Join us for a Member Roundtable near you: MEUW is continuing a long tradition of hosting member gatherings to exchange ideas and learn from one another about leading practices, operating challenges, and emerging issues affecting municipal electric utilities. This year, the get-togethers are being organized as roundtables in communities around the state that will begin at 9:00 a.m. and wrap up after lunch.
Roundtable dates and locations are:
• Tuesday, Sept. 29: Bloomer
• Wednesday, Sept. 30: Juneau
• Thursday, Oct. 1: Hartford
• Thursday, Oct. 8: Clintonville
• Thursday, Oct. 15: Richland Center
Register to join us for one that works for you – just click on the city name above. There is no cost to attend, and lunch will be provided.
The September edition of Live Lines was distributed on Sept. 1. In case you missed it, you can find it online here.
Register today for Basics of Electric Rate Setting: Understand the fundamentals of electric rates setting to better support your utility’s success. This class is for anyone who wants to understand the different components and considerations involved in the process, and is especially helpful for those new to the utility industry. Utility commissioners and elected officials are welcome to attend. Taught by a seasoned instructor, this course will cover the cost-of-service process, rate design and principles, and special rate provisions. Whether you’re a municipal utility employee or member of a governing body, don’t miss this chance to ensure you know this important utility concept. Join your peers for this class in Mauston on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Details and registration are located here.
Don’t miss the Annual Accounting and Customer Service seminar: You won’t want to miss this opportunity to join municipal electric utility members from across Wisconsin to receive updates on issues that affect utilities and hear best practices to improve operations. Exchange information about timely topics and network with peers from utilities across the state. Agenda items for the Wednesday, Sept. 23, seminar in Mauston will include updates from the Public Service Commission, pay-related topics from Boardman & Clark law firm, a panel discussion with the Accounting and Customer Service Committee, Focus on Energy highlights, and techniques to Be Your BEST. Register today!
Hurricane season is here ― are your mutual aid plans ready? Before the storm is the right time to make sure your out-of-state mutual aid (MA) plans are in order. MEUW has created an Out-of-State Mutual Aid Planning Checklist to help members prepare to offer resources when other states request mutual aid. Recognizing that the time to decide whether your community can help, this checklist provides a list of things to consider in advance so your utility can be timely in responding to a request. The checklist can be found here.
Public Power Week is Oct. 4-10: Public power utilities across the U.S., including the 81 operating in Wisconsin, celebrate Public Power Week the first full week of October every year to help customers and stakeholders understand how they can better engage with their community-owned utility and benefit from all its offerings. MEUW member utilities have access to sample resources and templates to spread the word and help celebrate in their hometowns. Details are available here, along with a link to additional resources from APPA.
Member Inquiry: The City of Elkhorn is seeking information on what outage notification systems other member utilities are using. If your utility is using an outage notification system, please share the system name and how you use it with Dawn Gall, Utility Field Office Coordinator.
Planning and Risk Management course set for October: As part of MEUW’s professional development programming, we’re offering this one-day course to focus on utility planning and risk management. The purpose of this training is to explain the basics of strategic and operational planning, why planning matters, and how well-thought-out plans and careful assessments of risks can contribute to long-term success. Taught by seasoned engineer, Dave Krause, P.E., this class will send you back to your utility with a wealth of information. Held in Mauston on Oct. 7, registration and instructor details can be found here.
Make plans to attend December leadership class: Continue — or begin — your professional development through this Dec. 2 Leading Through Coaching course. As part of MEUW’s professional development programming, we’re offering a one-day leadership development course that focuses on knowing how and when to coach – highlighting the skills and emotional intelligence needed to coach others effectively. Good coaches are seen as role models and therefore need to understand those things that cause them to have frustration, negative self-talk, and, in turn, keep them from channeling their emotions productively. Knowing yourself will help you to be more effective as a leader and a coach resulting in the ability to effectively develop others. Registration and details about what you’ll learn are available here.
Return to weekly schedule: The unofficial end of summer means MEUW Weekly is back to being distributed once each week. If you have member news to share, or have a question you’d like to ask of MEUW member utilities, please contact office@meuw.org.