Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) articles from April 2008

Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) archives from April 2008

The clock is ticking--register now!(Association News)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Time's running out! With less than 35 days until the start of this year s NWPPA Annual Conference and Membership Meeting, Public Power: Options for the Future, we suggest you get your registration forms in as...

Northwest public power milestones (1935-1939).(Association News)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * 1935--Congress passes the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) to regulate the corporate structure of investor-owned utilities. Holding companies that operate in a single state are exempt, but multi-state...

Conservation and renewables likely not enough.(Conservation & Renewables--Op Ed)
April 1, 2008... A 1960s episode of the Andy Griffith television show featured a persuasive con man with a magic pill that he said could turn water into gasoline. Just fill up your automobile with your garden hose, pop in a pill, and be on your way. The con man...

Working together benefits the industry.(Executive Director's Report)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dear Members, I would like to provide you with a progress report on some work NWPPA has been doing with regard to the North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) Reliability Standards and the Western...

Navigating the regulation of ocean hydrokinetics.(Legal)
April 1, 2008... Ocean hydrokinetic projects, including wave energy devices, are the newest additions to the mix of alternative energy generation projects coming on line. Although the technology and financing of these projects is becoming more viable, the...

NESC to soon require FR clothing--are you prepared?(Safety)
April 1, 2008... The National Electrical Safety Code[R] (NESC) is the standard normally used by electrical utilities when implementing safety procedures for the worker. NESC is also the standard which OSHA cites when enforcing utility electrical safety. This...

Railbelt utilities join forces on UPP.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Alaska cooperatives Chugach Electric Association (Anchorage), Golden Valley Electric Association (Fairbanks), and Homer Electric Association (Homer) want to explore the costs and benefits of creating a unified power system, called a Unified...

AVEC wins DOE wind award.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Anchorage's Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) received the 2007 Wind Cooperative of the Year award from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Wind Powering America Program at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)...

Tacoma Power releases tidal study.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... A study on tidal power has concluded that tidal generation will not be feasible in the Tacoma Narrows (Washington) waterway for at least 8 to 10 years and that other renewable resources, like wind power, are more economically feasible at this...

Carrasco named vice chair of power council.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Seattle City Light (Wash.) Superintendent Jorge Carrasco has been named vice chairman of the Large Public Power Council, a Virginia-based organization representing the nation's largest publicly owned energy systems.

Hanson named to L&I group.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Retired Benton PUD electrical engineer, David Hanson, has been appointed to the state Department of Labor & Industries' General Technical Advisory Committee, which reviews proposals affecting the electrical industry. Hanson will fill a...

Attempted copper theft foiled.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... An attempted copper theft on February 22, was foiled due to some quick thinking and action of near-by residents. After spotting a man attempting to load a large, suspicious piece of metal into a pick-up truck, residents contacted the Pend...

Ferry PUD's Weller has retired.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Ferry County PUD (Republic, Wash.) General Manager Bobbi Weller retired on March 3. Weller began her employment with the PUD in June 1982. Over the past 25 years she has served as treasurer, secretary to the manager and board of...

Orcas trespassing incident injures man.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... On the evening of March 15, a 29-year-old man trespassed onto Orcas Power & Light Cooperative's (OPALCO) Orcas substation at Boede's Corner on Orcas Island, Wash., and attempted to cut a 69,000-volt power supply line with a pole saw. The man...

Flathead Electric awarded CREBS funding for biomass project.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... The U.S. Internal Revenue Service announced that the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) has been allocated $118 million of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) for 19 projects, including a biomass project of Flathead...

Long-time Flathead Board member retires.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Following the announcement that Karl Schrade is stepping down from the Flathead Electric Co-op Board (Kalispell, Mont.) after 36 years of service as a trustee, Board President Earl Messick said, "He will be missed." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Governor names Haagenson energy coordinator.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has appointed Steve Haagenson of Fairbanks as energy coordinator; he will also serve as executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority. Haagenson retired from his position as Golden Valley Electric...

Franklin Board approves rate decrease.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... At its March 11 board meeting, the Franklin PUD Board of Commissioners (Pasco, Wash.) agreed to lower rates by four percent, effective May 1, 2008. The rate decrease is a four percent overall reduction, but each rate class is affected...

