In politics and policy there are reasons and there are excuses. The American Public Power Association and other stakeholders have been fighting for several years now to explain the reasons why an unprecedented tax on municipal bonds would be bad. There is ample evidence to indicate that: 1. The tax exclusion of municipal bonds is far more efficient than opponents suggest; 2. Taxing municipal bonds would be hugely harmful to U.S. infrastructure investment; and 3. Proposed alternatives to tax-exempt municipal bond financing would increase the cost of financing core infrastructure investments — and state and local residents will pay the price

A utility of any size can have departments and employees work in silos, resulting in the appearance the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Jared Dovers of WordSouth shares some guidelines that can help a utility avoid problems caused by a disconnect between a communications department and the rest of the operation.

Hometown Connections, the utility services subsidiary of the American Public Power Association, and AESI-US, Inc. announced a partnership to provide cyber and physical security consulting services to public power electric, gas, and water utilities. Through Hometown Connections, American Public Power Association members gain access to discount pricing on systems and services from the industry’s leading vendors, and AESI supports the development and implementation of cyber and physical security solutions including risk assessments, product assessments, penetration testing, network architecture reviews, system integration, education & training, hands-on day-to-day routine tasks, and regulatory compliance.

Findings from a recent project funded by the American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program suggest that public power utilities may want to consider using drones or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for preventative maintenance and damage assessment. A recent study demonstrated that novice users could easily learn to pilot and effectively use UAS to conduct a system assessment.

The Energy Information Administration on June 14 reported that for the first time, monthly electricity generation from wind and solar (including utility-scale plants and small-scale systems) exceeded 10% of total electricity generation in the U.S., based on March data in EIA’s Electric Power Monthly report. And EIA thinks it is likely that electricity generation from wind and solar will exceed 10% of total U.S. generation again in April 2017.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget the EPA’s proposed rule to review the Clean Power Plan. The Trump Administration in March issued an Executive Order, entitled Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth. The order directed EPA to review, revise or repeal the Clean Power Plan. The draft rule over at OMB is one step in this process.

TMEPA has hired as its new Executive Director/CEO Brian Solsbee. Brian joined the organization June 12 to work alongside current Executive Director Mike Vinson, who is set to retire at the end of July. Brian's extensive experience with public power in the valley at municipal utilities and TVA have provided him the knowledge and background necessary to lead our organization into the future.

MAKE YOUR ROOM RESERVATIONS ASAP THE ROOM BLOCK CLOSES ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 21. YOU CAN FIND A LINK TO THE PEABODY AT THE ANNUAL MEETING PAGE JUST BELOW. A unique opportunity to attend one of the most valuable and best-reviewed business meetings at one of the most entertaining destinations in the South is waiting for you. The 51st Annual Meeting of the Members at the historic Peabody Hotel in Memphis provides a great chance to increase the effectiveness of your utility by learning current trends, consulting with your peers, and networking with suppliers and vendors. The program includes informative sessions on critical topics relevant to Tennessee’s municipal electric systems.

As we approach the advent of summer, the late spring weather makes for a pleasant transition. Plenty of sunshine blended in with a little rain and cooler than normal temperatures are a welcome presence. Good for my newly planted lawn. Pleasant weather is also accompanied by the perennial outdoor activities, other than yard maintenance: softball, soccer, picnics, boating, camping, and that uniquely rural American past time called... the garage/yard sale!

The Tennessee General Assembly adjourned last month. Now that the dust has settled, how did the legislative session shake out for municipal electric utilities?

President Donald Trump recently sent Congress a budget for Fiscal Year 2018 that proposes cutting federal spending by $24 billion in 2018 and by $3.6 trillion over the next decade, while boosting federal revenues by $2.7 trillion over the same period, to bring the federal budget into balance by 2027. APPA's Senior Government Relations Director John Godfrey takes a look at the budget and its impact on public power.

For several years it was battle to fight back President Obama's proposal to sell the Tennessee Valley Authority, the federal government's largest electric utility agency. Now President Trump has proposed selling three of the federal government's power marketing administrations (PMAs). Just like with the proposed sale of TVA, members of Congress and trade groups are coming to the defense of public power.

For public power utilities, the most important thing is providing power that is both reliable and affordable. Your utility wants to make sure homes and businesses have power when they want it, and they want to provide it at the lowest possible cost. With distributed generation, utilities have to figure out how to meet those goals while meeting customers' demands for more energy choices.

