Spring Municipal Utility Legislative Rally Wrap-Up

For the fifth consecutive year, more than 60 Wisconsin municipal utility and local officials gathered in Madison on March 18 to learn about State Budget and other legislative issues that could affect their operations. MEUW along with the Wisconsin Water Assn., MEG-Water, Wisconsin Rural Water Assn., and MEG-Wastewater hosted the 2009 Spring Municipal Utility Legislative Day at Inn on the Park in Madison.

State Representative Jim Soletski (D-Green Bay) shared his views on electric issues and the Assembly Energy & Utilities Committee, which he chairs. Assembly Natural Resources Committee Chair, State Representative Spencer Black reached out to water and wastewater utility officials, looking to work together on solutions with his committee.

Featured speaker Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson was most enlightening, challenging attendees to learn more about Wisconsin’s judicial process, and gave everyone a lesson in the third branch of government – the judicial branch.

Wisconsin Office of Recovery and Reinvestment Director Gary Wolter, certainly one of the most in-demand speakers in Madison, shared with local officials the process by which federal stimulus money will be distributed. Many questions remain regarding the process, but all attendees received a bit more information first hand.

After lunch attendees were encouraged to visit with their State Senators and Representatives and their staffs to share the issues municipal utility folks are working on and watching during the 2009-10 legislative session.

Go to www.meuw.org and click on ‘governmental affairs’ on the left side of the page to find the Rally agenda, speaker biographies, and issue papers.

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In Tenth Year, Participation Reaches All-Time High
2008 MEUW Safety Achievement Awards

Congratulations to the forty nine MEUW members who will be recognized at the 2009 MEUW Annual Conference in Manitowoc in late-June as recipients of the MEUW 2008 Safety Achievement Award, for achieving a total safety score of 100 or above for 2008. These utilities and their worker hours are listed below:
     Class A Utilities (10,000 annual worker hours and below):
        Barron, 6,798; Boscobel, 8,548; Brodhead, 9,365;
        Clintonville, 9,360; Columbus, 8,923.05; Cornell, 2,000;
        Cuba City, 4,389; Eagle River, 3,560; Elroy, 5,000;
        Fennimore, 8,320; Hustisford, 5,693.25; Juneau, 3,451;
        Kiel, 6,508; Mount Horeb, 8,600; Muscoda, 5,477; New
        Glarus, 6,640; New Holstein, 9,243; Oconto Falls, 8,320;
        Pardeeville, 5,501; Prairie du Sac, 6,000; Sauk City, 7,420;
        Waterloo, 6,400; Westby, 4,295; and Whitehall, 6,300.

     Class B Utilities (10,001 - 20,000 annual worker hours):
        Arcadia, 13,795; Bangor, 10,395; Elkhorn, 12,601; Lodi,
        12,480; Medford, 10,552; New Richmond, 14,801;
        Reedsburg, 14,906; Richland Center, 14,823.25; River
        Falls, 19,999; Waunakee, 15,213; Waupun, 12,728; and
        Wisconsin Dells, 12,980.

     Class C Utilities ( 20,001 annual worker hours and above):
        Florence, 24,262.05; Hartford/Slinger, 29,380; Kaukauna,
        23,539.50; Marshfield, 34,539; Menasha, 54,245;
        Oconomowoc, 24,293; Plymouth, 29,985; Rice Lake,
        25,716; Stoughton, 26,239; Sturgeon Bay, 23,680.25; Sun
        Prairie, 37,732; and Two Rivers, 20,972.

In its tenth year, the MEUW Safety Achievement Award is a voluntary reporting system that MEUW developed to recognize safety achievement and to encourage pro-active safety activities. This year, 70% of the MEUW membership (57 members) participated by filing reports, an all time high. We encourage all MEUW members to participate each year, even if injuries have occurred. It helps us track particular injury trends, which then allows us to target particular training areas in the future.

A safety score of 100 or above is an achievement to be very proud of. It takes hard work and commitment from the employees on the job site watching out for one another, following safety rules and safe work practices – every day, every job. It also takes commitment from the utility management and governing board to provide the employees with the equipment they need to do the job safely, the training to maintain or improve their skills and knowledge through regular participation in the MEUW Safety Program, seminars and workshops, and the time and effort to promote pro-active safety practices.

This Award is actually very small in comparison to the real benefits these utilities experience. Their employees are on the job doing their job each day. When their experience and knowledge is not on the job, it affects the utility from top to bottom. Another advantage is morale. This is one of those values that is hard to quantify, but employees that work in a safe work environment feel valued and thus tend to be more productive and happy with their job. Lastly there are monetary savings. When employees are injured on the job it may cause the employer to contract out or delay the work that the injured employee was needed to accomplish. In addition there are unplanned costs associated with personal injury and property damage and the fact that workplace injuries often cause Workers Compensation premiums to go up.

The 2008 MEUW Safety Achievement Awards will be handed out at the 2009 MEUW Annual Conference in Manitowoc (just before the Luncheon on Thursday, June 25). If your utility is listed as a recipient, please be sure you have a representative at the Conference to accept the award for your utility. This will be a great photo opportunity for your utility to record the presentation of the Award, and issue a press release to run in your local newspaper to highlight your utility’s achievement. If you need assistance with preparation of a press release, please contact Linda Olson at the MEUW office.

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Successful Wisconsin Presence at 2009 APPA Legislative Rally

Nearly 60 public power local elected or appointed officials, and utility staff, from the great Badger State joined us in February in the Nation’s Capitol to participate in the APPA Legislative Rally. During the three day conference, the Wisconsin attendees heard from APPA staff, House of Representatives Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), NARUC (National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners) Executive Director Charles Gray, nationally known political commentator Mark Shields, and others on topics important to public power interests on a federal level. Twenty-six public power communities in Wisconsin sent representatives to the Rally this year, which included 22 Mayors, Village Presidents, Town Chairs and City Council Presidents. That is outstanding!

