Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) articles from August 2006

Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) archives from August 2006

A look back at public power: 50 years ago--1956.(Association News)
August 1, 2006... A 15,500,000 kilowatt hydroelectric potential for Alaska was estimated by Colonel Vernon T. Loesing, district engineer, Corps of Engineers, Alaska... A $166 million bond issue was sold by the Grant County Public Utility District to launch...

A look back at public power: 25 years ago--1981.(Association News)
August 1, 2006... Ed Sienkiewicz was selected to be BPA's new assistant administrator for power management... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the City of Centralia, Wash., does not have to obtain a license for its 10,000-kilowatt Yelm...

A look back at public power: 5 years ago--2001.(Association News)
August 1, 2006... People Power announced that 30,000 households are now participating in its regional grassroots network (Wash.)... Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced that the Department of Energy, through the BPA, intends to sign pre-development...

What to expect at September's BPA Allocation Conference.(Association News)
August 1, 2006... September 18-19, 2006, at the Oregon Convention Center Portland, Ore. Register at www.nwppa.org By now you should have received your Preparing for BPA Allocation brochure and registration form in the mail--hopefully you have even...

Utility 3 Cs Workshop comes to downtown Portland.(Association News)
August 1, 2006... Customer service employees, both front-line and supervisory, will want to consider joining more than 50 of their colleagues at the annual Utility 3 Cs Workshop: Credit, Collection, and Customer Service. This year's workshop is scheduled for...

Certificate Class highlight: Utility Customer Service Certificate Program.(Association News)
August 1, 2006... Who Should Attend--Customer and member service employees at NWPPA member utilities. By completing each of the modules within this program, attendees will be able to master the skills needed for their position and will have an excellent...

Training for September & October 2006.(NWPPA Training Opportunities)(Calendar)
August 1, 2006... For a detailed list of all upcoming courses and conferences go to www.nwppa.org SUBSTATION TRANSFORMER & LTC BREAKER MAINTENANCE Who Should Attend: Journeymen, engineers, and apprentices, and non-journey personnel who help in...

Application security: a requirement for all consumer-owned utilities.(Information Technology)
August 1, 2006... In the July 2005 issue, Moss Adam's Lew Orsi discussed the increasing importance of the Internet for consumer-owned utilities and the need to secure both the data source and data transmissions (pgs. 13-14). While securing the database and the...

E-newsletters: the good, the bad, and the ugly.(Marketing & Communications)
August 1, 2006... The discussion regarding electronic newsletters is simple: it's the same tool as a traditional newsletter, but with a few twists. Despite the company it keeps--junk mail and personal e-mail alike--it really isn't that different from a...

Rate setting principles--Part three of three.(Pricing & Economics)
August 1, 2006... In the April and June issues, the viewpoints of the consumer, the utility, and the society were outlined, as well as three of the alternative rate designs: flat rates, economic development rates, and block rates. This section will conclude the...

Crew leaders crucial to job safety.(Safety)
August 1, 2006... Today's crew leader is faced with a considerable number of challenges in meeting the requirements of the job. With increased dependence on electricity and potential competition, utilities are requesting line crews to minimize customer outages;...

Wilcox named as Snohomish PUD's new government affairs director.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... Beginning on August 21, 2006, Jessica Wilcox will assume the government affairs director position at Snohomish County PUD in Everett, Wash. In her new position, she will serve as the primary point of contact on behalf of the PUD in its dealings...

Franklin PUD achieves A-rating from Standard & Poor's.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... In April, Franklin PUD met with Standard & Poor's (S&P), a firm that provides independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, and company valuations. As of June 16, 2006, Franklin PUD's S&P rating was upgraded from a B+ to an A-. Sound...

Energy Northwest Executive Board elects officers.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... Effective July 1, Energy Northwest Executive Board officers will be: Sid Morrison, chairman; Tom Casey, vice chairman; Dave Remington, secretary; and Kathy Vaughn, assistant secretary. All were elected to serve one-year terms. In other...

GVEA board officers see changes.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... Golden Valley Electric (GVEA) Association"s Board of Directors elected officers at their monthly meeting held at the end of June. Bill Nordmark was elected chairman of the Board, replacing Rick Schikora who had held that office for 13 years....

Columbia River PUD awards community service scholarships.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... In June, Columbia River People's Utility District (PUD) awarded scholarships to six graduating high school seniors for their outstanding community service efforts. Students received either a $500 or a $1,500 scholarship. This year's recipients...

SMUD dedicates a new plant and new wind project.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... Sacramento's newest power resource was recently dedicated to the public in an official ceremony. As the largest power plant in Sacramento County, the 500-megawatt super-efficient, gas-fired Cosumnes Power Plant (CPP) represents a major new...

Former NWPPA president Doneen to retire at end of 2006.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... Douglas County PUD Commissioner Mike Doneen has announced that he will be retiring at the end of the year after 42 years with the Washington PUD. According to the utility, Doneen is currently the longest serving public utility district...

Public power pioneer retires: Claussen to end 24-year service as commissioner.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... Long-time Grant County PUD Commissioner Vera Claussen announced that she will retire at the end of her current term, December 31, 2006. She is currently serving her 24th year as a PUD Commissioner. For her this means the end of a career that...

Staffing changes at Kootenai Electric Cooperative.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... Kootenai Electric Cooperative (KEC) recently announced the addition of one new employee and a position change for another employee. Chris Aiken has been hired as energy services coordinator. He will be responsible for the promotion and...

Hanks seated, sworn in as IID director.(Member News)
August 1, 2006... On July 11, James C. Hanks joined the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Board of Directors as a voting member. Imperial County Superior Court Judge Barrett Foerster administered the oath of office to the newly elected Division 3 director who...

Rural utility policy specialist joins CoBank's D.C. office.(Associate Member News)
August 1, 2006... CoBank announced the appointment of Sarah B. Tyree as assistant vice president of governmental relations. Tyree, who is based in the bank's Washington, D.C., office, will be focusing on regulatory and legislative policy issues affecting rural...

Beaudet named vice president of quality systems at ABB.(Associate Member News)
August 1, 2006... ABB Automation Products, Low Voltage Drives, announced that Daniel Beaudet has been named vice president of Quality Systems. In the position, he will be responsible for providing overall leadership to the continued development of world-class...

TEA completes acquisition of PRM to expand services to the West.(Associate Member News)
August 1, 2006... The Energy Authority (TEA), the nation's leader in public power energy trading and risk management, has completed its acquisition of Power Resource Managers, LLP (PRM), the Northwest's premier public power resource management, trading, and risk...

Ruralite Services approves capital credit payments, elects board members.(Associate Member News)
August 1, 2006... Ruralite Services, Inc. (Ruralite) recently held its 49th annual meeting and for the first time in its 52-year history, the communications cooperative will return prior-year operating margins through its capital credit program. The board...

NWPPA works to avoid another California electricity experiment: MRTU.(Washington D.C. Report)
August 1, 2006... The California Independent System Operator's (CAISO) Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade (MRTU) proposal, filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in February and now awaiting Commission action, has sounded alarm bells...

A year after Katrina: what have we learned? Disaster planning and preparedness crucial for all NW utilities.
August 1, 2006... Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005, and just eight days later it was gone. But the devastation created by those eight days became the costliest and one of the most deadly natural disasters ever. At least 1,836 people...