NEPPA eNewsletter

I couldn't possibly use one word to describe how great last week’s annual conference went. We had a venue that involved breathtaking water views, spectacular food, and a wide range of invaluable speakers.

Registration opened up Sunday afternoon, accompanied by a welcome wagon sponsored by ONLINE Utility Exchange, providing members with brownies, cookies and milk! Right after was the reception in the courtyard, which enabled attendees to take in the view of the Atlantic Ocean while eating dinner.

Monday started bright and early with breakfast and registration. Immediately following, the sessions began! The first session featured Tim Herbert, who discussed leadership challenges, and the second session showcased Monica Schmidt, who talked about sending the wrong messages to your board. Lunch was served, and Dr. Paul Powers opened up the afternoon session by presenting mastering behavioral finance: a leader’s brain on money.  Following this was the Annual Business Meeting and then the Board of Directors Meeting.

Monday night was NEPPA’s Sponsor reception and Awards Banquet. We had great views of the ocean while attendees feasted on filet mignon and shrimp, and listened to awards being given out to well-deserving members.  For a full list of winners, please go here!  Afterward, members had the chance to visit two different hospitality suites—sponsored by Energy New England and Invoice Cloud, Inc.

Tuesday's agenda consisted of Deborah Sliz, president & CEO of Morgan Meguire, LLC, who discussed energy policy and the 114th Congress After that, Tim Hebert, from Energy New England, spoke about natural gas/electricity & the public market. That afternoon, avid golfers took to Ballymeade Country Club to show off their skills and take part in some contests. To see these winners, please go here!

That night, we had dinner again in the courtyard and listened to Dr. Paul Powers speak about love and money: how to succeed at both while watching the gorgeous sunset. There was another hospitality suite that night sponsored by NextEra Energy Resources.

Also part of the fun was the Baseball Squares contest to help raise money for the Benevolent Fund. This charitable fundraiser aids public power workers and families that have suffered losses due to accident and injury on the job.  Brian Forshaw, from Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, was the big winner of the IPad Mini and graciously donated it back to be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Benevolent Fund.

I also wanted to send a big thank you to all the sponsors who took part in this years conference. You helped make it an unforgettable one, guaranteed to keep people talking for years to come!

Don't forget—next year is NEPPA's 50th anniversary and we have a lot of surprises in store for our members!! You will not want to miss out!

This award recognizes companies that are associate or corporate members of our association and provide exceptional levels of support or assistance to our organization and our members. Starkweather & Shepley Insurance is a full-service insurance brokerage firm that provides us not just with insurance policies but with excellent customer service and has always been accessible for any consultations. Whether during construction of the new training center or scrutinizing the needs of the association on a yearly basis, they are always providing excellent service, sound advice and finding us ways to save money on what could be very expensive insurance. In addition, they are supportive in their sponsorships and active at conferences and events. Barry Rosen received the award at the conference. 

Tom Robak was presented with a NEPPA Service Award, which is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to NEPPA. Tom has worked as a regional coordinator for the NEPPA mutual aid program. He retired this past June after 44 years of working for Chicopee Electric Light.

NEPPA Executive Director Larry Brownell presented the Century Award to NEPPA members celebrating 100 years of service as a public power system. This year, the Village of Johnson Water & Light Department, Paxton Light Department and South Hadley Electric Light Department all received the Century Award.

NEPPA’s Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to their public power systems and their communities. This year it was awarded to John Hiscock, general manager of South Norwalk Electric and Water.

Hiscock has been active with the Connecticut Water Works Association, American Water Works Association and the New England Water Works Association, earning lifetime membership in AWWA. He has been an active board member and volunteer for NEPPA for many years, culminating with this, his 10th year on the NEPPA Board.

The Commissioner Service Award is presented annually to commissioners and directors of public power utilities who have served their systems with distinction for at least 10 years. NEPPA recognized seven individuals for their outstanding service to their utilities with Commissioner Service Awards.

This year’s Francis "Skip" Willey Individual Achievement Award was awarded to Dave Schofield of Georgetown Municipal Light. This award is given to an employee of a NEPPA system who demonstrates a professional commitment to public power through personal development and participation in NEPPA’s educational programs and other association activities. Dave has been a champion of our educational efforts. He has participated in our PUMP program. He is currently on the Rodeo and E&O Conference committees. As a veteran, he is a strong proponent of developing back-to-work programs for returning veterans. His hiring as the general manager of Georgetown was no surprise to all of us who have witnessed his dedication and impact on the industry.

