Sustaining our industry at rMel’s 111th Fall convention · 2016-12-07 · 300 senior-level utility managers and execu-tives. Find chief executives, company officers, vice presidents,

July 2014 Vol. 53, No. 3

J oin electric energy industry senior executives for RMEL’s 2014 Fall Executive Leadership and Management

Convention Sept. 14-16 in San Antonio, TX. The theme of this year’s Fall Convention is Reliability, Relevance & Reinvention: Sustain-ing Our Way of Life.

The RMEL Fall Convention attracts over 300 senior-level utility managers and execu-tives. Find chief executives, company officers, vice presidents, general managers, decision makers and senior management of energy companies at this event. Attendees represent the many utility ownerships including IOU, G&T, municipalities, cooperative and govern-ment agencies.

The keynote speaker, Michael Morell, Former Deputy and Acting Director, CIA, will speak about the Golden Age of Intelligence. The intelligence community has never been more important to national security than

it is today. It is simply not possible for the president and his national security team to understand the world and make the decisions necessary to protect the country without first-rate intelligence. However, the need for this intelligence also raises understandable concerns about privacy and civil liberties right here in the United States and its impact on U.S. businesses selling their products and services overseas. In presentations, Michael Morell will share insights on how we should think about the intelligence community and how it affects our lives, businesses, and jobs.

Yolanda France, Director, Customer Contact Operations, SRP, will discuss SRP M-Power and explore the benefits of prepaid electric services. To stay relevant with evolv-ing customer needs, many industries are moving towards “pre-paid” plans. To help rate-payers, some utilities are now offering free nights and weekends as well as pre-paid cards. Does our industry need to change the business model for how our product is perceived and used? Is it time to move away from the typical rate structure?

In a presentation about Google making its way into the electric energy industry, smart grid thought leader Jesse Berst, Managing Director, Global Smart Energy, will invite attendees to consider the industry’s past, present and future. He will remind everyone of the important lessons to be learned from “Electricity 1.0” and our past. He will describe the pressures and possibilities of our present. Finally, he will explain why the time is right for utilities to invent their own future – or risk having that future decided by outsiders.

This year’s CEO Panel will give attendees with a future look at the electric utility industry. The barrage of pending regulations, economic uncertainty and ever-increasing speed of communication are pushing electric utilities to act faster than ever before. Doyle

Beneby, President &Chief Executive Officer, CPS Energy, John Hewa, Chief Executive Officer, Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Pat Reiten, President & CEO, Pacific Power, Hunter Hunt, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Sharyland Utilities and Kenneth

Sustaining our industry at rMel’s 111th Fall convention

RMEL | 6855 S. Havana St, SuitE 430 | CEntEnniaL, CO 80112 | (303) 865-5544 | FaX: (303) 865-5548 | www.RMEL.ORg

INSIDE

2 2014 Spring Conference Planning Session

3 Movers & Shakers

3 utility Members List

5 august Safety Roundtable

6 2015 Event List

7 2014 Spring Conference Recap

8 inaugural Emerging Leader awards given in May

9 Foundation Silent auction

10 2014 Foundation Scholarship winners

12 Corporate Profile: Kansas City Power & Light

14 Case Study: Kiewit

15 new Members

continued on page 11

2 July 2014 RMEL NEWSLETTER

RMEL events are by RMEL members for RMEL members, and your input is important in planning the 2015 Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference. The planning session for this event is your opportunity to help develop and plan the education top-ics in the conference agenda next year.

The planning session will take place on September 25, 2014 at the Denver Marriott South in Denver, Colorado. This collaborative half-day meeting will last from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The 2015 Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference is slated for May 17-19, in St. Louis, MO.

All RMEL members are invited and encouraged to participate and bring topic ideas, names of possible speakers, or both. This meet-ing is crucial in the develop-

ment of next year’s Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference. Topics for the 2015 event’s agenda will be brainstormed, discussed and voted upon. Topics for the traditional breakout sessions will be determined and although technically-oriented content is preferred, select general industry-related issues are also needed.

Now is the time to get involved with RMEL educational planning. Your opinion about the direction of the Spring Management, Engineering & Operations Conference will be heard at this planning session.

RMEL encompasses a vast variety of industry interests. The wide selection of break-out sessions is designed to address this diversity. Ses-sions will include generation, transmission and distribution topics. Other sessions will

focus on safety, manage-ment topics or customer service issues, among others.

Following the selection of breakout session content, participants will brainstorm potential speakers for each of the approved topics. All attendees are encouraged to utilize their connections within the electric energy industry to help RMEL re-cruit the best and most knowledgeable presenters possible.

For more detailed information regarding the 2015 Spring Management, Engineering & Operations Conference Planning Ses-sion, please visit the RMEL web site.

There is no registration fee to attend and lunch will be provided. Please RSVP with RMEL at (303) 865-5544.

Share your ideas for the 2015 Spring conference

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 - LONE TREE, CO

OFFICERSPresident

Dan SchmidtBlack & Veatch Corp.

