You are receiving this email because of your affiliation with Alltricity Network (formerly RMEL)
From The Desk of Ken Wilmot (Alltricity Network Executive Director)
Happy New Year from Alltricity Network! We hope your holiday season was safe, joyful, and filled with cherished moments with friends and loved ones. As we step into 2025, we’re excited for the year ahead and hope you’re feeling energized and ready to dive in!
Our team, in close collaboration with the Education Committees, is hard at work planning an exceptional lineup of events and offerings for 2025. These programs, created by members for members, align with our mission: Preparing the electric utility industry for the future through education and networking.
With the New Year already underway, calendars are quickly filling up. Be sure to mark these early 2025 opportunities on your schedule and share them with colleagues who may be interested. We can’t wait to see you at one of these events soon!
Additionally, dates and locations for both Alltricity Network’s signature events have been finalized:
For the most up-to-date list of events, visit the Alltricity Network Events and Education Calendar on our website. Our Education Committees, made up of dedicated members, work diligently to deliver timely, relevant, and thoughtfully curated educational and networking opportunities.
Here’s to a year filled with connection, learning, and growth. We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event soon!
ONE MONTH UNTIL THE 2025 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION CLOSES!
Application Closes: Friday, February 7, 2025 | $1,500-$3,000+ Scholarship Awards!
The 2025 Scholarship application is coming up quickly and we highly encourage you to spread the word and share within your respective organizations and professional network. The deadline for students to apply is Friday, February 7, 2025. View the 2025 Scholarship Flyer or Access the scholarship application to learn more!
If your company has built relationships with local universities and craft training colleges, the Alltricity Scholarship Foundation wants to complement those relationships with Scholarships! We are here to help engage young talent in your area and connect them to your company. Forward this email to your college/trade school/university academic contacts or send us their contact information - we'll do the rest!
The Alltricity Scholarship Foundation Auction is pleased to share that over $24,000 was raised at the 2024 Fall Convention in support of scholarships for the next generation of electric energy industry professionals. Thank you to our members for the corporate and individual cash donations that go directly toward the scholarship fund through the Named Scholarship program! Learn more about Named Scholarship Sponsor opportunities for your company.
THE 2025 EMERGING LEADER AWARD NOMINATION DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED!
NEW Nomination Deadline: Friday, February 7, 2025
Alltricity Network’s Emerging Leader Award recognizes and honors individual members who have made significant contributions within their organization and have demonstrated the potential for leadership and outstanding service for the electric utility industry. The nominee must have no less than 5 years of experience, and no more than 10 years’ experience within the industry. The 2025 award will be conferred at the 2025 Alltricity Network Management, Engineering & Operations Conference taking place May 5-7, 2025 in Dallas, TX. To learn more, submit a nomination form, and view the past recipient, visit the Emerging Leader Award webpage.
ALLTRICITY NETWORK AS YOUR RESOURCE
As always, please consider Alltricity Network a resource for you and your organization. Please share those development opportunities with your peers, workgroups, and your professional network! Also, do not hesitate to reach out to us with topics or workshops you would deem beneficial to our industry.
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Grounding Workshop & February Safety Roundtable - February 11-12, 2025 (Westminster, CO)
Introduction to the Electric Utility Workshop - February 19, 2025 (San Antonio, TX)
2025 Transmission & Substation Renewables Conference - March 19-20, 2025 (Westminster, CO)
2025 Alltricity Network Spring Management, Engineering, & Operations Conference - May 5-7, 2025 (Dallas, TX)
2025 Safety Conference - May 21-23, 2025 (Tempe, AZ)
2025 Alltricity Scholarship Foundation Golf Tournament - June 24, 2025 (Littleton, CO)
2025 Large Projects Conference - June 25-26, 2025 (Westminster, CO)
2025 Alltricity Network Fall Convention - September 29-October 1, 2025 (Kansas City, MO)
The association's trusted network is accessible on LinkedIn. Working side-by-side in a cooperative manner, Alltricity Network members band together for the common goal of bettering the industry and improving service for utility customers. For more than 120 years, these key principles have proven successful and, more importantly, are tried-and-true methods for building strong business relationships.
The funding supports 77 projects in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington. It is meant to improve water conveyance and storage, increase safety, improve hydropower generation, and provide water treatment.
