Celebrate Public Power Week (October 5 - 11, 2003)!

By official proclamation of Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, October 5- 11, 2003, is “Public Power Week”. The proclamation notes that “Wisconsin’s municipal electric utilities operate on a not-for-profit basis, allowing all benefits to flow to the local consumer-owners in the form of lower rates.”

The proclamation further notes that “Wisconsin’s public power utilities are an integral part of maintaining Wisconsin’s electric reliability and contribute substantially to the well-being of local citizens through energy efficiency, customer service, environmental protection, economic development and safety awareness.” In these days of rapid industry change, those qualities are more valuable than ever to our customers.

Wisconsin’s 82 public power communities have a lot to be proud of. Most MEUW utilities were created close to a century ago, in communities that were either not served by private electric utilities or served at outrageously high prices. Today, these 82 public power utilities continue to provide low-cost and reliable power to more than a quarter of a million residential, rural, commercial and industrial customers across the Badger state. Make sure your customers realize the value of the public power they are receiving!

Have you planned any special activities or promotions for Public Power Week? Please let us know, and send us pictures so that we may share them with other MEUW Members. This is an ideal time to invite your legislators to tour your facilities. Take pictures, and send them with a press release to your local newspaper. You should have received a “Public Power Week” kit produced by the American Public Power Association. If you need another copy, contact the MEUW Office.

Back to the top

APPA Washington Report
Incentives vs. Higher Profits
by Robert Varela, Editor, APPA’s Public Power Weekly

One unfortunate consequence of the Aug. 14 blackout has been a growing drumbeat in Washington for incentive (e.g., higher) rates for transmission, with electricity consumers ultimately footing the bill. To hear the investor-owned utilities, Wall Street types and all too many politicians talk, “incentives” is a synonym only for “more money” or “lots more money.”

The presumption seems to be that the only way to attract more investment money is to give investors more profits.

At a press briefing, Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn said returns on transmission need to be “commensurate with returns in other areas.” (Given the results of IOUs' investments in merchant generation – just ask Mirant, NEG and NRG Energy, all bankrupt – he may want to rethink that comment.) One major newspaper, which shall remain nameless to avoid extreme embarrassment, suggested “lifting rate-of-return caps on transmission profits. Market-based rates should make it much more attractive for utilities to either upgrade or build new power grids.”

It raises the question of how stodgy, regulated utilities have been able to raise huge amounts of capital for the past century or so, offering rates of return that suddenly are deemed woefully inadequate now.

And of course the answer is that they were very safe investments – suitable for widows and orphans – in monopoly enterprises regulated by the government. Absent a dramatic decline in widows and orphans, there still should be plenty of money available for similarly safe investments. 

Transmission is a regulated, monopoly function and the only risk worth mentioning is siting challenges. Congress is already moving to address that risk by giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission backstop authority to site new transmission. Once a line is operational, as part of an integrated system, it’s a lock, money in the bank.

Providing greater profits to large private companies in these circumstances is not the answer. Throwing money at a problem usually is not a good idea; throwing money at companies in the hope that they will solve a problem is always a bad idea; and throwing money at companies that have a vested interest in not solving the problem (in maintaining congestion to protect their generation) makes no sense. 

“The continued application of free-market theory to the bottleneck natural-monopoly function of high-voltage transmission is a formula for severely higher costs for consumers without any guarantee that new transmission investment will actually put poles and wires in the ground or reserves in place,” APPA President and CEO Alan Richardson said in an Aug. 27 letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin.

Investments need to be made in both the planning and construction of improved transmission facilities, Richardson said. Investment targets include “specific new construction targeted to relieve bottlenecks, maintenance and upgrades to accommodate the more varied uses of the grid, and the transition to newer technologies as we continue the move from mechanical to electronic switching controls,” he told Tauzin.

“These investments can best be accomplished in the public interest with the use of traditional cost-of-service regulation by FERC, including the payment of an attractive (but not excessive) rate of return on new investments, rather than continuing the current move towards trusting the market to provide reserves and reliability and set what-the-market-will-bear prices,” Richardson said. 

The incentives in this case take the form of regulatory certainty – a virtually risk-free investment with guaranteed return of and on investments.

Given the rollercoaster ride provided in the 1990s by the dot.coms and more recently by electric utilities, an awful lot of people besides widows and orphans undoubtedly would line up for the type of safety provided by utilities prior to deregulation.

To paraphrase Roy Thilly of Wisconsin Public Power Inc., show me an investment that safe that returns 12% and I’ll not only put in my entire 401k, I’ll take out a second mortgage.

There’s more Congress should do – such as deal with structural market power and not mandate reliance on participant funding of new transmission – but the key right now is to avoid the siren call of more money, in the form of higher rates for transmission.

