Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) articles from April 2005

Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) archives from April 2005

A look back at public power: 50 years ago--1955.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... Commissioners of Benton County PUD (Kennewick, Wash.), voted a $70,000 annual rate reduction for its 8,400 customers, the third reduction in eight years. The new rate did not eliminate residential demand charges. Instead, an increase of...

A look back at public power: 25 years ago--1980.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... Proposals to form people's utility districts in Oregon were gaining a groundswell of support throughout the state. At the time, 12 counties in Oregon were expected to have PUD formation proposals on the general election ballot, assuming the...

A look back at public power: 5 years ago--2000.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... The importance of hydropower to Northwest electric utilities and their customers was no secret. For the previous five years, a debate about the importance of hydropower versus salmon had come into the foreground and turned into a heated...

Less than two months remaning: time to enter!(Association News)
April 1, 2005... You have less than two months to send in your entries for the 12th Annual NWPPA Excellence in Communication Competition, but it's never too early to enter. Your best communication work from 2004 is expected by NWPPA by the May 27 deadline,...

FARE is set for 2005 return to Seattle.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... Utility employees who focus in the areas of finance and accounting, or rates and economics will find value in NWPPA's annual Finance, Accounting, Rates and Economics (FARE) Workshop, set for June 15-17 at the Embassy Suites SeaTac in Seattle,...

Leadership focus of 65th Annual Meeting.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... The 65th NWPPA Annual Conference & Membership Meeting, Public Power Utilities: Leaders in Local Communities is just about here, and sunny Palm Springs, Calif., is ready for NWPPA's policymakers, managers, and new leaders. The conference is...

Communicator Roundtable, EE Workshop bring together utility colleagues.(Association News)(Panel Discussion)
April 1, 2005... The NWPPA Communicators' Roundtable and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Workshop were held in Spokane last month, and for the second year in a row, these co-located events brought together representatives from utilities and industry...

West coast electric transmission issues--policy perspectives forum recap.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... On March 7-8, Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) members and utility personnel from around the region heard perhaps what they had hoped to hear, and possibly learned even more, during the NWPPA Policy Perspectives Forum on transmission...

NWPPA endorses MultiSpeak Standard.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... In September of 2004, Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) was approached by the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (NRECA) with a request to take a look at the MultiSpeak Standard developed by NRECA's Cooperative Research...

Comments to Proposed Resolutions due.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... If you haven't already submitted your comments regarding NWPPA's 2005 Proposed Resolutions, they're due back to NWPPA headquarters by May 6, 2005. Proposed resolutions can viewed on NWPPA's Web site at www.nwppa.org.

Voting delegate assignments due.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... NWPPA members who have not already designated their voting delegate for the NWPPA Annual Business Meeting are urged to do so before May 6, 2005. Members can designate their delegate by contacting Debbie Kuraspediani at NWPPA's headquarters at...

RFP: NWPPA seeks legal consulting services.(Association News)
April 1, 2005... NWPPA is seeking proposals for legal consulting services in the area of environmental compliance. To obtain a copy of the request for proposals, please contact Ron Marley at (360) 254-0109 or ron@nwppa.org.

Training for May, June & July 2005.(NWPPA Training Opportunities)(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... For a detailed list of all upcoming courses and conferences go to www.nwppa.org WHOLESALE POWER MANAGEMENT 101 Who Should Attend: This one-and-a-half day workshop is designed for board members, general managers, planners and policy...

Personal voice mail: important tool in customer relations.(Customer Service)
April 1, 2005... Anyone in the utilities industry who takes calls from customers and has personal voice mail must understand that their recorded message makes a powerful first impression. The quality and tone of your message are a direct reflection of who...

First quarter brings new services to members.(Executive Director's Report)
April 1, 2005... Dear Members: The first quarter of 2005 NWPPA was busy bringing your utility a new service and coordinating a conference that turned out to have huge policy implications for the electric utility industry in the Pacific Northwest and West....

The coalition for smart salmon recovery: your help creates a unified voice.(Guest Feature)
April 1, 2005... As the public power community engages the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in the ratemaking process for the years 2007-2010, it is more important than ever that the regional fish and wildlife efforts are balanced with the need to ensure a...

The critical internal controls a policy maker should know.(Policy Making & Management)
April 1, 2005... The management and board of directors of consumer owned utilities preside over a complex business model. The demands of providing reliable, reasonably priced utility services are daunting. Generally large upfront investments are required that...

Energy Northwest explores new base load resource.(Power Supply & Risk Management)
April 1, 2005... Energy Northwest is studying the feasibility of a new base load power generation resource for the Pacific Northwest. If sufficient interest develops within the utility community to purchase the output, this project could add as much as 600...