This award is for a specific accomplishment advancing the interests of public power and is not usually given out every year. Dick’s work on the NEPPA membership committee has continually brought in new associate members to NEPPA and helped us craft the format we use now at the annual meeting. This new format allows our associate members to introduce themselves and give a small speech, which has been received very well. In the past few years we’ve had increased attendance and because of the positive responses that have been received has given them a new perspective on NEPPA and the benefits we offer. Dick also worked with his local representative, Alice Picsch, on behalf of the MEAM membership, working with ENE and MMWEC together, to draft and submit legislation for the Mass MLPs to allow us to receive RGGI funds. While the legislation has not passed, his work on getting his representatives involved and his attention to the process of getting it started and following through were a great help.

Our second award recipient has served NEPPA tirelessly, as a board member, second and first vice president. Barbara is retiring after the conference, but during her tenure at Burlington she oversaw an ARRA Smart Grid grant and implementation. The Governor of Vermont described her as an "outstanding public servant. Her work in the legislature, in the administration, and as CEO of the Burlington Electric Department has always been in the service of Vermonters." Her political experience and savviness have been a great asset to Burlington consumers and NEPPA members.

The person of the year award is given for sustained, outstanding service and contributions to NEPPA and to public power. Unfortunately, award recipient John Bachhuber could not be there, so his sons, Sam and AJ, received the award on his behalf. 

1st Prize:  Brian Forshaw, CMEEC

2nd Prize: Tim Houton, Steve Gilchrist

Brian Forshaw then re-donated his prize to benefit the Benevolent Fund, and it was auctioned off at the dinner Tuesday night. Deirdre Lawrence was the highest bidder at $280.

Total generated for the Benevolent Fund was $865! Thank you to all our members!

Golf Winners:

1st Place: Tzimorangas, Bottigi, Gilmore, Cameron

2nd Place: Viggiano, Edwards, Soden, Fedor-Soden

3rd Place: Folding, Zahner, Kelley, McCarthy

4th Place: Camardese, Myette, MacDonald, Bonner

Last Place: Gove, Pollart, Kaminski, Parenteau

Closest to the Pin, Hole #2: Jane Parenteau

Closet to the Pin, Hole #5: Jeff Evans-Mongeon

Long Drive, Men's: Elliot Bonner

Long Drive, Women's: Sarah Lohmeyer

Putting Contest: Chuck Clinch

Guess the # of tees: Dave Camardese

Hole in One: no winners!

Each year, NEPPA is the beneficiary of financial and other contributions by its affiliates and friends through their sponsorship of the NEPPA Annual Conference. Their contributions are very important to this event, and NEPPA is grateful for their support. The 2014 sponsors were:

Arthur J. Hurley, Inc.

Automated Energy, Inc.

Burke & Foskett

Century Bank

Convergent Energy

Duncan & Allen

Energy New England

First Wind Energy

HQ US

Marmon Utility

Morgan Meguire, LLC

The Okonite Company

ONLINE Utility Exchange

Rubin & Rudman, LLP

PURMA

SEDC

Spiegel & McDiarmid

Starkweather & Shepley

TCI of NY, LLC

Utility Services, Inc.

I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day! In the generations since this holiday was created there have been so many improvements to current working conditions that we often forget the harsh working conditions under which those before us toiled.

A large driver for these workplace changes were labor unions and trade associations. While of different orientations, they are of the same ilk in that they create more safe and functional industries and workplaces.

As part of NEPPA’s continuing efforts to assist and improve things for our members and their employees, the NEPPA Board approved two new offerings. These offerings will be reviewed at our Annual Membership meeting on November 7.

In 2015, NEPPA will release NEPPA-Q for managers. NEPPA-Q is our quality assurance program. After much discussion with members and leaders NEPPA has decided that we need to create certification for employees of public utilities in New England. Eventually we will create programs for the various positions, but, we have elected to start with managers. The program will be unveiled and presented at the Annual Business Meeting. It will include continuing education units and an initial certification process. The name NEPPA-Q is short for "quality assurance."