KEC reports on coop's state.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Hayden, Idaho's Kootenai Electric Cooperative (KEC) held its 70th Annual Meeting of membership on March 8. The annual meeting reported on the state of the cooperative and elected members to the KEC Board of Directors. Board President Ed...

Grays Harbor PUD gets $10K for records.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Grays Harbor PUD (Aberdeen, Wash.) has received $10,000 from the Washington State Archives' Local Records Grant Program, which provides local government grants up to $30,000 for records management and preservation efforts. Benton PUD...

IID names Brady as GM.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) in Imperial, Calif., has named its new general manager: Brian J. Brady. The announcement was made by IID Board President John Pierre Menvielle, who said that Board members had made Brady their unanimous...

GVEA Board nominees selected.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Nominating committees for Districts 1, 2, and 3 in Fairbanks, Alaska, have selected six candidates to run for three Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA) Board of Director positions this spring. District candidates are: District...

PUD names Spangler as new general counsel.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Snohomish County PUD (Evergreen, Wash.) has named Anne Spangler as its new general counsel. In the position, Spangler will direct the PUD's legal, regulatory, and records management functions. Spangler will start work on May 5. With more...

Vera Claussen Memorial Scholarship Fund.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... The family of Vera Claussen has established a memorial fund in her name. Donations will provide scholarship funding to graduating seniors who are Wanapum Indians. Claussen, former Grant County PUD commissioner and public power champion,...

We remember.(Member News)
April 1, 2008... Former NWPPA communication director Frederic (Rick) D. Kellogg died February 29, 2008, of brain cancer at his home in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 59 years old. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Kellogg was born to Hershel and Marjorie A. (Borg)...

[H.sup.2] Pre-Cast receives NPCA award.(Associate Member News)
April 1, 2008... The National Precast Concrete Association (NPCA) recently awarded its 2007 Quality Merit Award for Outstanding Commitment to Quality to [H.sup.2] Pre-Cast Inc. for achieving one of the top 25 scores in NPCA's Plant Certification Program. A...

Dunham joins Avista Corp. Board.(Associate Member News)
April 1, 2008... Filling a vacancy created in December with the retirement of Gary Ely, Avista's former chairman and CEO, Brian W. Dunham has joined the board of Avista Corp. Dunham is president and CEO of Northwest Pipe Co. in Portland, Ore., which makes water...

CAI promotes White to VP.(Associate Member News)
April 1, 2008... Commonwealth Associates, Inc. (CAI), a leading consulting engineering firm with headquarters in Jackson, Mich., has promoted John P. White, P.E., to vice president. Previously the manager of CAI's office in Mount Vernon, Wash., since 2005,...

Towner joins PNGC.(Associate Member News)
April 1, 2008... PNGC Power has hired Zabyn Towner, a recent Lewis and Clark (Portland, Ore) law graduate. While attending law school, Towner worked as a clerk in the counsel's office at BPA. Prior to that, Towner worked in Washington, D.C., as a legislative...

New report offers ways utilities can help simplify solar.(Associate Member News)
April 1, 2008... The Solar Electric Power Association's (SEPA) newly released industry report, Residential Photovoltaic Metering & Interconnection Study: Utility Perspectives and Practices, establishes a baseline of utility practices related to residential...

Minnesota utility chooses Cooper Power Systems.(Associate Member News)
April 1, 2008... Lake Country Power of Grand Rapids, Minn., has successfully deployed a full two-way automated metering infrastructure (AMI) to its entire service territory covering more than 10,000 square miles in northern Minnesota. The Cannon AMI system...

Can the clean energy incentives bill make it over the finish line? Although high-level negotiations are ongoing, it remains to be seen if Senate leaders can reach a compromise that the president will sign, or whether the clean energy tax incentives bill will be punted to the next Congress.(Washington D.C. Report)
April 1, 2008... House and Senate leaders have made numerous attempts in the 110th Congress to pass a comprehensive package of renewable energy and energy conservation tax incentives, a number of which the NWPPA actively supports. However, the bill is...

Improving local habitats: Salem Electric's Habitat Improvement Program.(Cover story)
April 1, 2008... hab.i.tat--noun. 1. The natural environment of an organism; place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism. 2. The place where a person or thing is usually found. About 80 percent of the power that Oregon's Salem Electric...