NEPPA September 2018 Newsline

September 2018

Conference Highlights
by Bonnie Biocchi, Executive Director

With nearly 300 people in attendance, this year's Annual Conference was a resounding success, packed with informative presentations, spirited roundtables and meaningful networking opportunities. It was certainly great to meet many of you and I look forward to following up with in-person visits throughout the fall. We were fortunate to have a host of terrific sponsors again this year and were proud to honor NEPPA's finest at our annual awards dinner. And, it was a great pleasure to award the Benevolent Fund Cup to the first-place team of Mike Cloutier, Sean LaBelle, Jim Kelly and Dan Folding. Check out our new Facebook Page for all the pictures and don't forget to like us and share! Conference photos are also posted on neppa.org under the Communications tab.

As summer draws to a close, we are ramping up for another exciting season of training. To augment our capabilities, we are actively updating our training materials and adding new classes. We are happy to announce that Dan Flynn, formerly of Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light, will be joining our training team. With over 45 years of practical industry experience, Dan will be able to bring real-world knowledge and situational experience to the role. We have begun modernizing our delivery model to include per-person pricing, a new OSHA Compliancy module and additional courses to help train the emerging workforce.

We will also be focusing more attention on our Mutual Aid program. To improve our service delivery, we are investing more resources into this important program including hiring Scott Edwards to be our first ever, part-time Mutual Aid Director. Scott has been significantly involved with the program for many years, has strong ties to the local and national Mutual Aid communities, and brings a wealth of experience to the role. Scott has begun exploring new options for enhanced service delivery to ensure that our Mutual Aid program continues to provide essential help when needed and that best practices are employed to create a state-of-the-art model for our membership. Scott's new email address is SEdwards@neppa.org. I encourage you to share your thoughts and ideas with Scott and me as we shape this program for the future.

Upcoming Training & Events

2018 Training & Events Calendar

~ In chronological order. ~

Apprentice Lineworker Program (Littleton, MA)

Year II: Sept. 11 - 14; Oct. 30 - Nov. 2

Year III: Sept. 25 - 28; Nov. 6 - 9

Lineworkers Rodeo , September 20 - 21 (Littleton, MA)

It's not too late to register your team or individual competitor!

Substation II Program, Sept. 25 - 28; Oct. 16 - 19; Nov. 27 - 30; Dec. 11 - 14

(Littleton, MA)

Apprentice Lineworker Program (Littleton, MA)

Year IV: Oct. 2 - 5; Dec. 4 - 7 (Graduation on Dec. 7th)

Year I: Oct. 23-26

Engineering Roundtable, October 2 (Milford, NH)

Lunch & Learn: Spacer Cable Installation and Maintenance , October 4 (Littleton, MA)

Public Utility Accounting , October 22 - 23 (Littleton, MA)

Credit & Collections Roundtable, October 24 (Littleton, MA)

General Foremen's Roundtable , October 29 (Littleton, MA)

NEPPA Vistage Inside Group, November 1 (Littleton, MA)

* Still accepting applications. Registration fees are prorated. Contact NEPPA for more information.

Annual Membership Meeting, November 30 (Nashua, NH) *

Registration will be open soon.

2019 Training & Events Calendar

Dates and locations are subject to change.

Registration is not yet open, please email Sarah Klingler at sklingler@neppa.org to be notified as soon as registration becomes available.

Apprentice Lineworker Program (Littleton, MA)

Year I: Jan. 29 - Feb. 2; March 12 - 15; Aug. 27 - 30; Oct. 29 - Nov. 1

Year II: Jan 15 - 18; April 9 - 12; Sept. 17 - 20; Nov. 5 -8

Year III: Feb. 12 - 15; April 23 - 26; Sept. 24 - 27; Nov. 19 - 22

Year IV: Feb. 26 - Mar. 1; May 7 - 10; Oct. 8 - 11; Dec. 10 - 13

Apprentice Rodeo - Skills Assessment, June 5 - 6

Apprentice Lineworker Graduation, December 13

1B Hoisting, March 20 (Littleton, MA)

2A Hoisting, March 25 (Littleton, MA)

Metering I Program (Littleton, MA)

March 25; April 29; May 20; June 10;

Substation I Program (Littleton, MA)

March 26 - 29; April 30 - May 3; May 21 - 24; June 11 - 14

Advanced Public Utility Accounting, April 2 - 3 (Littleton, MA)

Partnering to bring you APPA In-House Training.

Constructing, Operating & Maintaining URD, April 30 - May 2 (Littleton, MA)

Partnering to bring you APPA In-House Training.

Advanced Topics in Underground Distribution Systems, May 3 (Littleton, MA)

Partnering to bring you APPA In-House Training.