Beware! Anti-lock braking systems do have a fault, take it from me!(Safety)
April 1, 2005... Anti-lock brakes are a great addition to auto safety in most cases. However, beware when you trust your vehicle to stop during low speed (20 m.p.h, or less) panic stops. I learned the hard way about the downside of anti-lock brakes. While...

Leroy & Lester.(Cartoon)
April 1, 2005... "Uh Oh, I think I forgot to say BEEP BEEP BEEP" [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Benton PUD recognized for stewardship.(Member News)
April 1, 2005... Benton PUD (Kennewick, Wash.) was recently recognized for its excellence in different areas of the utility's business. The utility received the Tree Line USA Award from the National Arbor Day Foundation. It was the sixth straight year the...

Grant PUD begins testing of new hydropower turbine.(Member News)
April 1, 2005... Full scale testing has begun on new hydropower turbine technology designed to increase the survival rate of migratory fish. The state-of-the-art technology, which was installed this fall at Grant County Public Utility District's (PUD) Wanapum...

Chelan PUD lauded for Habitat Conservation Plans.(Member News)
April 1, 2005... Chelan PUD's (Wenatchee, Wash.) landmark Habitat Conservation Plans for Rock Island and Rocky Reach dams have earned Outstanding Stewardship of America's Rivers from the National Hydropower Association. Chelan County PUD is among several...

Former Salem Electric board president and the co-op's first member passes.(Member News)
April 1, 2005... Mark Gehlar passed away on March 4, less than a month before his 89th birthday. In 1937 Mark and his father Max Gehlhar, who used the original spelling of the name, founded Oregon Fruit Products in the then incorporated city of West Salem,...

We remember.(Member News)
April 1, 2005... Former Benton PUD (Kennewick, Wash.) Commissioner Robert G. "Bob" Graves recently passed away at age 82. Just two months earlier, he had resigned from the PUD commission for health reasons. Bob served in the U.S. Army in World War II in the...

Coos-Curry makes changes to management structure.(Member News)
April 1, 2005... Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative (CCEC) has instituted changes in its management structure in order to bring more value to their members. These management changes were also designed to provide better performance, increased efficiency and...

Fergus Electric board names Sweeney new GM.(Member News)
April 1, 2005... Scott Sweeney has been named the new general manager at Fergus Electric Cooperative (Lewistown, Mont.). Sweeney has been at Fergus Electric for nearly 26 years, beginning as one of two staking engineers, before becoming a line...

Snohomish gets positive FERC ruling on Enron's $122 million claim.(Member News)
April 1, 2005... Snohomish County PUD has received one of its most favorable rulings so far in its effort to void a $122 million claim from Enron. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued an interim order that it will review termination...

Donated co-op truck at work for Montana Food Pantry.(Member News)
April 1, 2005... A Pickup truck retired from Flathead Electric Cooperative's (Kalispell, Mont.) fleet has a new life helping to provide food to needy families. The four-wheel drive truck, a 1996 Ford F-150 with a canopy, was donated to the Libby Food...

Calendar of upcoming public power meetings.(Member News)(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... May 2005 1-4-- NRECA Legislative Conference, Washington, D.C. 3-- Salem Electric Annual Meeting. 5-- PPC Executive Committee Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport,...

UtilX Corporation.(Associate Member Profiles)
April 1, 2005... Gus Derezes P.O. Box 97009 Kent, WA 98064-9709 Phone: (253) 395-0200 Fax: (253) 395-1040 E-mail: marketing@utilx.com www.utilx.com UtilX is a leader in cable life-extension technologies. They focus on bringing...

ERMCO.(Associate Member Profiles)
April 1, 2005... Bill Hadden P.O. Box 1228 Dyersburg, TN 38025-1228 Phone: (731) 285-9121 Fax: (731) 287-4104 E-mail: bhadden@ermco-eci.com www.ermco-eci.com Electric Research and Manufacturing Cooperative, Inc. (ERMCO), a...

PCS employee named to MultiSpeak board.(Associate Member News)
April 1, 2005... Professional Computer Systems' Product Development Manager Dan Kock has recently been elected to the MultiSpeak Advisory Board. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Software Integration Initiative, MultiSpeak,...

Is this the year for a federal portfolio standard?(Washington D.C. Report)
April 1, 2005... Because the Senate failed to pass comprehensive energy legislation in the 108th Congress that was crafted to appeal, primarily, to Republicans, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) has publicly stated...

Unstructured data overload--is GIS the Solution? With limited tools to efficiency recall unstructured data, organizations now need new powerful search tools that can quickly sift through vast quanities of data to locate critical information.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2005... Approximately 80 percent of an organization's knowledge is contained in unstructured data. Investments in technologies and techniques to manage this data have failed to generate expected results primarily because they fall short of pulling...