From the Desk of RMEL Executive Director Rick Putnicki

2022 RMEL Fall Convention Recap
It was a breath of fresh air to be back together again in-person and engage in both formal and informal conversations with many of our colleagues, peers, and professional network. Thank you to the 250 participants for joining us in Denver, CO in mid-October to attend the RMEL Fall Convention, our first in-person Fall event since we met in Kansas City in 2019! 

Please join us as we start to plan for the 2023 Fall Convention by identifying potential trends, topics, and potential speakers for consideration. Members are encouraged to attend the 2023 Fall Planning session hosted by SRP on December 15th in Phoenix, Arizona. Additional information and details will be shared soon.

Review your favorite presentation 

To all of you that registered for the Convention, I would encourage you all to schedule some "me” time to access those available presentations from the event. ALL 2022 Fall Convention presentation recordings and slides are now available on the Fall Convention App. You can access the app from your browser or your phone by clicking here, and login with the email address you used to register for the Convention. There is a Magic Link option you can use if you forgot your password. Please let us know if you didn’t receive the email and/or need assistance getting logged in. Whether it is one you heard, or one you missed, I am confident you will gain a few nuggets of valued information.   

For those interested in reviewing any of the presentation topics that were not registered for the Convention, please contact the RMEL office for access requirements.

All the following presentations are available to registered 2022 Fall Convention attendees:

Fall Convention Day 1 Keynote: Navigating Net Zero Energy Transitions: Technology Innovation, Geopolitics, and Markets
Amy Myers Jaffe, Energy Consultant and leading expert on the geopolitics of oil, energy, security and risk and an influential thought leader on global energy policy and sustainability, and Research Professor & Managing Director of the Climate Policy Lab, Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University

Fall Convention Day 2 Keynote: Exploring Employee Engagement, Retention, and Productivity Challenges in the Energy Industry
Vibhas Ratanjee, Subject Matter Expert and Global Practice Leader for Leadership Development, Gallup

CEO Panel
Panelist: David Campbell, President & CEO, Evergy Inc.
Panelist: Javier Fernandez, President & CEO, Omaha Public Power District
Panelist: Robert Kenney, President, Public Service of Colorado (Xcel Energy)
Panelist: Clive Nickolay, CEO, GE Gas Power’s Aeroderivatives
Moderator: Mike Kotara, 2022 - 2023 RMEL President • President, Zachry Sustainability Solutions
Sponsored by Black & Veatch

Enabling A Clean Reliable Energy Transition
Neva Espinoza, Vice President - Energy Supply and Low Carbon Resources, EPRI

PANEL: The Future of Nuclear Power - Small Nuclear Reactors
Panelist: J.J. Arthur, Sr. Director, NSSS Engineering, NuScale
Panelist: Jeff Harper, VP Strategy & Business Development, X-energy
Moderator: Mike Kotara, 2022 - 2023 RMEL President • President, Zachry Sustainability Solutions

CISA and The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Landscape
Shawn Graff, Regional Director, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency

Colorado River Hydro-Power - Avoiding Crisis
Nicholas Williams, Regional Power Manager of the Upper Colorado Basin Region, Bureau of Reclamation

PANEL: Energy Storage as an Essential Tool
Panelist: Jason Abiecunas, SVP Business Development, FlexGen
Panelist: Mark Higgins, President North America & Chief Commercial Officer, RedFlow
Panelist: Chris Janick, Senior Director - Power Delivery, Salt River Project
Panelist: David Longrie, Senior Project Manager, Colorado Springs Utilities
Moderator: Joshua Johnson, Associate Vice President - Solutions & Proposal Leader, Black & Veatch

Analyzing the SCOTUS Decision in West Virginia v. EPA: Exploring the Impacts to Utilities
Barbara Walz, Chief Compliance Officer, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association

Additional Fall Highlights
Along with an assembly of stellar speakers who presented thoughtfully on topics of top interest and concern in the industry, a few other Fall Convention highlights include:

RMEL Service Awards

Awarded at the Fall Convention, RMEL service awards provide the opportunity to recognize key members for their contributions to our association and industry. This year, we honored 11 individuals with RMEL’s top service awards.

