Stowe Mountain Lodge played host to the NEPPA’s Annual Conference this year. This fantastic destination could have easily out-shone any business conference held there with beautiful accommodations, fantastic service and great food. Even the weather decided to allow attendees to enjoy all that Stowe had to offer. 

But, the Annual Conference Committee didn't just find the perfect location; they put together the perfect agenda as well. Attendees were still raving about the content of the speaking program as they we getting in their cars to drive home. When polled it was difficult to find one session that out rated others. 

The last educational session with Jeffrey Carr kept the audience glued even as the sun lit mountains begged for their attention. Carr was the rare economist with wit and humor that brought the current and future economic outlook to tangible understanding even while explaining the theory behind it. A rare instructor, he conducted an interactive session where the audience was encouraged to speak and question as he went.

Earlier that morning, Lori Pickford from Morgan Meguire spoke about some of the many fronts and issues that NEPPA is engaged in monitoring and actively working on for our members. One key highlight was the recent judicial law ruling on transmission rates that was a rare movement in the right direction. This ruling will be closely followed as there are some elements that need to improve and there is concern that it may not be accepted by the FERC.

The session that probably drew the most audience participation was the roundtable discussion on Natural Gas and the Northeast. Betsey Spomer and Mike Dirrane were peppered with questions. The capacity restraints of importing gas into New England that are impacting winter generation and causing volatility in pricing created great fervor among participants as they sought to develop a solution and resolution on the issues.

These great sessions were jump-started by the first two conference speakers; Craig Miller, NERC’s Chief Scientist, dazzled attendees with what current technology is producing and doing for the power industry. Futurist Jack Uldrich followed with a presentation that left us wondering just what the industry will look like in ten years.

A conference’s success is not based on speakers alone. We had a great charitable fundraiser with our Baseball Squares contest. Wayne Keel, our new corporate member SEDC, was the big winner of the Mini Ipad, and donated it back to be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Benevolent Fund, which aids power workers and families that have suffered losses due to accident and injury on the job. 

One of the most important events of the conference is our Awards Banquet. This year winners tended to be those who had recently retired after a lifetime of commitment and service. For a full list of winners, please click here.  Speaking at the banquet and assisting in the awards program was Mark Crisson, the current Executive Director of APPA, who will be retiring this year.

Attendees ended this well rounded conference laughing with Tuesday’s dinner speaker/entertainer Rusty Dewees. Thanks to Utility Services for this fun end to the conference!

Finally, thank you to our sponsors who made the events possible and to our Hospitality Suite Hosts who kept the frivolity going well into the night!