Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) articles from May 2005

Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) archives from May 2005

A look back at public power: 50 years ago--1955.(Association News)
May 1, 2005... A challenging power bill was introduced in the Oregon House of Representatives by Rep. Kay Meriweather, a Portland housewife and secretary of the National Hells Canyon Association. The bill provided for creation of the Oregon Power Development...

A look back at public power: 25 years ago--1980.(Association News)
May 1, 2005... Fast work--and hard work--by the many public power utilities in the Northwest that were affected by ash fallout from the May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption resulted in quick recoveries and only brief outages at most utilities... The...

A look back at public power: 5 years ago--2000.(Association News)
May 1, 2005... May 2000 was a busy month for utility managers moving into new positions as Larry Weis moved from Pend Oreille PUD to Turlock Irrigation District; George Kitchens advanced from executive vice president to president and CEO of Golden Valley...

E&O in Reno ensures a sure bet for a bright future.(Association News)
May 1, 2005... After a week of great presentations positive networking opportunities, and informative sessions of the annual trade show, the 921 attendees of the 2005 NWPPA Engineering & Operations Conference at the Silver Legacy Resort and Reno Events Center...

Target your training dollars to solve existing business needs.(Association News)
May 1, 2005... This is a follow-up article on the importance of conducting a thorough training needs assessment to determine key business performance improvement needs and ultimately maximize the impact of your training dollar. Our original article on...

NWPPA offers two new power supply management courses.(Association News)
May 1, 2005... The majority of public power utilities are facing an uncertain and challenging future in forecasting load and resource requirements; acquiring and managing power supply resources. As a result, Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) has...

NWPPA expands affordable e-learning options for 2005.(Association News)
May 1, 2005... Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) has renewed its commitment to online training opportunities by signing a 2005 working agreement with Apogee Interactive, Inc., of Atlanta, Ga. While NWPPA has offered e-learning from Apogee for...

Training for June & July 2005.(NWPPA Training Opportunities)(Calendar)
May 1, 2005... For a detailed list of all upcoming courses and conferences go to www.nwppa.org CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE FIELD Who Should Attend: Meter readers, service representatives, and other "outside" utility employees. Overview: The...

Managing debt and equity.(Accounting & Finance)
May 1, 2005... With today's high volatility in power rates and the increased unpredictability and uncertainty in the utility industry, rate design, operating expenses, and profits and margins must all be progressively analyzed so as to provide both the...

Solar homeowners paying little or nothing for electricity: "solar subdivision" generating power even on cloudy days.(Conservation & Renewables)
May 1, 2005... Winter brings clouds, rain and solar energy? Customers of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) can generate their own electricity on cloudy and cold winter days. And, on sunny days, customers are generating nearly all of the power...

Power transformer control system.(Engineering & Operations)
May 1, 2005... Recognizing that temperature is not the only important information on a transformer, Transformer Management Systems (TMS) have been developed to provide a more comprehensive view. A TMS differs from an Electronic Temperature Monitor (ETM) in...

Huling retires as Clearwater General Manager.(Member News)
May 1, 2005... After 31 years of service, Clearwater Power Company's General Manager Sandy Huling, has announced her retirement, effective April 28, 2005. The Board of Directors has appointed K. David Hagen to replace Huling. Huling started work in CPC's...

Five NWPPA member systems recognized for environmental stewardship.(Member News)
May 1, 2005... Half of the 10 hydropower projects recently recognized for their outstanding environmental stewardship efforts are utility members of Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA). The recognition is part of the "Outstanding Stewardship of...

Thurston Public Utility District agrees to purchase water systems.(Member News)
May 1, 2005... Thurston County Public Utility District (PUD)--a small water utility that for many, years contracted with others for its operations and management needs--has taken a big step toward becoming an operating, growing utility. The PUD's board...

Turlock begins replacing electric meters in newly-acquired westside service area.(Member News)
May 1, 2005... Turlock Irrigation District (Turlock, Calif.) field service representatives have begun replacing meters on 4,600 residential and small commercial electric customers' homes and businesses in the Patterson and Crows Landing areas with new radio...