More investment, by all means so long as it’s properly targeted. Incentives, certainly so long as they’re appropriately tailored for the monopoly nature of transmission. But higher rates are neither necessary nor in the public interest.

Back to the top

Manassas (VA) to Roll Out Broadband Over Power Lines

After a successful pilot project, the city of Manassas, Va., is poised to roll out a broadband over power lines (BPL) system that will allow citizens to access the Internet from any electrical outlet in the city. When Manassas was first approached by APPA about conducting the pilot project, Utilities Department Director Allen Todd and his staff were skeptical. But “the thing is, it works. That’s the bottom line,” said Manager of Energy Services Brett Massey, one of the project leaders along with Assistant Electric Director John Hewa.

Manassas officials on Sept. 8 opened bids for a franchise to offer high-speed (400-450 kilobytes per second) Internet service over the BPL system at what Allen Todd anticipates should be an affordable monthly rate. The city received some good bids, he said. The next step is to put the bid numbers into the utility’s business model and then put together a presentation for the Utility Commission and then the City Council. That process is “moving along very well,” he said. 

The department is aiming to make its presentation to the commission before the end of the month, he said. Asked about the fast track treatment, Todd laughed and said, “We got [the bids] in at 7 o’clock and I went home at 2 a.m.” Assuming the commission approves, the utility is aiming to make a presentation to the City Council in October. 

Rolling the system out to cover the entire city (population 35,000, with 2,500 commercial/industrial meters and 12,500 residential) should take about 120 days. The utility already has a 60-mile fiber optic system in place that connects not only government buildings and schools but also—with help from a state transportation department grant—traffic lights throughout the 10-square-mile city. A home needs to be within about a half-mile of the fiber system for BPL access; about 80% of homes already are. 

The main task in extending the system will be to install a repeater at every transformer and hand box (LV junction box). That entails two connections (one inductive) that can be done hot. It took about 20 minutes to show lineworkers how to hook up a repeater, Massey said. A two-man crew can put in three or possibly four repeaters an hour. The department has an engineer working on a standard installation kit and procedure to make sure future installations are done properly and consistently. 

Manassas decided it didn’t want to get into the Internet service business, so the city will install and maintain the BPL equipment used outside the home or business and the fiber optic backbone. If additional fiber is needed, the city will provide it. The municipal utility will provide emergency service on the equipment 24/7. The request for bids calls for the city to receive a percentage of revenue from the franchisee. 

The proposal calls for the franchisee to provide the Utility Department with notification of any power outages, using the reports available from the BPL network management system. 

The system monitoring points to another major benefit of the BPL system: “By the time you walk across the room to pick up the phone, we’ll know” that there was an outage at that location (of either electricity or Internet service), Todd said. A lineworker can fix either problem, he noted. When a repeater at a transformer loses power or otherwise goes out, it immediately shows up on a monitor at the BPL management center. The utility knows exactly which houses are connected to that transformer. If the power goes out at 3 a.m., Manassas will be able to fix it promptly rather than waiting for customers to call after they wake up, Todd said. 

Manassas has been testing the system for more than a year, with nine residential customers and one commercial account. “It’s been wonderful. It’s a neat technology,” said residential customer John Evans, who works from home. It’s been very reliable—99.9%—and as fast as cable or DSL service but with more flexibility, he said, noting that he recently went out on his back porch to work. “It’s sort of a feather in the cap of Manassas,” he said. “It helps differentiate the city for homebuyers.”

WiFi (wireless Internet service) might be a little bit cheaper, Todd said. But the BPL system doesn’t present the security concerns of a WiFi system and does provide the major benefit of a distribution-level outage notification system. 

APPA members wanting more information can contact Brett Massey, 703/257-8352 or bmassey@ci.manassas.va.us.

[Public Power Weekly, 9/22/03]

Back to the top

2nd Annual Municipal Telecom Workshop and Trade Show

MEUW is pleased to be offering the 2nd Annual Municipal Telecom Workshop and Trade Show on December 3-4, 2003, at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

All Utility Supervisors, Managers, Commissioners and Engineers are welcome to attend, as well as elected or appointed municipal officials. This one-of-a-kind workshop and trade show will provide valuable insight into this growing and changing industry and how municipalities can add value to their community through broadband services.

The registration deadline is November 21. Your utility or company will be receiving registration materials shortly. WUSA members who wish to exhibit at the Trade Show must register with MEUW by November 15. You can also access registration materials on our website at www.meuw.org. Go to “Major Events and Meetings” and click on the appropriate link. If you need another copy of the registration materials, call MEUW Office Manager Linda Olson at (608) 837-2263 or e﷓mail lolson@meuw.org.