In addition to our entry into certification programs, NEPPA has also been discussing how we can provide greater overall services to our members. In 2015 we will launch professional services programs (PSP). We recognize that the size and needs of our members vary greatly, and to accommodate this we need to provide some services that we currently do not or that we had previously discontinued. Some of the services slated for review and potential launch include:

• Board or commissioner orientation assistance;
• Human resources assistance;
• Manager certification through the PUMP certification process;
• Strategic planning assistance and facilitation;
• Website development assistance and training;
• Customer service training;
• Utility management audits

For those of you who track NEPPA programs, you can see that some of these are currently offered or have been previously. By updating these services and packaging them together as a comprehensive professional services menu, we hope to remind you that we offer these various solutions to our members.

We will review this program and the services at our Annual Business Meeting, as well, but all of these services will be offered by NEPPA or a NEPPA-vetted vendor. When utilizing NEPPA for these services, it is important to remember that you will not have to go through the process of explaining the unique business model or practices of public power.

While the addition of NEPPA-Q and PSP seem to be dramatic new offerings for our members, they are not; they are services that have evolved and been in the making, in some form, for years.

NEPPA will be celebrating its 50th year in 2015, and as part of its growth and process to maintain relevance these new services will become core elements that we expect members to rely upon in the future.

This next year will be about recognizing the past 50 years and positioning ourselves and the industry for the next 50 years. To accomplish the first goal, Mark Kelly from Middleton Electric Light has agreed to chair a 50th Anniversary Committee. He is gathering an outstanding group of volunteers to work on this effort. We will discuss some of this at the Annual Business Meeting, but we plan to officially kick off all of our activities and festivities in January. We may be seeking historic information or items from some of you.

Thank you to our Annual Conference Committee and staff for putting together and running the best-rated conference in my tenure. Many of you who were in attendance came up and congratulated and thanked me for their efforts. Thank you for your feedback, and we will continue to strive to deliver you the highest quality programs and service.

Finally, thank you to Barbara Grimes, who officially retired this week. You have done an outstanding job representing the interests of Vermont members and the members in general. Your direct, no-nonsense approach will be missed, and we have great confidence that Calvin Ames will continue to hold the mantle of leadership high.

The American Public Power Association (APPA) is moving to new offices from where we can better serve our members. Starting August 22, we’ll be at a new location in the Washington D.C. metro area, which is:

• Minutes from Reagan National Airport
• Short cab or Metro ride to Capitol Hill
• Close to D.C. and major transit routes
• Close to hotel options for visiting members
• Blocks away from Metro

Do plan to visit us in our new location. Our contact information is below.

Sincerely,

Jeff Haas

VP, Membership and IT

American Public Power Association

Starting August 22, 2014, our new mailing address is:
American Public Power Association
2451 Crystal Drive, Suite 1000
Arlington, VA 22202

Please continue to mail checks and payments only to our lockbox at:

PO Box 418617
Boston, MA 02241-8617

Still the same:

Phone: 202.467.2900
Email: info@PublicPower.org
Web: www.PublicPower.org

Jason comes to us from Northeast Utilities System where he held three different positions during his 10-year career there. He was a power systems operator, high voltage troubleshooter and a high voltage journeyman lineman.

He brings many qualifications to the position, and he's a licensed Massachusetts Master Electrician, licensed Massachusetts Journeyman Electrician, licensed Massachusetts Hoisting Engineering, and licensed Journeyman Power Lineman in Transmission, Distribution, and Underground Electric Systems.

Jason goes on to say "I am excited to join NEPPA and pass on some of the knowledge that was given to me from the NEPPA trainers when I was in the apprentice school. "

He is a great addition to the NEPPA family and don’t be surprised if you see him around your utility teaching the @your-site safety or technical courses!

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On Aug. 7, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner John Norris submitted a letter of resignation, effective Aug. 20, from a term not scheduled to expire until June 30, 2017. The resignation is a disappointment to many in public power who welcomed Norris’s concern for consumers and a reasonable approach to many issues that came before the Commission.

Norris has been passed over twice for chair and publicly blamed Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for scuttling his chances in the belief that Norris was too "pro-coal." Norris is set to become the minister-counselor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Rome.

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

U.S. Court Upholds FERC rules on Electric Grid Planning