Modern Electric Water Company's 100th Year Annual Shareholders Meeting.(Member News)
May 1, 2005... It is not every day that a utility celebrates 100 years of service. The 2005 Annual Shareholders Meeting of Modern Electric Water Company (Spokane Valley, Wash.) revolved around this celebratory theme. It was noted at the meeting that MEWCO...

Chelan PUD has a busy construction season planned.(Member News)
May 1, 2005... The construction season is just beginning for Chelan PUD (Wenatchee, Wash.), and there are many projects underway. Plans have been in the works for years on most of these projects. From fiber connections to water reservoirs, District...

Calendar of upcoming public power meetings.(Member News)(Calendar)
May 1, 2005... June 2005 1-- Lower Yellowstone REA Annual Meeting, Sidney, Mont. 2-- Public Power Council Executive Committee Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport 6-8-- PNGC...

Grant PUD relicensing reaches milestone.(Member News)
May 1, 2005... The relicensing of Grant PUD's Priest Rapids Project, which includes both Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams on the Columbia River, reached another significant milestone on March 28, 2005. On that date, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission...

Northern Lights launches operation round-up program.(Member News)
May 1, 2005... Beginning last month, Northern Lights, Inc. (Sagle, Idaho) began participating in a cooperative community support program called Operation Round Up. Operation Round Up is just what it name implies. Co-op members can choose to have their...

Grant county PUD welcomes new treasurer controller.(Member News)
May 1, 2005... Grant PUD commissioners and management have announced the selection of Nickolai (Nick) Gerde as the utility's new treasurer controller. This position serves as the chief financial officer for the district. "Nick was a natural candidate for...

Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution.(Associate Member Profiles)
May 1, 2005... Lynn Tyler Moore 4700 Falls of Neuse Road, Suite 200 Raleigh, NC 27609 Phone: (919) 325-7091 Fax: (919) 325-7079 www.siemens.com/energy Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc., manufactures, supplies and...

Lehman Brothers.(Associate Member Profiles)
May 1, 2005... Robert Campbell 701 Fifth Ave., Suite 7101 Seattle, WA 98104-7016 Phone: (206) 344-5888 Fax: (206) 233-2817 E-mail: rhcampbe@lehman.com www.lehman.com Lehman Brothers is a leading global investment bank serving...

PCS named technology Company of the Year.(Associate Member News)
May 1, 2005... Professional Computer Systems, Co. (Denison, Iowa), was named the Technology Company of the Year at the annual Software and Information Technology of Iowa (SITI) annual banquet March 23 in Des Moines, Iowa. SITI recognizes excellence in Iowa's...

New RFI locator pinpoints radio/TV interference.(Technology Marketplace)
May 1, 2005... The newest offering from Radar Engineers (Portland, Ore.) is a state of the art power line interference locator. The Model 242 AM-UHF RFI Locator allows the user to observe spark gap noise characteristics on the built-in LCD oscilloscope...

S&C Electric Company to develop wind farm energy storage.(Associate Member News)
May 1, 2005... Hawaiian Electric Company has awarded S&C's Power Quality Products Division (Milwaukee, Wisc.), exclusive design and manufacturing rights to an innovative grid stabilizing device for wind farms, a concept patented by Hawaiian Electric Company....

NWPPA/NCPA Federal Policy Conference a success.(Washington D.C. Report)
May 1, 2005... From April 24-27, roughly 50 attendees representing the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) and the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) participated in their first joint Federal Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. The...

Long-term transmission.(Washington D.C. Report)
May 1, 2005... Washington doesn't have a very good reputation these days for taking on tough issues, but sometimes, if you marshal your arguments carefully and hammer home your points relentlessly by (figuratively) yelling long enough and loud enough, you can...

Getting control of customer communications across the enterprise delivers bottom-line impact.(Cover Story)
May 1, 2005... Everyone in business today is focused on doing more with less. Organizations are continually looking for ways to cut costs and streamline processes, while still maintaining profitable growth. Most organizations are also faced with much more...