, or call 978-540-2200.

On June 18th and 19th, NEPPA will hold its 16th annual Skills Assessment Rodeo at the training center in Littleton, Massachusetts. This event is an opportunity for the students enrolled in the apprentice school to put the new skills they are developing on display. The "Rodeo" is made up of 10 events in which each student competes against all the other students. Each event is timed but the fastest time is not the only criteria by which that they are judged. Each student also gains or loses points based upon the quality of their individual performance. This allows SAFETY and quality of work to remain the primary goal of each participant. 

Please make plans to attend and watch your apprentice or apprentices in action. Everyone is invited but please let us know you will be attending by calling Colleen at the NEPPA office or emailing her at cdelsignore@neppa.org

The Massachusetts Dept. of Public Safety has recently announced that the implementation date for the new continuing education requirement to renew a hoisting license has been delayed until September 1, 2014. Originally, the Dept. announced that the new regulation went into effect on May 1, 2014 and it required that anyone holding a Massachusetts Hoisting License needed to acquire 4 hours of continuing education for each endorsement to renew their license. What this delay means is that if your license must be renewed before September 1, 2014, you can do so without any continuing education hours and the license is good for 2 years. If your license is due to be renewed after September 1, 2014, you will need to acquire 4 hours of continuing education for each endorsement to get your hoisting license renewed at that time. NEPPA was ready to offer the necessary training for the May 1st deadline and is working to be ready for the September 1st deadline as well. If you have any questions, please call the NEPPA office.

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NE Senators Ask White House to Re-nominate LaFleur
 

A bipartisan group of seven Senators from New England sent a letter on April 1 to the White House, urging President Obama to nominate Acting FERC Chair Cheryl LaFleur for another five-year term on the Commission.  LaFleur’s current term expires in June, but she could stay on the Commission through the end of the year if she is not re- nominated.  Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Angus King (D-ME) signed the letter.   

LaFleur, a native New Englander, was nominated to the Commission by President Obama and confirmed in 2010.  She took over as Acting Chair at the departure of former Chairman John Wellinghoff in November, 2013.

To read the complete legislative update including the following topics, click the links below: