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DPC Strategic Priority: People First
Dairyland is pleased to announce its 2024 Circle of Excellence award winners! The award recognizes individuals or teams who, through substantive effort and leadership, made transformational contributions to Dairyland, our members and the communities we serve.
Circle of Excellence awards are presented annually on behalf of Dairyland’s Board of Directors as an extension of Dairyland’s rewards and recognition program. This year's award ceremony will be held on the evening of Jan. 24 at the Waterfront Cargill Room.
For 2024, Dairyland's Board of Directors is presenting three Circle of Excellence awards: Modernization and Innovation, the JPM Spring 2023 Outage and the Traveling Water Screen Optimization Study Team.
1) Modernization and Innovation:
System Operations Center Modernization: Over two years went into the planning and execution of the System Operations Center (SOC) Modernization project. This was a significant undertaking that could not have been done without the expertise and dedication from several different areas and team members. Between the remodel of the control room to the implementation of new technology, this project consumed a sizable amount of time and expertise from team members. The video wall itself is a monument to Dairyland’s dedication to deploy innovative solutions that enhance our ability to provide safe and reliable energy.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration Grant Team: Dairyland was awarded a $14.89 million NTIA Grant to support broadband deployment in rural communities. Dairyland applied for the grant in 2022 to support the communities served by our member cooperatives in rural Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. Through this grant, 240 miles of Dairyland’s network will be retrofitted with optical ground wire (OPGW) during its Tri-State Fiber Deployment Project.
Congratulations to the award recipients: Chad Hagen, Chris Fruechte, Chris McCook, Cyrus Mason, Derek Mc Lees, Don Fruit, Eric Hammes, Greg Flege, Hunter Pedretti, John Tower, Josh Duh, Michael Kuecker, Paul Sandvick, Scott Hansen, Staci Pieper, Steve Stoczynski, Susan Herbers, Tim McGinnis, Tim Pangburn, Tommy Drea, Ben Porath, Nate Melby, Steve Ziegeweid, Ryan Rothering, Kurt Krause, Kim Helgerson, Greg Flege, Ceilia Hewines, Jenny Radcliffe, Mike Peters and Kurt Baumgarten.
3) JPM Spring 2023 Outage: The John P. Madgett Station (JPM) safely and successfully completed a major scheduled spring outage. The work for the outage began long before the outage itself and ultimately required the team to pivot and accommodate short notice changes in MISO's seasonal capacity rules. The work avoided millions of dollars of market exposure risk, $2 million in planned external capacity charges and other expenses.
Throughout the outage, there was a significant amount of ‘high risk’ complex work being performed with a high level of supplemental workers along with a lot of field hours. The team maintained their moral obligation to safety as they performed quality work throughout the outage. The outage was completed with 118 Good Catches & Hazards Mitigated resulting in no injury beyond first aid and no significant near misses.
Congratulations to the award recipients: Jeremy Browning, Butch Miller, Steve Hintz, Dustin Gold, Sam Odegard, Jared Sendelbach, Brad Soppa, Don Loock, Carl Dahl, Steve Ritscher, Bart Pedretti, Brad Heitzman, Adam Green, David Domine, Lisa Kujath, Jeff Sedlmayr, Heath Fabian, Jason Colbenson, Matt Kolasa, Eric Dummer, Ken Schlimgen, Candace Haigh, Morgan Gilles, Treca Craig, Will Schomberg, Diana Baker, Kayla Lorenz, Ron Franz, Renee Colbert, Neil Canar, Cindy Huber, Caleb Hefti and Janet Cleveland.
4) Traveling Water Screen Optimization Study Team: Dairyland will be receiving an Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Technology Transfer Award for this project, which recognizes the leaders and the innovators who have transferred research into applied results. Dairyland is receiving the award not only for the collaborative effort between Dairyland and EPRI, but also departments and divisions within Dairyland who worked over a two-year period to ensure the study stayed on course.
Congratulations to the award recipients: Ben Campbell, Brad Foss, Leif Tolokken, Carl Dahl, Butch Miller, Erik Hoven, Andy Thomes and Erik Gulbranson.
-Ellie Rundahl, Communications & Member Services
The Board of Directors and Executive Team recognize that achieving Dairyland's mission is dependent on a much larger circle of employees and commends all who provided support to these teams and contributed to the success of these transformational projects. Thank you!
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