Sr. VP, Power Generation Services

President Elect Stuart Wevik

Black Hills Corporation VP, Utility Operations

Past President Andy Ramirez

El Paso Electric Company VP, Power Generation

Vice President, Membership Scott Fry

Mycoff, Fry & Prouse LLC Managing Director

Vice President, Education Tony Montoya

Western Area Power Administration COO

Vice President, Finance Tom Kent

Nebraska Public Power District VP & COO

Vice President, Vital Issues Mike Hummel

SRPAssociate General Manager

Vice President, Member Services Kelly HarrisonWestar Energy

VP, Transmission

DIRECTORSDoug Bennion

PacifiCorpVP, Engineering Services & Asset

Management

Paul Barham CPS Energy

Interim Sr. VP, Energy Delivery

Services

Joel Bladow Tri-State Genera-tion & Tranmis-

sion Assn. Sr. VP,

Transmission

Tim Brossart Xcel Energy

VP, Construction Operations

& Maintenance

Jon Hansen Omaha Public Power District

VP, Energy Production &

Marketing

Tom McKenna UNS Energy Corporation VP, Energy

Delivery

Tammy McLeod Arizona Public

ServiceVP, Resource Management

Cheryl Mele Austin Energy

COO

Mike Morris Zachry Holdings,

Inc.VP, Business

Development, Engineering

Jackie Sargent Platte River

Power AuthorityGeneral Manager

Neal Walker PNM ResourcesPresident, Texas

New Mexico Power

SecretaryRick Putnicki

RMELExecutive Director

Board of directors

3RMEL NEWSLETTER July 2014

MoverS & ShakerSTHE LATEST NEWS FROM RMEL MEMBERS

Xcel Energy inks deal for 50 megawatts from SunPower

Xcel Energy announced that it has signed an agree-ment to buy electricity from a 50-megawatt solar-power facility to be built in the San Luis Valley by SunPower Corp. SunPower, based in San Jose, Calif., already operates 19-megawatt and 30-megawatt utility-scale, photovoltaic solar installa-tions in the San Luis Valley. Both supply Xcel. The 50-megawatt plant would generate enough electricity to serve about 13,500 aver-age Colorado households, Xcel said.

NV Energy Files for Approval to Partici-pate in the California ISO Energy Imbalance Market

NV Energy filed a request with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) seeking approval to participate in the Cali-fornia Independent System Operator Corporation’s (ISO) energy imbalance market (EIM). Meanwhile, the California grid operator separately is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ap-prove the Implementation Agreement with NV Energy. “By participating in the EIM, we are looking forward to a reduction in costs for our customers as a result of be-ing able to match demand with the least-cost available

generation resources in real time,” said Paul Caudill, NV Energy President. “We will also have available a larger pool of diverse generation resources from which to obtain power. Importantly, electric delivery reliability will be enhanced by in-creasing visibility, coordina-tion, and outage response across larger portions of the western U.S. energy network.”

David G. Hutchens Begins Tenure as CEO of UNS Energy, Tucson Electric Power

David G. Hutchens, a 19-year employee of Tucson Electric Power (TEP) who has served as the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, assumes an expanded role today as Chief Executive Officer of TEP and its par-ent company, UNS Energy Corporation. Hutchens, 48, succeeds Paul J. Bonavia who will remain Executive Board Chair of UNS Energy. Hutchens retains his seat on the UNS Energy Board, as well as his role as President.

Westar Energy earns Region VII VPPPA “Dale Randall Award” for exceptional safety commitment

The Region VII Voluntary Protection Programs Partici-pants’ Association (VPPPA) has awarded Westar Energy with the Dale Randall Award – the top safety

award given each year to one of Region VII’s 159 member companies. The VPPPA, an outgrowth of the Occupational Safety & Health Association (OSHA), is the premier global safety and health organization dedi cated to workplace safety and health.

Massive Arizona En-vironmental Project Improves Air Quality

A $470 million dollar effort to further reduce emissions from the Salt River Project’s largest single generator of electricity is now complete. On May 1, the last component of the project – selective catalytic reduction technology (SCR) – to lower nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from the Coronado Generating Sta-tion in St. Johns became operational. The new con-trols not only further reduce SO2 and NOx emissions from the plant, but also address mercury emissions. “CGS is a critical compo-nent of SRP’s fleet of gener-ating facilities that provide affordable and reliable electricity to our customers 24 hours a day,” said CGS manager Dan Bevier. “Now we will be able to achieve this goal and significantly reduce emissions.”

continued on page 4

Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.

Arizona Public Service

Arkansas River Power Authority

Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Austin Energy

Basin Electric Power Cooperative

Black Hills Corporation

Black Hills Electric Cooperative

Boone Electric Cooperative

Butler Public Power District

Carbon Power & Light, Inc.