Back to the top

MEUW Creates Outstanding Lineman Award

The MEUW Awards Committee has created an award to recognize MEUW linemen who excel in their position. It may be awarded annually but does not have to be if nominations do not warrant the award. It will be awarded at the January Joint Superintendents Conference (January 21-23 at the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells). 

Any employee of an MEUW member whose job responsibility includes building and maintaining their electric distribution system is eligible. Recipients should be journeyman-level linemen. The Committee will consider nominees whose on and off the job performance has: exemplified safe work habits; encouraged or taught others safe work habits; made a substantial contribution to improve their utility’s safety performance through their actions; and made substantial contributions to their utility to enhance the image or performance of their utility.

Nominations should be submitted by the utility manager or superintendent. Nominations will be sought annually in the fall and reviewed by the Awards Committee. The committee will select a recipient who best represents all the criteria. Your utility will receive a nomination packet in early October. The nomination deadline is November 30, 2003.

Back to the top

Fire Resistant Clothing Update
By Steve Hedden, MEUW Safety Director

When OSHA developed the 1910.269 fire resistant clothing standard in 1994, it sent many utilities into an uproar. There were concerns over the necessity of moving to arc and flame resistant clothing, and there were and to some extent still are, questions about when and where conventional clothing can be used by workers. Many MEUW members today provide some type of flame resistant (FR) clothing be it an FR shirt, FR pants, FR coveralls or a FR jacket. In addition many utilities now provide arc and flame resistant rain gear and traffic vests. Non-flame resistant winter wear continues to be an issue due to the melting linings and non-flame resistant shells which have been frequently observed to melt and/or ignite when in arc accidents. 

The OSHA standard succeeded in motivating scientific evaluation of clothing exposed to the electric arc, and in motivating manufacturers to seek creative solutions for arc protection. The weaknesses utilities have encountered in implementing the OSHA standard are the lack of knowledge and guidance in protective clothing selection, and the lack of knowledge on how to properly perform a hazard assessment. 

In the hazard assessment area there are free downloadable programs available on the Internet to determine the arc hazard. These programs by ARCPRO and Duke Power are based on electrical theory and very little testing. The IEEE Standards Association last year introduced the IEEE Std 1584-2002 to aid in arc flash hazard analysis. The 1584 Working Group conducted extensive testing on the arc flash hazard. They tested a wide range of voltages and currents and used a set of test enclosures designed to simulate real equipment rated from 208 V to 15 KV. The results were used to develop the model arc flash hazard. The equations in the model have been imbedded in a spreadsheet type calculator. The model determines arc current, incident energy, and the arc flash protection boundary. The cost of this model is $595 and can be purchased and downloaded on line at the IEEE online Catalog & Store. 

Determining the proper course of action is confusing because OSHA and the MEUW Safety Manual still allow the use of 11 oz. per yard cotton clothing in some situations, but leave the assessment of when or when not to implement FR clothing up to the employer who may or may not be able to adequately assess the hazard. I have found that those still wearing 100% cotton are not adhering to the 11 oz. per yard requirement. Cotton material that weighs 11 oz. per yard is comparable to new blue jeans and many times is just too heavy and warm to wear in the summer. As far as guidance is concerned, I have and will continue to encourage employers to protect their employees to the best of their ability. In addition, during training sessions I have stressed the need for employees to wear their FR clothing if they have it when working on energized circuits or equipment. The Wisconsin Department of Commerce (who enforces OSHA laws for municipalities), thru the General Duty Clause, requires that employers furnish to their employees a place of employment which is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees. The fact that electrical arcs are hazardous is unfortunately well documented. In addition it is well documented that FR clothing can significantly lessen the hazard of electrical arc injuries. The reason utilities require employees to wear FR clothing, or that employees wear the clothing they are provided, should not rest on whether or not it is the law. Employees who work on energized equipment and circuits should be required to wear FR clothing because it is the right thing to do in order to protect them from electric arc hazards which exist in their work place.

When it comes to choosing the right FR garments for employees at your utility, you need to do the research. There are many things to consider such as: what is the anticipated lifetime of the garment, how many times can the garment be washed before it begins to lose its fire retardant qualities, what are the washing requirements, do you want your employees to wash the garments themselves, and do you want to own the clothing or do you want to rent it from a uniform provider. In addition, darker colors absorb more heat energy from both electrical arcs and the sun, which means they may not protect against an electrical arc as well as a lighter color, and they will be more uncomfortable to wear in the summer. Seek garments that are comfortable to wear and long wearing in addition to providing the best protection.

Currently OSHA is updating the OSHA 1910.269 standard that applies to electric utilities. Once again as in 1994 we are going to see significant changes to the clothing requirements. As of this date however it is still a work in progress and is not yet passed into law.

Back to the top