by Mike Kirkwood; General Manager at Pascoag Utility District and Vice-Chair of the NEPPA Legislative Committee

APPA’s Legislative Rally in Washington DC is quickly coming upon us. This year’s rally is scheduled for March 11-14, and is an extremely important event for our public power industry. Our time spent in Washington during this highly coordinated rally allows APPA and NEPPA members to impress on members of Congress how important the public power model is to its consumers, and to key them in and educate them on the issues of utmost concern to us. Our hope is always that our congressional delegation will remember these discussions when they deliberate and vote on issues that affect this industry. Because of the concerted effort to have public power entities from all 50 states represented at the rally, we increase the likelihood that members of Congress will remember and consider our issues during their debates, both in the various congressional committees and sub-committees, and finally when it comes time to take a full senate or house vote on a particular bill.

APPA organizes many events during the rally week such as legislative and regulatory breakfasts, lunches and general meetings, many of which feature speakers who are industry experts. These events allow the leadership folks from public power utilities across the nation to discuss and learn from each other as they plan for their meetings with their individual members of Congress.

Our NEPPA legislative team, working with its DC lobbying firm Morgan Meguire and the folks from APPA, takes a very serious interest in helping our entire New England membership to focus and prepare for the issues of importance to public power here in the Northeast. Many times the issues are the same as the national issues, but we often have a particular issue or issues to add to this list that become important from the New England perspective. An example of this is the topic of natural gas infrastructure in the Northeast, since we sit at the end of the natural gas pipelines and congestion on the pipelines can affect our power prices so dramatically.

From my personal experience during the last two legislative rallies, working with our NEPPA team and Morgan Meguire allowed me to become fluent in the issues, and I was completely comfortable as I sat down with Rhode Island’s four members of Congress and their aides to discuss the issues we in the industry have been most concerned with. As in anything else of importance that we do in our jobs, preparation is the key to carrying out our goals, and being prepared for these meetings allows NEPPA members to have succinct, focused discussions for the limited amount of time our busy congressional delegation can afford us.

All of our NEPPA members will be hearing from the NEPPA Legislative Committee over the next month or so prior to the rally as we develop information and talking points on our key issues. The items we will be keying up for discussion include FERC issues such as transmission rates and the ISO budget, LIHEAP funding, the threat to municipal bond tax exempt status, new hydro legislation, cyber security, natural gas/electric coordination and the CFTC rules evolution as the Dodd-Frank trading laws continue to be rolled out.

So stay tuned and get ready for another very successful rally in DC. On behalf of the Legislative Committee, we hope many of you will be able to participate in Washington as we spread our message far and wide in the halls of Congress.

The winter months bring snow and ice storms, power outages and hazardous driving conditions. However, you can prepare for a disaster by taking a few steps to deal with the challenges of winter weather.

Compile an emergency survival kit that includes a three-day supply of food and water, flashlights, a first- aid kit, a battery-operated radio, extra batteries and medications.

Create a family communications plan. Make sure everyone agrees on a local meeting place if you cannot return home. Designate an out-of-town contact in the event you become separated.

Before, during and after a storm, get current information through the news media and from local emergency management officials.

This publication features winter storm survival tips. More detailed information is available at www.fema.gov.

Before Severe Weather Arrives

Store drinking water, first-aid kit, canned/no-cook food, non-electric can opener, radio, flashlight and extra batteries where you can get them easily, even in the dark.

Keep vehicles fueled and in good repair, with a winter emergency kit in each.

Monitor your NOAA Weather Radio or local radio and/or TV station for information and emergency instructions.

Know how to turn off gas, electric power and water before evacuating.

Know ahead of time what you should do to help elderly or disabled friends, neighbors or employees.

Keep plywood, plastic sheeting, lumber, sandbags and hand tools accessible.

Winterize your house, barn, shed or any other structure that may provide shelter for your family, neighbors, livestock or equipment. Install storm shutters, doors and windows; clear rain gutters; repair roof leaks; and check the structural ability of the roof to sustain unusually heavy weight from the accumulation of snow or water, if drains on flat roofs do not work.

During a Winter Storm

Conserve fuel, if necessary, by keeping your house cooler than normal. Temporarily shut off heat to less-used rooms.

Avoid travel if possible. If you must travel, do so during daylight. Do not travel alone. Stay on main roads, keep others informed of your schedule and follow routes designated by local officials.

If you go outside for any reason, dress for expected conditions. For cold weather, wear several layers of loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing rather than one layer of heavy clothing. Outer garments should be tightly woven and water-repellent. Mittens are warmer than gloves. Wear a hat. Cover your mouth with a scarf to protect your lungs from extremely cold air. Wear sturdy, water-proof boots in snow or flooding conditions.

After the Storm

Report downed power lines and broken gas lines immediately.

After blizzards, heavy snows or extreme cold, check to see that no physical damage has occurred and that water pipes are functioning. Wait for streets and roads to be opened before you attempt to drive anywhere.

Check on neighbors, especially any who might need help. Beware of overexertion and exhaustion. Shoveling snow in extreme cold causes many heart attacks. Set your priorities and pace yourself after any disaster that leaves you with a mess to clean up. The natural tendency is to do too much too soon.

January 9, 2013-Our PUD crews continue to improve the reliability of our electrical system. Here, a 3-phase switch is being changed on East Wallum Lake Road. The cross-arms on the old switches are galvanized steel, which sometimes allows wild life such as squirrels to cause a short circuit by sitting on the cross arm and reaching out to one of the power lines at the same moment, causing an outage on the line. The new switches have fiberglass cross-arms, which are non-conductive, and so won’t cause a short circuit in the same way. This will help eliminate many of the “nuisance” wild-life outages. Over time, we are replacing all of these switches on our system.

November 6, 2012-Our South Main Street tank rehab project is nearing completion (please see the beautiful exterior coating above). Almost all work including structural and internal and external paintings/coatings have been accomplished, and the tank should return to service within the next few weeks. Our Rock Avenue tank has had some preliminary work done, with most of the major work scheduled for spring of 2013.

October 4, 2012-The Brothers of the Sacred Heart located in Pascoag, completed a very large retrofit lighting project with Thielsch Engineering Inc. also known as RISE Engineering. The Pascoag Utility District’s Demand Side Management Program rebated the Brothers 60 % of the project for a total of $23,997. The estimated saving in lighting usage is 36,431 kWh which will reduce their light bill by $5,465 per year. Pictured above in the Chapel from left to right are Brother Leo Labbe, Harle Round, and Brother Fred Bouchard.