Would you like to receive daily updates about Tennessee politics and electric utilities, delivered every morning to your inbox? TMEPA Daily News Clips is a list of news articles curated from hundreds of news articles we believe are of interest to TMEPA members. If you would like to receive the clips, just send an email to any of the staff (mvinson@tmepa.org, susans@tmepa.org or jelrod@tmepa.org). You can also see the current and past six days on our website by clicking on lick on the link below.

The city of Brownsville boasts itself as "a city on the move." To be such a city, it has to have a backbone of good infrastructure and utilities to make it attractive to its citizens and newcomers. Luckily, the city has a one stop shop for its utilities. For nearly eighty years Brownsville Utility Department provided power to the city of Brownsville, and it now offers water, wastewater, natural gas, and propane gas with over 17,000 metered customers.

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.

Tullahoma Utilities Authority is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Electric Engineering Supervisor or Electric Engineer. This position will be responsible for a wide range of activities and key functions for the Tullahoma Utilities Authority. These responsibilities include but are not limited to engineering and system planning, program administration, and technology support.

Loudon Utilities Board, a municipal electric, natural gas, wastewater, and water utility, is seeking an Electrical Engineer for its Loudon, Tennessee, operations. Working under the instructions of the Director of Engineering, the individual awarded this position will have responsibilities in the following areas.......:

Tennessee Job Training & Safety (JT&S) Public Works Program has an immediate need for Safety Instructors who can work onsite in the Tennessee Valley Area. JT&S is a joint venture between the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Murfreesboro, Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, and the Tennessee Municipal Electric Power Association. The program provides job training and training and support in health and safety issues for both municipal and cooperative utilities throughout the state of Tennessee. JT&S is based at the Murfreesboro campus of Tennessee College of Applied Technology.

Newport Utilities is actively seeking a Senior Systems Operator, responsible for the overall performance and efficiency of the 24/7 communications/dispatch center and the planning and assigning of work to NU’s field resources. This position will support the new requirements as NU moves forward and transforms the SCADA/Dispatcher monitoring functions.

Newport Utilities has an immediate opening for a Systems Engineer. This position is responsible for utility engineering work in the office and field; direct and manage water and wastewater utility projects; and other related work as required. Work in this position involves responsibility for the application of engineering skills and knowledge to moderately difficult and difficult utility engineering projects in connection with the design, construction, extension, inspection, and maintenance of water and wastewater utility systems. Technical work in design and preparation of plans and specifications also required.

The City of Sparta, Tennessee is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Lineman with the Sparta Electric System. Sparta is located 90 miles east of Nashville, TN, 95 miles west of Knoxville, TN and 80 miles north of Chattanooga, TN. The service territory includes a 6.3 square mile service area with approximately 3,000 meters.

The City of Alcoa, Tennessee, is seeking a Utility Arborist Leadworker to manage the vegetation management program of the Electric Department. The Arborist will coordinate and oversee the work of contractor and city crews in the management of trees, brush, and other vegetation in an effort to decrease power outages and improve the operations of the utility’s transmission and distribution system.

Eric Hicks has taken over as the general manager for the Sweetwater Utilities Board effective this past week. Hicks has been with the Sweetwater Utilities Board since 1994. In recent years, he was former SUB General Manager Robert Bettis’ right hand man and took over the responsibilities of running SUB’s day-to-day operations as Bettis’ health worsened. Bettis died earlier this year after a battle with cancer.

Earlier this month, the City of Loudon and Loudon Utilities hired Ty Ross to serve as city and utilities manager. Ty worked as an attorney for five years and was an assistant dean at Dalton State College until being hired as the city manager for Dalton in 2009. Loudon Utilities' former manager Lynn Mills passed away earlier this year after a long and dedicated career at the utility.

After a May 27 storm, Memphis Light, Gas and Water faced unprecedented damage with outages that peaked at 188,000 and left some without power for over a week. According to MLGW President and CEO Jerry Collins, "MLGW threw more resources at this storm than has ever been used in any storm outage in the history of the city." In addition to MLGW crews, 73 contractors from East Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio were brought in to assist in making repairs. Residents also benefited from recent MLGW initiatives like installing smart meters, tree-trimming, and an upgraded hotline that helped get power back on sooner.

The controversial wind turbine project by Apex Clean Energy planned for eastern Cumberland County has been suspended by the developer. The estimated $100 million project was first announced in January 2016. The Charlottesville, VA-based energy company had proposed to build 20 to 23 wind turbines to produce 71 megawatts of power annually.