APPA seeks rehearing of FERC Order 1920: Last week, the American Public Power Association (APPA) sought rehearing of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order No. 1920 on the issue of its decision to exclude public power from the definition of “Relevant State Entities.”
FERC Order No. 1920 grants several privileges to “relevant state entities” in developing and participating in the new long-term regional transmission planning process established by the order. They are entitled to participate in a six-month engagement period to negotiate a cost allocation methodology for transmission facilities selected by the new planning process. FERC defines relevant state entities as “any state entity responsible for electric utility regulation or siting electric transmission facilities within the state or portion of the state located in the transmission planning region, including any state entity as may be designated for that purpose by the law of such state.” But FERC explicitly excludes self-regulating public power entities and local regulatory bodies from that definition. APPA urged FERC to broaden the definition of Relevant State Entities to include any state or municipal entity responsible for electric utility regulation or siting electric transmission facilities. The detailed request is here.
The June edition of Live Lines was distributed on June 4. In case you missed it, you can find it online here.
Free cable locating training opportunity: Mount Horeb Electric Utility has two primary underground cables with bad spots in each coming out of the same cabinet. They were able to isolate the cables and save them for a training exercise with fault-locating equipment (Thumper). The training will be conducted on Thursday, July 11, at 8 a.m. at the utility.
Member utilities are invited to send an employee for free training on primary cable locating and using Thumper. There is no cost, but registration is required. Please contact Kendal Schmidt to sign up or ask for more information.
Show off your Public Power Pride! There’s no doubt that MEUW members are all very proud to be public power providers in their communities. As we said during our 95th anniversary celebration last year, sometimes you need to toot your own horn! Showcase your public power pride by ordering a “Proudly Public Power” yard sign, expandable banner, or vehicle flag. There is no cost, but supplies are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Order yours here!
Is your Membership Directory information up-to-date? Work is underway to update MEUW’s Membership Directory for 2024. Requests will be sent to the primary contact for each utility or affiliate member to validate and/or update the information that was included in the 2023 Directory. Updates are due by July 19. Contact Sharon Wolf with questions.
Summer storms are reminder to prepare for mutual aid assistance: Severe weather has been impacting the state recently, bringing straight-line winds, heavy rain, and a couple of funnel clouds. By and large, electric systems operated by municipal electric utilities were spared from major events related to the storms. As always, MEUW staff were standing by to help in the event any member utilities required mutual aid assistance.
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. During widespread or major outage events, MEUW will use a text alert to keep members informed about mutual aid needs. To sign up for those alerts, text MUTUALAID to 77222.
MEUW Board of Directors to conduct strategic planning: Members of MEUW’s Board of Directors will meet Tuesday, Aug. 27, to review and consider changes to the association’s long-term strategic plan that was adopted in 2019. The purpose of the meeting (to be held at The Lodge At Mauston) is to identify and review future trends and outside influences important to the electric utility industry and MEUW members, in particular. This will then lead to planning how MEUW can strategically address these trends with programs and services as that future takes shape, with an eye toward what MEUW could look like when the association marks its 100th anniversary in 2028. All members are welcome to attend and participate; details are here.
Save the date for annual Accounting and Customer Service Seminar: MEUW’s annual gathering of municipal electric utility personnel involved in accounting, customer service, and utility billing is planned for Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the Lodge At Mauston. Registration is open — a detailed agenda will be available soon.
A portion of the seminar agenda will be dedicated to “member showcase” discussions to allow utility attendees to share insights about their accounting, rates, billing, or customer service practices and successes. Each showcase discussion will be limited to 15 minutes, and each utility chosen to share will be offered a 50% discount toward one seminar registration fee. To be considered, please complete the “call for presenters” form here by noon on July 17.
MEUW Weekly is on a summer schedule: A reminder that MEUW is not distributing an e-newsletter every week during the summer. Look for the next edition of MEUW Weekly in your inbox on Tuesday, July 23. The July edition of MEUW’s monthly newsletter, Live Lines, will be sent on July 2.