Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) articles from December 2007

Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) archives from December 2007

Utilities and vendors worked together in Alaska.(Association News)
December 1, 2007... The recent NWPPA Alaska Electrical Utility Conference held in Anchorage brought together utilities from around Alaska and vendors from around the nation. Working Together to Power Alaska was the title of the conference and from the number of...

People Power has a new look.(Association News)
December 1, 2007... People Power, the region's grassroots network to represent the interests of consumer-owned electric utilities, released its new logo and Web site (pplpwr.org) this fall. The program, in its seventh year, is the largest grassroots network of its...

Lowry hired as NWPPA training manager.(Association News)
December 1, 2007... On October 29, 2007, NWPPA welcomed Scott Lowry to the Association as its newest training manager. In this position, Lowry will manage engineering and operations technical training events and conferences for NWPPA members. More specifically, he...

A look back at public power.(Association News)
December 1, 2007... 50 years ago--1957 Benton PUD found roosting herons were causing some power outages (Wash.)... As of December 31, 1956, the 989 REA borrowers were operating 1,382,737 miles of line to 4,361,896 consumers... Seattle City Light announced...

2007-2008 Northwest Electric Utility Directory corrections.(Directory)(Correction notice)
December 1, 2007... The following is corrected information for the 2007-2008 Northwest Electric Utility Directory. Please make note of these changes in your copy. COPPER VALLEY ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION, INC. (page 9) Phone number should be: (907) 822-3211 Fax...

Planning for 2008 and beyond.(Executive Director)
December 1, 2007... Dear Members, With the holiday season upon us, it's a great time to reflect on our accomplishments and good fortunes at work, at home, and in the other parts of our lives. It is also a time to set in motion our plans for the upcoming year....

2008 college job fair schedule.(Calendar)
December 1, 2007... Check for a job fair in your area-- * Bates Technical College--Tacoma, Wash. TBD www.bates.ctc.edu * Big Bend Community College--Moses Lake, Wash. April 24, 2008, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. www.bigbend.edu * Cal Poly--San Luis Obispo, Calif....

Where did you get that fish?(Fish Issues)
December 1, 2007... If you live in the Northwest you hear a lot about salmon. To someone unfamiliar with the underlying issues it is a very confusing issue. Are salmon runs up or down? What is the difference between hatchery fish and wild or native fish? How is it...

Expanding opportunities: transforming landfill gas into renewable power.(Power Supply & Risk Management)
December 1, 2007... Stakeholders, community members, and supporters gathered to celebrate the completion of the $5.4 million capacity expansion at the Coffin Butte Resource Project, a landfill gas-to-energy plant. The grand opening took place on October 1, 2007,...

Live-line maintenance and tool requirements.(Safety)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This year there have been at least two linemen killed in the process of setting poles between energized conductors. Special precautions may have prevented the horrible tragedies, including things like using proper...

New OSHA ruling on safety gear.
December 1, 2007... OSHA recently published a new final rule requiring employers to provide personal protective equipment used to comply with OSHA's standards for all employees. Employees are responsible only for the costs of everyday clothing, footwear, and...

IEEE honors AVEC.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... Anchorage's Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) received the Company of the Year Award from the Alaska Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). AVEC received the award in recognition of its support of the...

New hires at Skagit PUD.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... Skagit County PUD (Mt. Vernon, Wash.) has hired Kevin Tate, formerly with the Northwest Educational Services District and the Mount Vernon School District, for a new position as the community relations manager. He will report directly to...

Updates from Red Lodge.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... At its recent annual meeting, Beartooth Electric Cooperative (Red Lodge, Mont.) re-elected trustees Mike Plymale and Ronnie Wright; in the subsequent reorganization of the Board, President John Prinkki, Vice President Fred Weiler, and...

Local PUD director elected president of OPUDA.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... Northern Wasco County PUD (The Dalles, Ore.) Director Howard Gonser has been elected the 2008 president of the Oregon PUD Association (OPUDA) in Salem, Ore. OPUDA is an alliance of Oregon people's utility districts devoted to serving its...

Chugach Electric fills position.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... On October 1, Jarrett Boling started working at Chugach I Electric Association (Anchorage, Alaska) as a supervising engineer, distribution design, in its Engineering Services department. Boling was previously a quality engineer with Pacific...

