Dan Ebert Newly Appointed to the Commission
PSC Leadership Changes Hands

After two years as Chair of the Public Service Commission, Burnie Bridge has been asked by Governor Doyle to accept a new position within his Administration. In her place, the Governor appointed Daniel Ebert, Bridge’s Executive Assistant, a move that has drawn praise from both consumer and industry groups.

As the top aide to departing Chairperson Bridge, Ebert benefits from his close familiarity with the major dockets that have been decided by the agency in recent years. Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin Executive Director, David Benforado, indicated Ebert should have a good grasp on the issues facing the PSC.

“Dan Ebert has shown a good understanding of the energy challenges facing Wisconsin, and is in a great position to take leadership of the commission,” said Benforado.

Prior to joining the PSC, Ebert was the Transition Personnel Director for Governor Doyle. During his 14-year career in Washington, D.C., Dan worked in both the U. S. Senate and the House of Representatives.

Ebert is a Watertown native, and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

To replace Ebert as Executive Assistant, Doyle named former State Representative and Department of Administration Division of Energy Administrator, Dan Schoof. As Administrator, Schoof was responsible for overseeing energy efficiency efforts, low-income energy assistance and weatherization, and a variety of federal grants.

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Participation Reaches All-Time High
2004 MEUW Safety Award Program
By Steve Hedden, MEUW Safety Director

The 2004 MEUW Safety Award Program reached all time highs in both participation and members recognized for excellence by achieving a safety score of 100 or more. Forty two of the eighty one MEUW members submitted entries this year. Entries have increased each year, but the forty one entries this year marks the first time that the 50% level of participation has been exceeded. In addition, thirty four members will receive safety awards, which surpasses the previous high set last year of thirty.

The safety score is derived by starting each utility with a score of 100. Lost time injuries, light duty days, and medical treatments deduct from the score of 100. Holding weekly in-house safety meetings, reviewing the MEUW Safety Manual annually, conducting job site audits, and regularly attending MEUW Safety Sessions add to the total safety score. What this means is that members who have had minor injuries which do not result in time off still have the opportunity to achieve a score of 100 or above if they are taking action to try to reduce the chance of injuries at their utility. This format allows the MEUW Safety & Education Committee to reach two goals. First to recognize those utilities which achieve excellence in safety for the past year, and secondly to encourage members to take pro-active measures to improve their safety achievement. Member utilities which have achieved a score of 100 or above should be proud. Those that have not now have a benchmark they can strive for.

Safety Awards will be awarded at the MEUW Annual Conference held in La Crosse on June 9th. I encourage each member receiving an award to have a representative at the Annual Conference to accept the award. In addition, I encourage those 34 MEUW members to take this opportunity to recognize their employees for their achievement. Congratulations!

2004 Safety Award Statistics
(Utilities listed in bold italic type will be receiving Awards)

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Upper Midwest Municipal Power Agency 
First Met on March 9 
New Public Power Joint Action Agency Formed

A major milestone was reached in securing future electrical energy resources for customers of 15 municipal electric utilities in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, with the formation of the Upper Midwest Municipal Power Agency (UMMPA). The new interstate joint action agency, which is organized under Iowa law with its principal office in Wisconsin, held its second official meeting on Wednesday, April 13, after receiving required governmental approvals from all three states.

According to Charles Christensen, Chairman of the new agency, the organization was formed as a regional entity so that Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota members could work together on equal footing to explore long term power supply needs.

“We believe that UMMPA brings together a group of communities with common goals and objectives that can better be achieved collectively,” Christensen said.

Initial UMMPA members include the Wisconsin communities of: Arcadia, Argyle, Cashton, Cumberland, Elroy, Fennimore, La Farge, Merrillan, New Lisbon and Viola; the Iowa communities of Forest City, Independence, Lake Mills, and Osage; and the Minnesota city of St. Charles.

The purpose of the new organization will be to give members the flexibility to make important power supply decisions, particularly in the purchase, generation, transmission, sale and interchange of electric power and energy, and to cooperate in other ways of mutual advantage.

According to Christensen, “The continuing evolution of regional energy markets has made it all the more important for municipal utilities to look for new ways of combining resources to ensure reliability and achieve long-term price stability.”

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June 8-10 in LaCrosse
MEUW 76th Annual Conference

Mark your calendars for June 8-10! MEUW’s 76th Annual Conference will be held at the La Crosse Center and the La Crosse Radisson Hotel (200 Harborview Plaza; 608/784-6680). We have reserved a block of sleeping rooms at the Radisson; make your reservations now for best selection, and at the very latest by Sunday, May 8, after which the room holds will terminate. The room rate is $114 for single or double occupancy. There is also a small overflow block at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites (200 Pearl Street; 608/784-4444) across the street. The rate for a standard room (single or double) is $89, and the rate for a mini﷓suite (with one king bed) is $99. Be sure to ask for the "Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin" room block at either hotel. 

