Insights from the front lines

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)