The Women's International Network of Utility Professionals recently announced its National Conference to be held in Nashville, Tennessee, October 10-12, 2016 at the Doubletree by Hilton. Click on Learn More for additional information.

Meetings held by the U.S. Department of Energy across the country in April and May gave the public power community a unique opportunity to weigh in on a number of key energy policy matters of importance to public power. More than 10 public power executives took full advantage of that opportunity to, among other things, detail how public power is proactively working to address the growth of distributed energy resources and rapidly changing customer expectations in a digital age.

In a news release, Hometown and Clean Energy Collective (CEC) noted that community solar offers customers in a utility territory the ability to participate in the benefits of local clean power generation through locally sited, utility-scale solar PV arrays. "In light of public power’s growing demand for flexible community solar solutions, Hometown Connections is excited to be partnering with CEC," said Tim Blodgett, Hometown’s president and chief executive officer, in the news release.

Note: This is the second article of a two-part series on practical ways a utility can consistently keep their website looking professional, on message and helpful to customers. If you’ve worked through the steps in Part One of this series, you have formed your website committee, mapped out your current site and come up with a plan to simplify and reorganize your content. This alone will give you the foundation for a website that is more easy to use and will better serve your customers. However, there’s more still to do, and your committee will continue to play a central role in crafting your website’s message and value.

It started with a routine check of my most recent credit card purchases...

Some of the best maintenance for a lawn should be done in the fall and winter, when it's the "off-season" for your yard. The best time to tend to legislative grassroots is in the off-season as well, when the legislature is out of session, and representatives and senators are at home. It's the perfect time to develop the relationships that could be the difference when the next legislative session comes around.

We are twenty-three days from the 50th Anniversary/Annual Meeting of TMEPA! It's really exciting preparing for this exceptional meeting. Your Annual Meeting Committee has completed the agenda and, as usual, it's full of quality speakers, outstanding topics and a special round table of TMEPA Distinguished Retired System Managers talking about the origins of TMEPA. It's the best opportunity available for networking and interaction with other municipal systems and managers from across the state. Information has been sent to our System Members but we'll be sending reminders and additional information out so keep your eyes on the "inbox." Information is also on our website at www.tmepa.org. Look in the left column...Click on Learn More for a special representation of our coming meeting.

We are often asked how we put on such a great meeting. It takes a lot of hard work by the committee and staff, of course, but it wouldn't happen without a very special group of our friends across the industry who unite with us to bring a top-quality meeting to Tennessee Municipal Electric Systems. Quite frankly, we couldn't bring in the speakers addressing topics important to each of you, have the many opportunities for special events, provide the outstanding food and drink and give you the opportunity to learn and network without their support. We encourage you to give these folks the opportunity to meet your system needs. They'll be represented at the annual meeting, and you'll find most of them in the exhibit area, where you can meet and talk. The Reception, Breakfasts, Breaks, and Social Hour will held be in the Exhibit area, so don't miss this chance to say thanks and make a new friend, or business partner!

Have an important meeting or event coming to your town? Let us know and we'll put it on the TMEPA Calendar. Stay up to date with all the TMEPA meetings and other events around the state and even nationally for TMEPA Member Systems.

A unique opportunity awaits member system board members at TMEPA’s Annual Meeting next month. For the first time, board members can attend the Annual Meeting and complete the TMEPA Board Member Training Program, at no additional cost. Usually a day-long training, this year’s board training will be a break-out session for board members at TMEPA’s 50th Annual Meeting, held July 13-15 at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Nashville. The special 50th Annual Meeting presents a unique opportunity for board members to attend the Annual Meeting while getting the information they need to serve as a municipal electric system board member. This year’s training is very popular and filling up fast, but there is still room for more to attend.