Summer storms prompt request for mutual aid assistance: MEUW has been helping to coordinate mutual aid to assist Eagle River Light & Water restore power after a series of strong storms moved through northern Wisconsin on Monday, July 26. Crews from Kaukauna, Medford, Marshfield, and Wisconsin Rapids, along with crews from Baraga and Norway, Mich., responded to the mutual aid request and arrived in Eagle River early Tuesday morning. They are expected to complete restoration today.
As a reminder, one call to MEUW’s Mutual Aid Hotline — 1-844-MEUW-911 —triggers an immediate response to organize resources and support a member utility’s recovery.
Take advantage of “early bird” registration fee for Annual Conference before it’s too late: Public power leaders from across the state will gather in Manitowoc for MEUW’s 91st Annual Conference happening Aug. 11 to 13. The registration fee increases by $30 after Aug. 1. The conference features a number of special guest speakers, a wide variety of breakout sessions, numerous opportunities to network, and the chance to celebrate our municipal utilities’ achievements. Full details about the conference and a link to register are available here.
Sign up now for MEUW golf outing: Whether or not you plan to attend the MEUW Annual Conference, you’re invited to participate in the pre-conference golf outing. The four-person scramble is planned for Wednesday, Aug. 11, with an 11:00 a.m. shotgun start. Sponsored in part by the Wisconsin Utility Suppliers Association (WUSA), the outing will take place at the Autumn Ridge Golf Club just west of Manitowoc. Click here for details and to access registration information.
New email tool may result in misdirected messages: Beginning Aug. 1, MEUW plans to start using Mailchimp to distribute mass emails to members. Once this happens, it’s not unusual for certain email messages to wind up in “spam” or “junk” folders. The August edition of Live Lines will be distributed on Tuesday, Aug. 3, and will be the first communication sent using the new method. The transition to Mailchimp comes after recent efforts to clean up our membership database with corrected email addresses and updated contacts. We appreciate your patience as we adjust our distribution process. If you have questions or experience any issues, please call the MEUW Office at (608) 837-2263.
Contribute your feedback for PSC website redesign: The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) plan to redesign its website (www.psc.wi.gov) to make it more user-friendly and transparent. As part of the process, PSC staff are collecting feedback to better understand what resources are most needed. As regular users of the PSC website, municipal utility employees are encouraged to provide input by completing a brief survey available here. The deadline to submit a response is July 28.
Sturgeon Bay Utilities invites observers for spacer-cable installation: On Tuesday, Aug. 17, SBU plans to string 5,000 feet of three-phase Hendrix spacer cable as part of a circuit reconductoring project. MEUW members are invited to come watch or participate in the installation in order to understand and get a better feel for the product. The day will begin with a 6:00 a.m. pre-job briefing. Representatives from Hendrix will be on site to answer questions, and the company is providing lunch for those in attendance. The rain date is Wednesday, Aug. 18. Those interested are asked to RSVP to SBU Electric Supervisor Jason Bieri by Monday, Aug. 9. Also, area hotel rooms are in high demand at this time of year, so early reservations are advised.
Electric metering group to meet in La Crosse in August: The Upper Midwest Metering Association (UMMA), a group that connects electric metering professionals from a five-state area, will hold its summer meeting Aug. 18 to 20 at the Radisson Hotel in La Crosse. UMMA was formed in the mid-1990s and includes electric metering supervisors, technicians, and electricians from municipal, cooperative, and investor-owned utilities of all sizes. Employees of municipal utilities in Wisconsin are invited to attend UMMA’s meeting and participate in roundtable discussions, networking, and training on a wide variety of electric metering topics. To learn more, click here.
July 31 is deadline for required PSC filings: All utilities are required to submit their latest COVID-related quarterly report filings to the Public Service Commission (PSC) by the July 31 deadline. This is another round of reports on arrears and collection information, as well as details about utilities’ plans for communicating with customers about collections and arrears management, and the financial impacts of the utility’s arrears. This round of responses pertains to second quarter of 2021. The surveys are available at links found here: 5-UI-120 Quarterly Reporting and 5-AF-105 Quarterly Reporting.
Providing a response to the two surveys is mandatory for every utility in the state, regardless of size. A number of municipal utilities failed to comply with previous filing requirements (including those that were due April 30, 2021). It’s important that everyone submit the required information to the PSC by the July 31 deadline.