We had meetings with all 10 members of the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation or their staff. We presented each Congressional office with a well-organized packet of information and a CD full of information about public power in Wisconsin, state electric issues, including copies of the Final Report from the Governors Global Warming Task Force: Wisconsin’s Strategy for Reducing Global Warming (July 2008) and the PSC Report on Great Lakes wind power potential, Harnessing Wisconsin’s Energy Resources: An Initial Investigation into Great Lakes Wind Development (Jan. 2009).

We thanked those such as Senator Kohl and Representative Baldwin who have taken the lead on bills that are aimed at reigning in the monopolistic abuses of the nation’s freight railroads, and urged all members of the delegation to support such bills. We discussed federal climate change and cap and trade legislation, and cautioned Wisconsin’s Members of Congress that the details on these issues matter greatly. We discussed the need for new transmission to move new renewable resources to load, and cautioned that the cost allocation for any new transmission must be fair to Wisconsin customers. When Congress enacts energy related tax incentives, we explained why it is critical to include comparable incentives that will apply to public power utilities.

As part of the APPA Rally, many of us participated in a meeting of the APPA Legislative & Resolutions Committee on Tuesday, February 24, at which 11 proposed APPA policy resolutions were discussed and debated. These 11 resolutions will serve as interim policy for the APPA until the APPA membership has had an opportunity to review them at APPA’s 2009 National Conference in Salt Lake City, UT (June 13-17, 2009).

On behalf of the entire MEUW organization and all of its members, THANK YOU to all who participated in the 2009 APPA Legislative Rally. We really appreciate all of your efforts! And a special thanks to Kelly Simonsen at WPPI Energy who coordinated the impressive information packets and CDs that we left behind after each of the visits with members of the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation, and to Scott Meske at MEUW who coordinated the scheduling of all of the meetings. P.S. Please mark your calendars now for the 2010 APPA Legislative Rally (Feb. 22-25)!

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What Happens If You Are Burned?
by John Boogren, MEUW Safety Director

Burn accidents happen in our trade and it can be devastating to the victim’s family and utility. There are two kinds of burns in this industry, arc flash/blast and electrical. Both of these burns may require a long painful recovery time. There are few accredited electrical burn centers in the area (see list below). So, if you get burned…where will you go…what will your family do…where will your family stay? These are all questions that will have to be answered.

After a burn injury, the patient will likely be taken to a local hospital to be stabilized. Once stable the patient is moved to a regional burn center for specialized treatment. The local treatment center will choose the proper site of transfer but as a proactive decision on catastrophic health care, the injured employee and family could assist the local treatment center in this decision.

Contemplate the logistics of a drawn out recovery time and time that family members will have to spend in the hospital area. If the patient’s family has relatives or family friends near one of the sites, this could help ease the burden of an extended hospital stay.

The employee, along with the employer, could make this decision before any injury occurs and lessen the stress on family members. In Section 1 of the MEUW Mutual Aid Manual, there are flow charts for accidents at utilities (which include contact information) and general guidelines to follow. There are even contact information forms for employees to fill out prior to accidents.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. For more information on burn injuries visit http://www.burn-recovery.org or http://www.ameriburn.org/index.php.

List of Accredited Burn Centers in Wisconsin and Bordering States

Wisconsin
St. Mary’s Hospital – Burn Unit
2323 N. Lake Dr., Milwaukee, WI 53211-4508
414-291-1163

University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics
Rehabilitation Center
600 Highland Ave., Madison, WI 53792-0001
608-263-8640

Illinois
University of Chicago Burn Center
5841 S. Maryland Ave., Chicago, IL 60637
773-702-6736

Loyola University Health System Burn Center
Loyola University Health System
2160 S. First Ave., Maywood, IL 60153
708-216-9000

Iowa
University of Iowa Burn Treatment Center
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
200 Hawkins Dr., 8JCP, Iowa City, IA 52242-1086
319-356-2496

Minnesota
Hennepin County Medical Center
Burn Center
701 Park Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55415
612-347-2915

Regions Hospital
640 Jackson St., St. Paul, MN 55101
651-254-3456

All listings are accredited by the American Burn Association as of January 1, 2009.

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May 4-8, 2009 in Minneapolis
2009 APPA Spring Education Institute

The American Public Power Association is holding this year’s Spring Education Institute within driving distance, at the Hilton Hotel in Minneapolis. The following topics and programs will be offered:

Accounting
●  Public Utility Accounting - May 4-5
●  Work Order & Asset Management Accounting - May 6
●  Advanced Public Utility Accounting - May 7-8

Ratemaking
●  Basic Utility Cost of Service & Retail Rate Design - May 4-6
●  Advanced Utility Cost of Service & Retail Rate Design -
    May 7- 8

Power Supply 101
●  Power Supply 101: The Basics for Non-Engineers - May 4

Management Training
●  Principles of Project Management - May 4-5
●  Management of Electric Field Operations - May 6-8

Policymakers & Leadership
●  Public Utility Governance Workshop - May 5-6
●  Leadership “Simply” Leadership - May 7-8

Key Accts. Certificate Program (KACP) Fast Track
●  Implementing a Customer-Focused Key Accounts Program -
    May 5-6
●  Developing Your Key Accounts Representative - May 6-7
●  The Effective Key Accounts Toolbox - May 7-8
●  Key Accounts Certificate Program Written and Oral Exams -
    May 8

For more information, contact Heidi Lambert (202/467-2921 or hlambert@appanet.org.)

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