Testing to Begin in Fall of 2005
Manitowoc Power Plant Construction Continues

Work on Manitowoc’s power plant expansion is on schedule. Nearly all of the structural steel work has been completed, and most of the boiler machinery is in place. 

Workers are currently turning their attention to enclosing the building before cold weather sets in. Inside the building, welders have begun the critical process of connecting the numerous high﷓pressure steel tubes which form the walls of the boiler. 

The turbine-generator assembly, the last major component to be delivered, should arrive in late January. The 63.3 MW plant is expected to begin testing in fall of 2005.

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APPA Washington Report
Taking the Long View
By Robert Varela, Editor, APPA’s Public Power Weekly

As with so much else in the electricity business, deregulation has made building power plants more complicated and riskier. In a recent report on potential credit pressures on public power utilities constructing new generation, Moody’s Investors Service cites some deregulation-related credit issues, in addition to more traditional ones. (The report applies almost equally to anyone building new generation, not just public power.)

Deregulation helped stall construction of new generation by traditional utilities in the 1990s, because they feared they might not be able to recover the fixed costs of new facilities in a deregulated marketplace, Moody’s points out. Now that deregulation has stalled, some public power utilities are proceeding to build new generation, including peaking units and large coal-fired plants, Moody’s said.

Traditional credit risks of new plants, the report said, include forecasts that overestimate capacity and demand; construction costs that increase leverage; the possible need to extend existing power supply agreements; environmental regulations; use of new, relatively untested technologies; and inadequate transmission infrastructure that can limit wholesale market sales. "Many of the credit issues that affected public power generation projects in the 1970s and 1980s have come to the forefront again," said Moody's analyst Dan Aschenbach.

Some other credit issues identified by the Moody’s report can be traced to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s relentless push on its standard market design, with its emphasis on centralized, RTO-run day-ahead and real-time markets (although the credit rating agency doesn’t mention FERC by name). According to Moody's, the short-term marginal pricing model that is now popular among regional markets can overlook the importance of long-term transmission rights and price-certainty contracts for transmission of power from new power plants.

The lack of either can stymie long-term cost recovery, the report said. Dead on.

The Moody’s report echoes the persistent—and accurate—complaints by Wisconsin Public Power Inc. and others that FERC’s SMD approach, with its lack of long-term transmission rights, would make construction of new baseload coal plants difficult, if not impossible.

Those public power utilities that are building or planning to build new generation, including coal-fired plants, are not doing so because they believe FERC will get everything worked out. Quite the opposite. They plan to build close to their load because they have no confidence that the commission’s market design will provide the sort of physically reliable, long-term transmission that is needed when you’re responsible for keeping the lights on.

While the problems with long-term transmission stem from locational marginal pricing and financial transmission rights, the commission’s focus on short-term markets also is having deleterious effects. The commission’s vision is that transparent short-term markets will inform long-term transactions.

Things didn’t work out that way when the Blue Ridge Power Agency recently sought new long-term wholesale power supply contracts for eight of its members. A solicitation produced what sounds like outstanding results: 20 initial proposals, which Blue Ridge narrowed to four finalists. But the low bid was 70% or more above current delivered prices.

“The prices in the current wholesale market strongly indicate to us that this market is broken, flawed with artificially high and extremely volatile prices to the detriment of our member’s consumers,” said Blue Ridge General Manager Duane Dahlquist. “We certainly expected significant increases from the prices we enjoyed from the very favorable market that existed when seven of the current contracts with AEP and Cinergy were executed in 1997, but these prices are unreasonable. It is difficult to fathom that supplier costs, including reasonable profit, have risen 70%,” he said.

“The consumers, who were promised benefits in lower prices from deregulation, are now paying dearly,” Dahlquist said. “The long-term wholesale market needs re-examination by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure that it is producing prices that are just and reasonable.”

Rather than long-term transactions providing a calming influence on short-term prices, the day-ahead and real-time markets championed by FERC appear to have lent their volatility to long-term markets. 

