Wisconsin municipal workers will help Florida utilities recover from latest hurricane: MEUW staff are collaborating with their counterparts at the national level and in Florida to deploy lineworkers and damage assessors to provide aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
Crews from Wisconsin are among those from 16 states, including Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota, committed to the mutual aid response. Wisconsin crews have been assigned to the Kissimmee Utility Authority, a public power utility that serves about 95,000 customers in an area of central Florida south of Orlando. Out-of-state resources are set to arrive in Florida and pre-stage near impacted areas as early as Tuesday evening, Oct. 8. Wisconsin personnel and assets will leave early Wednesday morning to arrive in Kissimmee by mid-day Thursday, Oct. 9. They are in a second wave of resources and will relieve Minnesota crews that are part of the initial response. Organizers have said mutual aid responders should plan to be needed for up to two weeks.
If the storm continues its current forecast track, Hurricane Milton will impact some of the most populated public power communities in Florida. MEUW will provide regular updates about the mutual aid effort on its social media pages and at www.meuw.org/milton.
Oct. 6‒12 is Public Power Week — an excellent opportunity to remind municipal electric customers and our communities that they are part of something special. MEUW has prepared resources our member utilities can use — find them here, along with a link to other resources available from APPA.
As usual, we’d like to share photos and news about how your utility is celebrating Public Power Week with your community. Please send pics and details to news@meuw.org so we can include them in a future edition of Live Lines. Enjoy the week!
Thank you to all our readers who completed the crossword puzzle from the September edition of Live Lines. The contest winner is Brandi Yungen from Stoughton Utilities, who correctly completed the puzzle and was chosen to receive a $50 Amazon gift card. (By the way, New Richmond was the first public power community in Wisconsin. Many respondents filled in Sturgeon Bay, which also fit the space. The puzzle solution is here).
Registration for Electric Operations Conference & Expo is now open! MEUW and the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association (WECA) will hold the 2025 Electric Operations Conference & Expo at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells on Jan. 15, 16, and 17. Employees at all levels are welcome and encouraged to attend this year’s event, which features a full agenda with a great lineup of speakers and breakout sessions on a wide variety of important and relevant topics.
Again this year, three types of registration passes — labeled as Kilowatt, Megawatt, and Gigawatt — are available to accommodate those who wish to attend only part of the three-day event. Those most interested in the Expo (trade show), for example, will want to purchase a Megawatt pass, which offers access to the Wednesday Welcome Reception and Thursday’s conference sessions, meals, and the Expo. MEUW members who register by Dec. 1 can get a Megawatt pass for $225.
Full details about the event — including a link to reserve your hotel room at a special rate, and information about the Apprentice Graduation Banquet — are available here.
The October edition of Live Lines was published last week. If you missed it, you can find it here.
Join MEUW to honor a Friend of Public Power: MEUW is honoring state Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) as recipient of the 2024 “Friend of Public Power Award” for his legislative efforts to advocate for municipal utilities’ ability to own and operate EV charging stations, among other issues. MEUW is holding a dinner on Monday, Oct. 14, in Cuba City and will present Sen. Marklein with his award. All MEUW members are invited to take part in the event, which will be held at Red’s Supper Club. Full details and registration information is here.
District Dialogues continue throughout October: Getting members together for a meal and networking is a time-honored MEUW tradition, and registration is open for this year’s District Dialogues. Network and discuss hot topics in a roundtable session with municipal utility leaders from across the state at an upcoming District Dialogue luncheon, sponsored by Utility Sales and Service. They will be held in the following locations:
- Tues., Oct. 15 — Shawano
- Thurs., Oct. 17 — Rice Lake
- Tues., Oct. 22 — Lake Mills
- Tues., Oct. 29 — Black River Falls
Each session will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude after lunch by about 1:30 p.m. There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is required. Sign-up details are available here.
Don’t miss out — register today for management training class: Collaborating is much more than just working with people — it also involves using influence and persuasion to drive high-performing teams. Leaders skilled in collaboration understand how individuals impact one another and how to foster creative thinking and effective problem-solving to drive results. Part of MEUW’s three-part Municipal Utility Leadership Certificate series, Leading Through Collaboration will give attendees practical ideas and skills they can bring back to their workplace. The class will be held in Mauston on Wednesday, Dec. 4. More information and registration are available here.
Send us your job postings: Remember that MEUW welcomes the opportunity to help you attract qualified applicants to your utility’s job openings. In fact, we know our “Employment” page is among the most visited pages on MEUW.org!
Send your open job postings to office@meuw.org whenever they become available. We will post your position and publicize it in the next issue of Live Lines (if the position is not filled prior to its monthly publication date).