• 2022 RMEL Distinguished Leadership Award - Mike Hummel, General Manager & Chief Executive Officer, Salt River Project, received RMEL’s highest honor. This award recognizes an individual that has demonstrated significant contributions to the electric energy industry, their respective organization, and an advocate for the RMEL Mission.
• RMEL’s Industry Leadership Award -  Given to "individuals whose leadership has made an impact within their organizations,” the 2022 recipients are Tony Eddleman, Director of NERC Reliability Compliance, Nebraska Public Power District; Mike Jones, Senior Director of Strategic Risk Management, SRP; Keith Nix, Vice President of Operations, Texas-New Mexico Power; Jim Trask, Department Manager – Energy Group, Burns & McDonnell; and Troy Whitmore, Vice President & Public Affairs Officer, United Power.
• 2022 RMEL Honorary Life Member Award - RMEL also conferred this award for those "whose knowledge and accomplishments in the electric energy field entitle him/her to special recognition,” to Paul Barham, retired, CPS Energy; Joel Bladow, retired, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association; Kevin Howard, retired, Western Area Power Administration; Pat Pope, retired, Nebraska Public Power District; and Stuart Wevik, retired, Black Hills Energy.

Congratulations again to these outstanding individuals!

Golf Outing

What better way to start off an event than with a great networking opportunity. Thank you to those who arrived early to hit the links and enjoy some camaraderie with your peers. Perfect weather kicked off the Golf Outing at our Fall Convention. Congratulations to the tournament winners Tony Lercara (City Light & Power), Ryan Reider (Altec Industries, Inc.), Luke Marshek (Altec Industries, Inc.), Doug Bennion (Retired – PacifiCorp). Congrats to them and all the players that participated in a great round of golf. 

Scholarship Fundraising 

The golfers started the generous donations through the purchase mulligans in support of the RMEL Foundation scholarship fund. The next evening, the attendees joined in on an evening of live music, food, and friendly competition at the RMEL Foundation silent and live auction. I am pleased to share we raised over $30,000 in support of scholarships for the next generation of electric industry professionals! A sincere thank you to all those individuals and organizations who donated items and bid on items leading up to and during the auction evening.

Sponsored Named Scholarships

Thank you to our new Named Scholarship Sponsors, APS and Texas-New Mexico Power for becoming a part of the RMEL Named Scholarship Program for the 2023- 24 school year. The RMEL Foundation had sixteen Named Scholarships sponsored by a variety of member companies and individuals recognizing the importance of building a talent pipeline to our industry. 

Post Convention Survey

For those attendees that haven’t already done so, please take a few minutes to fill out the 2022 Fall Convention survey. We would love to hear your feedback and ideas for continuing to make the Fall Convention one of the premier events for electric utility industry peers.

Access On Demand Spring Conference Sessions, Plus Many More On-Demand Offerings
Register for RMEL On Demand Offerings (Many Are Complimentary)

If you didn’t get the chance to join us at the Spring Conference, more than 20 On-Demand Spring Conference Sessions are now available for your viewing. We recorded video, audio and presentations slides for most of the sessions, and you can sign up to access those now. These sessions include Day 2 Keynote Brad Jones, CEO, ERCOT; the Executive Panel General Session; plus many of the sessions from the Generation, T&D and Management tracks! Take a look at the Spring Conference brochure to get more details on the On-Demand sessions available. If you attended the Spring Conference, you already have access to these sessions. Use your Swapcard login to access the sessions. Please contact us if you need assistance logging in.

The 2023 RMEL Foundation Scholarship Application is NOW OPEN!
We encourage you to share within your respective organizations and professional network. The deadline for students to apply is Friday, February 24th, 2023. Access the scholarship application to learn more!

Upcoming Events
RMEL is pleased to host two workshops in November. We hope you can participate in these events and learn more about these extremely timely and exciting topics as 2022 winds down.

WORKSHOP: WATER SUPPLY CHALLENGES FACING POWER GENERATION – Group discounts are available – contact info@rmel.org to learn more!
November 10, 2022 – 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. MST – Tempe, AZ
Energy and water have an inherent interdependency and both are facing rising demands. Surface water supplies are dropping, putting a higher demand on already-constrained groundwater resources. The search for sustainable energy sources reveals that low-carbon doesn't necessarily mean low water usage. These issues beg answers to many questions:
- How do we balance the competing needs between water and low carbon?
- Will my power plants have enough water to continue to operate?
- What will be the impact when existing generation is retired?
- How did we get here and what do we do now to get to a reliable future?

VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: NESC UPDATES – Group discounts are available – contact info@rmel.org to learn more!
November 10, 2022 – 8:15 a.m.-4:30 p.m. MST – Virtual
Major Changes and General Overview of the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) is a one-day class focusing on the major changes in the 2023 edition of the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC). The class will cover in detail the major changes to the NESC 2023 edition and will provide a general overview of each part of the NESC. During this one-day class, you will learn:
Scope and purpose of the Code:
- Major changes and general overview of the substation rules
- Major changes and general overview of the overhead line rules
- Major changes and general overview of the underground line rules
- Major changes and general overview of the work rules