FERC Chairman Pat Wood points to deregulation of natural gas as the success story model for electricity, but the commission now is grappling with volatility (and record high prices) in natural gas markets. A recent FERC staff report said, “Storage may be the best way of managing gas commodity price, so the long-term adequacy of storage investment depends on how much price volatility customers consider ‘acceptable.’”

However, as APPA President and CEO Alan Richardson points out, electricity is not a commodity, it’s a phenomenon—a phenomenon that can’t be stored. Long-term transactions are another way to help dampen volatility and manage prices. The commission should be encouraging, not hampering, long-term markets.

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2005 Joint Superintendents Conference:
January 19-21 in Appleton

Mark your calendars for January 19-21, 2005. The MEUW/REC Joint Superintendents Conference will be held in Appleton, at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel (333 West College Ave., 800/242-3499).

Highlights from Wednesday’s agenda, the day set aside solely for MEUW business, include presentations on substation transformer failures, underground directional boring, infrared inspections of your distribution system, and Richland Center’s centennial celebration, as well as the presentation of the 2004 MEUW Outstanding Lineman Award.

Highlights from the joint portion of the Conference on Thursday include presentations on the state of transmission in Wisconsin, vegetation management, electric arc clothing & PPE, management of aggressive behavior, post-tornado power restoration efforts in Wisconsin, and post-hurricane mutual aid efforts in Florida. The Wisconsin Utility Suppliers Association will host their annual trade show reception on Thursday, followed by the Apprentice Graduation Banquet.

Municipal utility personnel are invited to attend the MEUW Board of Directors meeting on the morning of Friday, January 21.

Your utility should receive a copy of the conference mailing in early December. To make a room reservation, call the Paper Valley at 800/242-3499 before December 19. Be sure to ask for the “Joint Superintendents Conference” block to get the special $88.00 rate. If you need another copy of the registration materials, call MEUW Office Manager Linda Olson at 608/837-2263 or visit the “Major Events and Meetings” page on www.meuw.org later this month. 

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PSC Denies Proposed Sale of Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant

On November 19, 2004, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) denied the proposed sale of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant to Dominion Resources.

In December 2003, the two current owners of the 525 MW plant located along Lake Michigan 35 miles south of Green Bay, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (59% owner) and Wisconsin Power and Light Company (41% owner), announced their intention to sell the plant to Virginia based Dominion Resources. The terms of the $220 million proposed sale included a purchased power agreement through 2013 under which the two current owners would continue to receive the plant output.

MEUW and the Customers First! Coalition actively opposed the sale. “Had the sale been approved, the Kewaunee plant would have become a merchant plant not subject to the regulation of the PSC,” said David J. Benforado, MEUW Executive Director. “The state would have lost its authority to regulate the cost of electricity from the facility, approve major repairs or replacements at the site and oversee the financial integrity of the facility’s owners,” he said. “Additionally, Wisconsin consumers would have lost their right to low-cost power from Kewaunee in the future,” Benforado said. “California experimented with a similar approach to deregulation involving the sale of generation assets to unregulated entities. The risks posed by that experiment are the same here—the risk of higher prices and declining reliability. Luckily, our Wisconsin Commission knew better,” Benforado said.

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Fork Lift Train the Trainer Certification Course Offered

Most municipalities utilize some type of industrial lift truck to handle materials. As you may or may not know, the problem is how do you comply with the OSHA 1910.178 standard which requires operators and new employees to be trained, evaluated, and certified in their workplace on their municipality’s industrial lift equipment. 

Equipment that falls under this regulation includes forklifts, tractors with lift forks, bobcats with lift forks, and motorized hand lift trucks. OSHA law mandates that employees are certified every three years. In addition, employees need to be retrained if: they are required to operate a different type of lift truck, a condition in the work place changes, an operator is involved in an accident, or an employee receives an evaluation that reveals they are not operating the lift truck safely. 

To help municipalities comply, the MEUW is providing a Fork Lift Train the Trainer certification course. By sending one or more of your employees who have teaching ability to this course, you will be able to conduct your training and certification in house, when you need it done! Attendees will be taught what they need to know about fork lift safety from an instructor who has been in the fork lift business for over twenty years. They will also be taught how to present the fork lift safety topics, and they will receive a quality training video to be used with the instruction. 