Conference session highlights this year include presentations on the evolving electric industry from Dan Ebert, recently appointed by Governor Jim Doyle as Chair of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, and State Senator Dan Kapanke, R-32nd Dist./La Crosse, Member of the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Information Infrastructure. Lee Meyerhofer from the American Transmission Company (ATC) will present an update on ATC initiatives across the State. Joe Nipper, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, APPA, will present an update on federal legislative and regulatory affairs of interest to MEUW members. John Sumi, Executive Director, Customers First! Coalition, will present an update on state legislative and regulatory affairs. Patrick Hyland, Executive Director, Northeast Public Power Association, will discuss how northeast public power distribution systems are adapting to changes in the electric industry. Al Spinelli, Vice President Operations, City Brewery of La Crosse, will make a presentation at the Annual Business Luncheon. Dennis Tweedale, League of Wisconsin Municipalities Mutual Insurance, will make an “A to Z” presentation on municipal insurance issues. Breakout sessions on Thursday afternoon include presentations by the U.S. Department of Energy on combined heat and power opportunities for MEUW members, a panel discussion regarding MEUW regional safety groups, and community broadband updates.

The 10th Annual MEUW Golf Outing will be on Wednesday morning, June 8, at the Cedar Creek Country Club in nearby Onalaska. The fee is $58.00 and must be paid in advance. The deadline for golf registration and payment is June 1. MEUW Associate Members will host their traditional Trade Show and Social Hour in the spacious La Crosse Center Arena on Wednesday afternoon, June 8.

The Banquet on Thursday night will include an Awards ceremony, followed by Viva Las Vegas! Enjoy the glitz and glitter of a Las Vegas style casino night. Each guest will receive a voucher worth 300 points in gaming chips, and can then try their luck at Blackjack, Craps, Roulette and Poker. At the end of the evening, guests will cash in their chips in hopes of winning prizes during the raffle!

Your utility should have already received the Annual Conference registration materials packet. If you need another copy, please call MEUW Office Manager Linda Olson (608/837-2263) or visit the “Events & Meetings” page of www.meuw.org. For more information on beautiful La Crosse and area attractions, visit: www.explorelacrosse.com.

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MEUW Awards Nominations Sought

The 2005 MEUW Awards Banquet will take place the evening of Thursday, June 9 during the 2005 MEUW Annual Conference in La Crosse. The MEUW Awards Committee is seeking nominations for the following awards:

• Don Smith Distinguished Service Award
• Phillip LaFollette Public Service Award
• MEUW Retirement Award
• Pillar of Public Power Award

Criteria and descriptions of the awards were sent out via email and hard copy to MEUW Member Utilities. The deadline for nominations is Monday, May 16. If you would like another copy of the MEUW Awards Guidelines or need more information, contact Scott Meske, MEUW Governmental Affairs Director by phone, (608) 837-2263; or email, smeske@meuw.org. 

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Available for Member Use in Emergency Situations
MEUW Purchase of Mutual Aid Radios Complete

MEUW has completed the purchase of twelve emergency handheld mutual aid radios, and the radios are now available for member use in emergency situations (e.g., tornado or wind storm, ice storm, massive flooding). Please keep these radios in mind whenever an emergency mutual aid situation arises in your community. We are storing six of the radios with MEUW Safety Director Dean Larson and the other six with MEUW Safety Director Steve Hedden.

By way of background, on January 19, 2005, the MEUW Safety and Education Committee recommended that MEUW purchase 12 handheld radios for mutual aid emergencies. The MEUW Board of Directors considered this recommendation on January 21, 2005, and the purchase was approved. The Board agreed that these radios would be a very helpful service for an MEUW member requesting mutual aid from other MEUW members – to have additional communication devices available when crews arrive that would allow those crews to talk with the requesting utility and with each other. Thank you very much to Cecil Rolfe, Bangor Director of Public Works and MEUW District 5 Director, for bringing this idea to the Committee’s and the Board’s attention.

The radios are Kenwood programmable radios with up to 128 channel capability. We were able to secure a price of $290 for these radios, which includes a rapid charger and belt holster. The radios were programmed with all of the MEUW member frequencies that we were able to obtain (and can be programmed at a later date with those that we were not able to obtain). Steve and Dean intend to field test the radios this summer during their field visits with each MEUW member utility.

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