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The board of the North American Electric Reliability Corp. adopted two new standards focused on extreme weather reliability and three updates to standards focused on critical infrastructure protection and energy assurance.
According to NERC’s 2024 Long-Term Reliability Assessment (LTRA), “well over half” of the continent is at elevated or high risk of energy shortfalls over the next five to 10 years. The assessment highlights critical reliability challenges the power industry will face over the next decade, including satisfying rising energy growth, managing generator requirements, and removing barriers to resource and transmission development.
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Developers and power plant owners plan to add 62.8 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity in 2024, according to our latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. This addition would be 55% more added capacity than the 40.4 GW added in 2023 (the most since 2003) and points to a continued rise in industry activity.
2024 was another banner year for a source of electricity that is better for people’s lungs, better for climate change and may be reaching your home when you turn on the lights or turn up the thermostat — large banks of batteries. This ability to store large amounts of electricity in batteries was essentially nonexistent a decade ago, but the country had about 24 gigawatt-hours operating as of the end of November, up a whopping 71% over the same date in 2023.
A 69-year-old Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule underpinning U.S. nuclear reactor licensing exceeds the agency’s statutory authority and creates an unreasonable burden for microreactor developers, the states of Texas and Utah and advanced nuclear technology company Last Energy said in a lawsuit filed Dec. 30 in federal court in Texas.
The final rules for the tax credit which have now been released by the US Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) "include significant changes and flexibilities that address several key issues to help grow the industry and move projects forward, while adhering to the law's emissions requirements for qualifying clean hydrogen'" the Treasury said.
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Microgrids can improve power system reliability, make isolated communities more resilient and ensure continued operation of critical infrastructure across large swaths of rural Colorado at risk of grid outages, state agencies said in a Jan. 2 road map.
The Western Area Power Administration announced the selection of Rodney Bailey as Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for the Colorado River Storage Project Management Center. Known as CRSP MC, the office oversees the marketing of approximately 5,400 gigawatt hours annually from 15 hydroelectric dams located throughout Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Texas.
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CPS Energy, the largest municipally owned electric and natural gas utility in the United States, has entered into a long-term storage capacity agreement (SCA) with OCI Energy for a 120 megawatt (MW) – 480 megawatt-hour (MWh) – battery energy storage project called “Alamo City ESS LLC” which will be located in south Bexar County, Texas.
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Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW) announced that Pinnacle West and Arizona Public Service (APS) Chairman and CEO Jeff Guldner will retire as Chairman of the Board, CEO and board member on March 31, 2025, after 5 years of leading the company. APS President Ted Geisler will assume the roles of Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle West and APS effective April 1, 2025.
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The federal approval allows the plant to operate an additional 20 years, through 2050, provided the plant’s extended operation is also approved by state regulators. Monticello’s continued operation will ensure that nuclear energy plays a foundational role in Xcel Energy’s transition to 100% carbon-free electricity.
OPPD ranked number one overall in the Midwest Midsize segment in 2024 and also topped the list in the subcategories of billing and payment, price and communication. The J.D. Power U.S. Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study surveys customers to measure residential customer satisfaction across six categories: power quality and reliability; price; billing and payment; communications; corporate citizenship; and customer care.
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Deriva Energy, a Charlotte-based renewable generation developer, owner and operator, and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a not-for-profit wholesale power supply cooperative, have announced the start of commercial operations for the 140-megawatt (MW) Spanish Peaks Solar projects in Las Animas County, Colo., which will provide energy to Tri-State’s members under two long-term power purchase agreements.
A new study shows the benefits of coordinating the siting of solar farms, wind farms, and storage systems, taking into account local and temporal variations in wind, sunlight, and energy demand. This approach maximizes the utilization of renewable resources and reduces costs.
Another advance has been made by experts in nano-scale chemistry to propel further development of sustainable and efficient generation of hydrogen from water using solar power. Experts have now identified a novel solar cell process to potentially use in future technologies for photocatalytic water splitting in green hydrogen production.
Researchers propose a unique numerical decision-making framework for solar panel protection against extreme weather conditions. The framework combines advanced wind simulations with machine learning to optimize individual solar panel angles under strong winds. Unlike previous methods, this new method treats panels as independent decision-makers and identifies creative, data-driven solutions to reduce stress, significantly outperforming current safeguards.
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