|
Connections
By Mike Hyland
Executive Director, NEPPA
In a past Newsline, I discussed the benefits of connections, and even briefly reviewed the concept of the "Dunbar's number". I always felt that the circles of connections that surround us are quite important in life. Close connections, such as your immediate family, provide much more intimate connections than the ring of connections gained through work. But, regardless of the closeness – any connection can provide the link needed to get through a project or face a difficult issue.
So – as I contemplated what to write about this month in the Newsline – I had a variety of items on my mind. Maybe a highlight of the successful NEPPA fly-into Washington, DC? How about the excellent time we had in Mount Washington at the Annual Conference and board elections at the business meetings? Or, maybe just admit that late September/early October has been filled with Mutual Aid. Let’s go with that one, since it’s the connections that brought our crews to the Southeast.
NEPPA’s mutual aid committee does a great job when storms hit the Northeast. In fact, due to my past career at APPA – I have been able to see just about every area of the country’s mutual aid program and process. NEPPA’s is #1. Now it might be that NEPPA is tied for #1 – but it's still “number one!” The volunteerism of this bunch is top notch, and I can’t applaud them enough. But what about when storms hit other areas of the country – where do we rank? Again – I’d say ‘Number one'.
“Eh – Mike – you’re just bragging because you are the Executive Director of NEPPA. “
Oh, really? Maybe. But the reputation of NEPPA’s Mutual Aid crews that travel out of New England is as good as it gets. On Monday, September 23rd I was fortunate to be sitting next to Jon Beasley of the Electric Cities of Georgia (ECG) at a dinner in Washington, DC. We have an "old friendship" type of connection, one that has lasted since 1997. We started the APPA lineworkers' rodeo together in 2000, and we have worked closely on issues regarding safety, OSHA, NESC, etc. I asked how he was feeling about the Hurricane Helene that was set to hit in a few days. He was bit nervous about resources, since Florida had grabbed most local and available crews. He was flying back first thing Tuesday morning to get a handle on things. I made the offer that NEPPA could get small groups of crews into his smaller cities in time before the storm hit. He said he would think about it - and had never used NEPPA crews in the past.
On Wednesday, September 25th around noon, ECG called us and said their board meeting had just ended, and the ECG Board would like for NEPPA to send four separate groups to four separate Georgia cities ASAP. I was in DC when I fielded the call – but quickly the Mutual Aid Committee took over the request and responded as expected, without hesitation, offering more crews than they needed.
During major events, the APPA holds daily Mutual Aid conference calls and utilizes an old school approach to offering crews. They open up a simple Google document and NEPPA always puts our available crews into the Google doc. If someone needs us, they call, and if they don’t, we are not contacted but stay up to speed on things via the Daily National Mutual Aid call. NEPPA’s Mutual Aid Committee has two representatives on the APPA Mutual Aid Committee – Barry Tupper of Holden, Ma and Nick Lawler of Littleton, Ma. I sit in as the alternate and only participate as needed.
Well, during a storm about 6 or 7 years ago – Georgia Power was hit unexpectedly and they were in very bad shape. APPA had been working with Southern Companies CEO Tom Fanning through the Electric Subsector Coordinating Council, and Georgia Power asked for municipal help. We were surprised, but we had Georgia Power sign onto the APPA National one page Mutual Aid agreement and a few muni’s in Florida went to help. Fast forward to two weeks ago when Georgia Power reached out on October 1st for municipal help. NEPPA already had the connection, and we also had a number of utilities that did not get the chance to assist in the Georgia response. NEPPA’s Mutual Aid team rallied – and sent a fifth group to provide restoration in Georgia.
That same night, an old connection from the Hurricane Irma restoration in the Virgin Islands reached out to me. He remembered the NEPPA crews on island as he represented Haugland. He and I have kept in touch, but now he changed jobs, was in South Carolina for a new startup lineworker division, and needed lineworkers ASAP. NEPPA put the call out via the VEOCI sotfware, and sent a 6th group to help restore a coop in Laurens, SC. A good connection for us – but also one that knows NEPPA’s crews and reputation.
Phew….we are done…..no more crews needed…..
Wait, Hurricane Milton? How’d that sneak up on us? APPA’s Mutual Aid Committee is made up of state-wide and regional coordinators. The state coordinator who gets hit the most by the big storms is Amy Zubaly of FMEA in Florida. NEPPA’s connections with Amy run deep, from her work in Mutual Aid, to now serving on the APPA Executive Committee, selected by Nick Lawler, Chair of APPA’s Board. On Saturday October 5th, Amy opened a new Google Doc at APPA seeking crews to pre-stage. We chatted Saturday night about her concerns and I assured her NEPPA could request crews to pre-stage – but to do so they would have to be on the road by Sunday. Well, as you could guess, on Sunday morning Orlando pulled the triggered and asked NEPPA to send crews. The NEPPA membership delivered……again.
NEPPA’s connections in Public Power – and more specifically Mutual Aid are vast. But just as important is the reputation that comes from the work performed via those connections. We need to be diligent in our pursuit to restore power as effectively and safely as we can. We need to remember that our reputation has been built up over years, but unfortunately, in today’s world, you are only as good as your last storm response. Let’s continue to build our connections.
Keep up the great work. You never know when another connection will reach out seeking help with a project.
-Mike
| 
