FCC Small Cell Order to take effect early next year: The Federal Communications Commission’s Small Cell Order will become effective on Jan. 14, 2019. The central purpose of the Order is to remove perceived barriers to the deployment of wireless broadband services by ensuring that wireless broadband providers have low-cost and easy access to state and local public property, including municipal electric poles.
If your utility currently has a pole attachment agreement with a wireless carrier, the Order preempts such agreements. That means that if the fees being charged are greater than the fees the FCC presumes are reasonable, the wireless carrier may be within its rights to pay the lower fees, unless the utility can adequately justify the higher fees.
There are still many questions surrounding the Order. We asked MEUW’s legal counsel, Anita Gallucci, to explain what MEUW members should know about the Order. The informational paper is available on MEUW’s Website. We will continue to provide updates as warranted.
Share your suggestions for holiday lighting installations: Christmas is just around the corner, and municipalities are starting to put up holiday lights throughout their towns … some early birds may have started already!
We would like to share lessons learned and best practices in putting up special holiday lighting displays. Has your utility experienced any safety issues or problems when installing holiday lighting? Or maybe your utility has some helpful tips that would be beneficial for others who haven’t yet started to work on their holiday displays.
If you have any suggestions, advice or comments, please send them to communications@meuw.org. We will compile your tips and advice and include them in the next Weekly.
Still time to sign up for NESC Seminar: There is still time to register to the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) Seminar on Dec. 4-5, 2018, at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College in Fennimore. Registration will close on Nov. 30.
Topics for this two-day conference include overhead and underground settings, substation clearance requirements, communication facilities clearance requirements, cable markings, and safety signs that conform with the National Electrical Safety Code and Wisconsin PSC 114 Code.
Randy Larson, MEUW Electric Utility Safety and Training Coordinator, and Jim Biesterveld, a Wisconsin State Master Electrician with more than 25 years of experience in teaching Electrical Code classes, will be the lead instructors for this seminar.
The registration fee for is $175. Please click here for more information or to register.
ESTC schedules go “live”: In the spirit of continuous improvement, the Electric Utility Safety and Training Coordinators’ (ESTC) calendars that are posted on MEUW.org have a new look.
In the past, schedules were published as pdf files, so there was always a delay in re-posting changes and revisions.
However, now we have streamlined the process and the calendar has gone “live.” ETSCs Randy Larson and Mark Zielsdorf can now quickly update the calendars and give our member utilities access to revised training schedules as soon as possible.
Click here to access the new calendar. To find the calendar without a link, select “Electric Utility Safety and Training Program” from the “Services” tab on MEUW.org. Then choose “Online Training Calendar” from the left-hand navigation. Note the online calendar requires Adobe Flash to display correctly.
The “Session Schedule & Site Locations” calendar is also updated for November. But, beginning in December, the ETSCs will use the on-line training calendar exclusively, and the old calendar will be removed.
Contact Mike Czuprynko at mczuprynko@meuw.org if you have any questions.
Register for Joint Sups: The 2019 MEUW/Wisconsin Rural Electric Cooperatives Joint Superintendents’ Conference will be held Jan. 16-17 at the Glacier Canyon Lodge in Wisconsin Dells.
This annual conference attracts about 200 municipal and cooperative utility leaders. Although the name is a bit misleading, please note that attendees do not have to be Superintendents in order to attend; all utility employees are welcome!
Sessions will include information on spill prevention, control and countermeasure; claims; electric vehicles; load securement; and more. Jack Jackson, a former semi-pro football star with an extensive background in workplace safety, will be the keynote speaker. Jack is an engaging speaker that emphasizes in all of his courses that “safety is always first.”
The conference will also include the annual Wisconsin Utility Suppliers Association (WUSA) trade show, which brings together the industry’s top manufacturers and suppliers and showcases the latest products and innovations. And there will be time to socialize and network at the WUSA-sponsored reception.
Click here to view a preliminary agenda and to register.
A room block has been reserved at the Glacier Canyon Lodge. Call 1-800-867-9453 to secure a room with the special rate of $82 per night for single occupancy or $99.99 per night for double occupancy. Please reference code 694919.
Take advantage of MEUW’s pricing on MSDSonline: As the holidays near and you may be starting to think about next year’s budget, remember the special pricing MEUW has with MSDSonline.
MSDSonline, a one-stop shop for all your hazard communications needs, is still available to MEUW member utilities at substantial savings.
If you were to sign up for MSDSonline on your own, it would cost $2,700. However, by leveraging group buying power through MEUW, the cost is only $977.32 for each of the 20 MEUW members already taking advantage of this deal. And for every community that signs up for MSDSonline through MEUW, the price will continue to drop.
As a reminder, the key benefits of MSDSonline include having access to:
- More than 12 million Safety Data Sheets (SDS’s) online;
- Automatic updates on all SDS’s into GHS compliance (no more struggles keeping paper copies up to date) ;
- An app so SDS’s are readily available to employees via smartphones, tablets and computers; and
- Primary and secondary container labels for all its products online.
If you are interested in signing up for MSDSonline through MEUW for 2019, please contact Mike Czuprynko at mczuprynko@meuw.org.
Happy Thanksgiving: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will not publish the Weekly on Nov. 20. Watch your in-box for it again on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
As we all know, there will be more cars on the road on Thanksgiving weekend than any other time of the year. Highway accidents spike every year around Thanksgiving. If you will be on the road, please buckle up, stay alert, watch out for deer and other drivers … and be safe.
As all of us at MEUW prepare for the holiday season, we want to stop and thank you for the support you offer as we work to unify and strengthen Wisconsin’s community-owned utilities. Without committed, strong members like you, MEUW would not continue to thrive. We appreciate your support and send best wishes to you and your family for an enjoyable, delicious and safe Thanksgiving!