Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) articles from October 2007

Bulletin (Northwest Public Power Association) archives from October 2007

Rain or shine, 2007 NIC was another success.(Association News)(Conference notes)
October 1, 2007... The sun was rarely seen in Sun Valley, but attendees of the 2007 NWPPA Northwest Innovations Conference (NIC) still had good things to say about the event, which was held at the famed Sun Valley Resort in Ketchum, Idaho. In fact, the...

Communicators shine at 2007 NIC.(Association News)
October 1, 2007... Now in its 14th year, the Excellence in Communication contest, the second-largest of its kind in the nation, recognized the top communication efforts from NWPPA member utilities at the NIC awards banquet on Tuesday, September 25, in Sun Valley,...

First two power interns complete program.(Association News)
October 1, 2007... In 2006, NWPPA launched the Power Engineer Internship Program to help member utilities recruit college and university students for training and employment in the public power industry. In 2007, two students participated in the program: Rich...

Letter to the editor.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2007... I just received your September Bulletin and love the cover story on White Creek. You handled the story extremely well. I will always be amazed at the perseverance of the four utilities that ran the good race and finished the project! They have...

A look back at public power.
October 1, 2007... 50 years ago--1957 Another strong recommendation for seat belts for motor vehicles came from UCLA on the basis of auto crash tests; NWPPA Executive Secretary Gus Norwood had already installed this safety feature, reporting additional...

Electricity customers make a big contribution to salmon recovery.(Fish Issues)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Northwest electricity customers may not know it, but every time they pay their power bill, they contribute to the protection and recovery of endangered salmon. The percentage of the bill that goes toward salmon...

Process review and re-engineering: could we do this better?(Information Technology)
October 1, 2007... We have all had that thought at one time or another as we go through our work routines. You know the one, when you ask yourself: Why is this so complicated? Couldn't we do this a bit more efficiently? Maybe it's trying to get the monthly...

Working on de-energized underground installations.(Safety)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] With the help of Bob White (Tillamook PUD) and Ken Kissell (Oregon Trail Electric Coop), and a review by Brian Erga (ESCI), Jim McIntosh wrote a procedure titled "Personal Protective Grounding of Underground Cables...

TID paving way with smart meters.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... The Turlock Irrigation District (TID) has launched a five-month pilot program to determine if new technologically advanced smart meters can enhance customers' electric service and lower operating costs. TID meter technicians will replace 1,125...

Robinett leaving Seattle City Light.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... Seattle City Light announced that Wayman Robinett, power supply and environmental affairs officer, is leaving the utility for health reasons. Robinett started with Seattle City Light in 2006.

Lammers promoted to supervisor.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... Columbia River PUD recently promoted Tim Lammers, the PUD's Commercial Services advisor since 2000, to the Energy Services supervisor position; Brent Barclay previously held the position, but left to pursue another job opportunity. ...

Members win APA awards.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... At the Alaska Power Association's (APA) 56th Annual Membership Meeting on September 13, NWPPA members went home with armfuls of awards. APA presented Patrick Cleveland, a 25-year employee of Barrow Utilities and Electric Cooperative...

Sen. Poulsen joins WPUDA.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... The Washington PUD Association (WPUDA) welcomed a new government relations director who is very familiar with Olympia-state: Sen. Erik Poulsen (D-Wash.) joined WPUDA in October as its head lobbyist. Poulsen has represented a central Puget...

Landauer joins ColumbiaGrid.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... ColumbiaGrid is pleased to announce the addition of Marv Landauer as a senior planner on the Transmission Planning staff. Well known throughout the West for his work on transmission planning, he has participated in many work groups and...

ARECA and APA staff updates.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... Several new staff members have recently been hired, as well as one employee receiving a promotion, at ARECA Insurance Exchange and the Alaska Power Association (APA). Brenda Mead was promoted to chief financial officer of ARECA. With...

IID's Grubaugh announces retirement.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... Acting General Manager Elston Grubaugh has elected to retire from the Imperial Irrigation District (IID). Mike Campbell, who will be serving in Grubaugh's stead until further notice, said that the 17-year IID employee's decision to retire came...

Salem Electric: Business Partner of the Month.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... Salem-Keizer (Ore.) Public Schools Superintendent Sandra Husk and her Executive Cabinet recognized Salem Electric as the Business Partner of the Month for August. School Board Chair Krina Lemons presented the recognitions, saying that...

We remember.(Member News)
October 1, 2007... Former Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.) died Wednesday, September 5, of a pulmonary embolism at Inova Alexandria Hospital in Virginia. She was 66 years old. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When she retired in 2004, she was Washington State's...

David Hittle retires after 40 years.(Associate Member News)
October 1, 2007... D. Hittle & Associates, Inc., Engineers and Consultants, have reported that David Hittle is retiring after 40 years of active leadership in the firm. In 1967, he started his consulting engineering practice to serve Big Bend Electric...

GE joins The Green Grid.(Associate Member News)
October 1, 2007... GE Consumer & Industrial has joined The Green Grid, a global consortium of more than 80 high-tech equipment companies such as Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft. GE will work closely with other members of The Green Grid to develop meaningful...

PCS partners with AudioTel.(Associate Member News)
October 1, 2007... Professional Computer Systems, Co. (PCS) is pleased to be teaming up with AudioTel Corporation (AudioTel) to provide automated payment processing solutions to PCS customers. AudioTel's Remit Plus solution is an affordable, turnkey,...

PNGC teams with OPT.(Associate Member News)
October 1, 2007... Ocean Power Technologies, Inc (OPT) and PNGC Power are pleased to announce that they have signed an agreement under which PNGC Power will provide funding of $500,000 to OPT toward the fabrication and ocean installation of the first PowerBuoy[R]...

Transmission, transmission, transmission.(Washington D.C. Report)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Just as location, location, location are supposed to be the three most important words in real estate, an argument could be made that trans- mission, transmission, transmission are the three most important words in...

Enterprise software integration in the utility.(Cover story)
October 1, 2007... Utilities budget money to solve individual department technical needs. Each department does its best to evaluate current issues and selects the best software solution for their budget. Over time, departments end up with distributed,...