Newton replaces Haagenson.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... Golden Valley Electric Association (GVEA), located in Fairbanks, Alaska, has selected Brian Newton as the cooperative's new president and CEO. Newton replaced Steven Haagenson who retired from GVEA on November 30, 2007, after 32 years. ...

Franklin hires power analyst.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... Former investment manager for Western Mortgage and former operations manager for Oregon Potato, Richard Sargent, has been hired by Franklin PUD as its power analyst. Sargent, who has lived in the Columbia Basin his entire life, will be...

OTEC Board announces new GM.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... Oregon Trail Electric Co-op (OTEC) in Baker City, Ore., announced the appointment of Werner G. Buehler as OTEC's new executive vice president/general manager. He began his new duties with OTEC on November 14, 2007. "Mr Buehler's abilities...

SMUD is DOE Wind Power Pioneer.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that Sacramento (Calif.) Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is receiving the 2007 Wind Power Pioneer Award. Nationally recognized for its environmental efforts, the municipal utility was cited...

Lane gives new life to old transformers.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... When Lane Electric (LEC) purchased the Dexter substation from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in 2001, their intent was to mitigate rising delivery charges, predicted to be "significantly higher in the future." With the purchase of...

KEA directors earn certificates.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... Kodiak Electric Association (Kodiak, Alaska) Directors Michael Brechan and Cliff Davidson recently received National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Board Leadership Certificates in recognition of their respective completions of...

Clatskanie PUD appoints commissioner.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... The Clatskanie PUD Board of Directors (Clatskanie, Ore.) has appointed Janet WiUey to fill the seat of former board member Rod Ollila, who was recalled by voters in September. Willey, the lead petitioner in the effort to recall Ollila, will...

Tacoma takes home green award.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... Joining forces to get a little greener has paid off for Tacoma Power (Tacoma, Wash.) and its partners; recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) selected a joint green power marketing campaign as the winner of its 2007 Green Power...

Kern to Head Power Supply & Environmental Affairs at SCL.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... Seattle City Light (Seattle, Wash.) recently named Steven Kern, a principal in Lands Energy Consulting, as its power supply and environmental affairs officer. With more than 25 years of experience working in the power supply business, Kern...

Grays' District 2 position filled.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... The Grays Harbor PUD (Aberdeen, Wash.) commissioners have appointed Truman Seely to the District 2 position that was vacated by Diane Ellison. Seely will serve until next November when he will be required to run for election to serve the...

Wasco Board re-elected.(Member News)
December 1, 2007... At this year's Wasco Electric Co-op (The Dalles, Ore.) annual meeting, there weren't many surprises. All three incumbents, Bob Durham of District 1, Gary Brown of District 2, and Jim McNamee of District 3, were re-elected. Additionally,...

Winkeljohn new VP at Sabre Tubular Structures.(Associate Member News)
December 1, 2007... Sabre Tubular Structures, a leading steel pole manufacturer located in Fort Worth, Texas, announced the appointment of David M. Winkeljohn to the position of vice president of Sales and Marketing. Winkeljohn will be responsible for all sales,...

HDR acquires PHAROS Corporation.(Associate Member News)
December 1, 2007... HDR has acquired PHAROS Corporation, a real estate and right-of-way consulting firm based in Edmonds, Wash. Going forward, PHAROS will conduct business as HDR/PHAROS. PHAROS employs 70 professionals and provides real estate and...

RS selected for SCE's Circuit of the Future.(Associate Member News)
December 1, 2007... Resin Systems Inc. (RS), a developer of innovative advanced material products, announced that its RStandard[TM] modular composite utility poles were selected for Southern California Edison's "Circuit of the Future," the most advanced...

Site security bill moves closer to finish line.(Washington D.C. Report)
December 1, 2007... For quite some time, NWPPA and other federal power marketing administration (PMA) preference customers have been working with Congress on legislation that would specifically authorize the site security program at Bureau of Reclamation...

A lesson in giving.(Cover story)
December 1, 2007... Editor's note: Though this event took place a few years ago, we have chosen to highlight it in our year-end issue because it beautifully illustrates the true spirit of the holidays. Enjoy! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] United Electric Co-op,...