Engineering & Operations Conference, May 13 - 14 (Manchester, NH)

General Manager's Roundtable, May 13 (Littleton, MA)

Customer Service Conference, June 19 (Location TBD)

Metering II Program (Littleton, MA)

August 5; August 26; Sept. 9; Sept. 30; Oct. 21; Nov. 4; Nov. 18; Dec. 9

Advanced Lineworker Program (Littleton, MA)

August 6 - 9; August 27 - 30; Sept. 10 - 13; Sept. 24 - 27; Oct. 8 - 11

Annual Conference, August 18 - 21 (Omni Mt. Washington Hotel, Bretton Woods, NH)

General Foremen's Roundtable, September 4 (Littleton, MA)

1B Hoisting, September 11 (Littleton, MA)

2A Hoisting, September 12 (Littleton, MA)

NEPPA Lineworkers Rodeo, September 19 - 20 (Littleton, MA)

Substation II Program (Littleton, MA)

Sept. 10 - 13; Oct. 1 - 4; Oct. 22 - 25; Nov. 19 - 22;

Outage Management & Emergency Communications Roundtable, Oct. 23 (Littleton, MA)

Public Utility Accounting, Nov. 6 - 7 (Littleton, MA)

Partnering to bring you APPA In-House Training.

Annual Membership Meeting, December 6 (Location TBD)

Keep your eyes out for the 2019 Training Catalog! Email communications@neppa.org to be notified as soon as the catalog is published.

Training & Events Highlight

Help Reach Our Goal!

Registering for NEPPA's Lineworkers Rodeo

Each year, NEPPA's goal is to get 12 teams to compete in the Lineworkers Rodeo. We've almost hit our goal, with 10 teams registered to-date.

Can you help us reach our goal of 12 competing teams?

For more information or to register, please visit the event's page at www.neppa.org, or click the Register Now button. Please complete your registration by Wednesday, September 12th.

NOTE: If your crew can't spare an entire 3-person team, we can build a team from individual registrants.

Reliability & Line Design

NEPPA Engineering Roundtable

October 2, 2018

Join us at NEPPA's Engineering Roundtable (formerly the Engineering Education Event) on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 at Marmon Utility - Hendrix Aerial Cable Systems (Milford, NH) for a day of tours and educational sessions.

Mike Hyland from APPA will be joining us to discuss their eReliability Tracker system.

Agenda

8:00 am Registration, Coffee & Baked Goods Available

8:30 am Group Splits for Concurrent Tours beginning at 8:45 am:

Hendrix Cable Facility

Hendrix Molded Facility

11:30 am Lunch at Hendrix Cable Facility

12:00 pm APPA's eReliability Tracker System

by Mike Hyland, Senior Vice President of Engineering Services, APPA

1:00 pm Overhead Line Design & Construction

by Hendrix Aerial Cable Systems

2:30 pm Adjourn

Visit the event's page at www.neppa.org for more information
or click the button below to register now.

Missed the Lazen PE Lunch & Learn at NEPPA?

Catch the Webinar on Oct. 19th!

Thanks to everyone who supports the Benevolent Fund!

What is the Benevolent Fund?

As a family, public power systems in New England have always rallied to provide support when tragedy strikes, donating time, skills and financial resources to assist during a period of need.

NEPPA's Benevolent Fund was established to continue this tradition. All funds raised and received are designated to be disbursed to public power employees, or their families, undergoing financial difficulties due to personal injury, illness or death.

All public power employees in New England are eligible to receive assistance from the Fund. Disbursements are approved by NEPPA's Executive Committee.

Do you know of someone in need of assistance? Please contact NEPPA's Executive Director by calling the office at (978) 540-2200. Formal requests should be submitted in writing from a utility general manager or board.

Committee Meeting Calendar

2018

Conference Oversight & Planning Committee , September 11 (Littleton, MA)

Education Development Committee, September 17 (Littleton, MA)

Member Value Committee, October 3 (Littleton, MA)

Finance Committee, October 17

Executive Committee, November 1

Advocacy & Reporting Committee, November 15

Board of Directors, November 16 (Littleton, MA)

Conference Oversight & Planning Committee, December 4 (Littleton, MA)

Education Development Committee, December 17 (Littleton, MA)

In the News

Storm Event Preparedness

by Scott Edwards, Mutual Aid Director

September 5, 2018 - As the lead coordinator of the 2017 NEPPA mutual aid assistance to the U.S. Virgin Islands, I was recently invited to attend a workshop in St. Thomas hosted by APPA, US Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, and supported by the US Department of Energy. This workshop brought together federal and local agency leadership with public and private partners to identify specific improvements in emergency processes, strategies, and policies to improve electric system storm restoration following major storm events.

This workshop built upon the successes of the 2017 storm restoration efforts and paved the path for improvement. It is critical that NEPPA and its members stay involved with APPA's national mutual aid program, which will provide assistance to us during the next inevitable major storm that impacts New England. I look forward to working with all of you during the coming months to ensure we are well prepared for this next big storm...and the one after that!

NEPPA Award Winners

August 20, 2018 (N. Falmouth, MA) - NEPPA is privileged to honor the following individuals at the Annual Awards Dinner held August 20th at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel. Congratulations to all our award winners for their hard work and dedication to serving the public power community!