The cost of $365 covers eight hours of instruction, materials needed to train and certify your employees, the training video, snacks and refreshments, and lunch. Although the price may seem high, the real value for you, is being able to train and certify employees in house when it is convenient for you. This course will be offered January 4, 2005 at Sun Prairie Water & Light. If you have not already received your registration materials you can download them online at www.meuw.org under “Events and Meetings”. Registrations will be limited to twenty attendees so please submit registrations by December 27, 2004. If you have questions, contact MEUW Safety Director Steve Hedden by phone (608-837-2263) or by email (shedden@meuw.org).

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Landowner Notification Q & A
by Paul Harter, Past Executive Director, International Society of Arboriculture 

Question: What are some important things to consider when preparing employees for contact with property owners?

Answer: Property owner notification of herbicide spraying and tree trimming is most often a quick, confrontation-free process. But on occasion, someone will get upset that a crew is coming onto their land and cutting their trees, and that’s where training, conflict resolution skills and a positive attitude can help an employee defuse a situation before it gets out of control.

One of the most important things for employees to have is a good comfort base. They need to know what the company expects from them and that management will support them if a conflict arises. With comfort comes confidence, and with confidence comes success.

But reaching that comfort level can only come with preparation. In addition to understanding how trees will be trimmed and what effects herbicides will have on brush and other vegetation, employees need to be trained in conflict resolution to help prevent situations from escalating. Every complaint they can prevent in the field is one less complaint management has to follow up on.

Role-playing
One of the best ways to give your employees a feel for what they will encounter in the field is to role-play real-life situations. Everybody has a few stories to share regarding a property owner who challenged vegetation management plans. These instances serve as great role-playing examples because they give a rookie the opportunity to test their conflict resolution skills before venturing out into the field. To capitalize on this type of training, play it out in front of an audience, so everyone has an opportunity to discuss what went well and suggest improvements.

There’s often a tendency for workers to resort to making fun of customers upon returning to the shop after a long day in the field. This is not a positive way to deal with challenging situations because it can inadvertently become a part of the company’s culture, and your workers will carry that negative attitude into the field with them, whether they realize it or not.

Instead, encourage employees to talk with each other about the situation. Not only is it a healthier way to deal with the situation, but others can learn from the experience as well.

Appearance and attitude
First impressions mean everything, right from the moment the front door opens. Whether the first person to meet with a property owner works for a contractor or the organization itself, they become the face of the company commissioning the work. It’s essential they practice the highest degree of professionalism and courtesy, because this is their opportunity to show the company is a network made up of friendly, caring individuals.

Workers meeting with property owners should dress neatly, wearing a uniform that clearly displays the company logo. They should offer brochures explaining the type of work to be done and carry company-issued photo identification, to leave no doubt in the landowner’s mind that they are who they say they are.


When explaining why the vegetation near a person’s property needs to be managed, representatives need to remember that industry language means nothing to the average homeowner. Speaking in acronyms and other jargon has the potential to confuse someone, especially if they’re already tipping the emotional scale. Instead, workers need to speak in common terms and clearly explain why the vegetation needs to be managed.

Fact vs. emotion

When workers present factual information, most property owners accept the situation. Only a small percentage of people believe the company has hurt them before or will hurt them now, and that prompts an emotional response. If the employee takes that response personally, they too will feel diminished, and feelings of anger will arise. Once that happens, it becomes an emotion vs. emotion situation, and nothing positive results.


It’s the job of the worker to create a fact vs. fact situation and demonstrate they care by listening and empathizing.

If the property owner seems agitated, the worker can offer to come back at a more convenient time to discuss the matter, or ask the homeowner if they would like to walk the property to see where vegetation will be managed. Asking any of these kinds of questions gives an element of control back to the property owner that could ultimately help prevent a situation from escalating.

As long as power companies, transportation departments and other entities that manage right-of-way vegetation invest in the proper training for their notification workers, they will see a substantial improvement in customer satisfaction. 

This article originally appeared in Right-of-Way Vistas magazine (Vol. 17, Issue 3, 2004), a publication of Dow AgroSciences, and is reprinted with permission.

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