Center Electric Light & Power System

Chimney Rock Public Power District

City of Alliance Electric Department

City of Aztec Electric Department

City of Cody

City of Farmington

City of Fountain

City of Gillette

City of Glenwood Springs

City of Imperial

City of Yuma

Co-Mo Electric Cooperative

Colorado Springs Utilities

Continental Divide Electric Cooperative

CPS Energy

Delta Montrose Electric Assn.

El Paso Electric Company

The Empire District Electric Company

Empire Electric Association, Inc.

Estes Park Light & Power Dept.

Fort Collins Utilities

Gallup Joint Utilities

Grand Island Utilities

Grand Valley Rural Power Lines, Inc.

Greer CPW

Gunnison County Electric Association, Inc.

Highline Electric Assn.

Holy Cross Energy

Howard Electric Cooperative

Incorporated County of Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities

Independence Power & Light

Intercounty Electric Coop Association

Intermountain Rural Electric Assn.

Kansas City Board of Public Utilities

Kansas City Power & Light

Kit Carson Electric Cooperative

La Junta Municipal Utilities

La Plata Electric Association, Inc.

Lake Region Electric Coop Inc.

Lamar Utilities Board

Las Animas Municipal Light & Power

Lincoln Electric System

utility memBers

Complete member list at www.RMEL.org


Western Area Power Administration Pub-lishes Strategic Road-map 2024

Western Area Power Administration published its Strategic Roadmap, titled Powering the Energy Fron-tier. “The Roadmap serves as Western’s strategic plan and will guide the agency’s actions for the next 10 years so we can continue to successfully deliver on our mission, manage resources effectively and operate safely, securely and reliably in a changing world,” said Administrator Mark Gabriel. The Strategic Roadmap is one of four interrelated and complementary initiatives designed to promote a sustainable and relevant Western in the new energy frontier. “We are not chang-ing our mission or focus on providing wholesale power and transmission services,” said Gabriel. “Rather, the Roadmap guides how we will implement our mission in the energy frontier.”

Midwest Trans-mission Project-Nebraska to move forward

The Omaha Public Power District Board of Directors has approved moving forward with construction of the Nebraska portion of the Midwest Transmission Project. The project is a new 180-mile high voltage transmission line that will eventually run from a substation at OPPD’s Nebraska City

Station to a substation near Sibley, Missouri. OPPD is managing the Nebraska por-tion of the Midwest Trans-mission Project. Kansas City Power and Light is manag-ing the Missouri portion of the project. Approximately 150 new easements will be needed to construct OPPD’s portion of the 345-kilovolt line in Nebraska. The Ne-braska portion of the trans-mission line will be 45 miles in length and construction is set to begin summer 2015.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Pow-er Systems Americas, Inc. announces new President and Chief Executive Officer

David M. Walsh has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas, Inc. (MHPSA) effective April 1, 2014. In this new role, Mr. Walsh has responsibility for all aspects of the business in the Western Hemisphere. Mr. Walsh served the company as Senior Vice

President of Sales & Market-ing, Projects and Services with MHPSA prior to his ap-pointment as President and CEO. Mr. Walsh joined the company in 2001 and was responsible for Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas’ Western Hemisphere power generation service and manufacturing business, including field and plant ser-vice, parts manufacturing, and marketing for services related to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ activities in the Americas.

MoverS & ShakerScontinued from page 3

Longmont Power and Communications

Loup River Public Power District

Loveland Water & Power

Missouri River Energy Services

Morgan County Rural Electric Assn.

Mountain Parks Electric, Inc.

Mountain View Electric Assn.

Navopache Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Nebraska Public Power District

Norris Public Power District

Northwest Rural Public Power District

NV Energy

Omaha Public Power District

Otero County Electric Cooperative

PacifiCorp

Panhandle Rural Electric Membership Assn.

Pioneer Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Platte River Power Authority

PNM Resources

Poudre Valley Rural Electric Assn.

Powder River Energy Corp.

Provo City Power

San Isabel Electric Assn.

San Marcos Electric Utility

San Miguel Power Assn.

Sangre De Cristo Electric Assn.

Sierra Electric Cooperative, Inc.

South Central PPD

Southeast Colorado Power Assn.

Southern Pioneer Electric Company

Southwest Public Power District

Southwest Transmission Cooperative, Inc.

Springfield Municipal Light & Power

SRP

St. George Energy Services Department

Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative

Sunflower Electric Power Corporation

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Assn.

Trinidad Municipal Light & Power

United Power, Inc.

UNS Energy Corporation

Westar Energy

Western Area Power Administration

Wheat Belt Public Power District

Wheatland Electric Cooperative

Wheatland Rural Electric Assn.

White River Electric Assn., Inc.

White River Valley Electric Cooperative

Wyoming Municipal Power Agency

Xcel Energy

Y-W Electric Association, Inc.

Yampa Valley Electric Association, Inc.

utility memBers

continued from page 3


Donate to the RMeL FounDation

SiLent auction - Get DetaiLS on PaGe 9

FOUNDATION

President Steve Bridges

Zachry Holdings, Inc. VP & Power Executive

Vice President, Finance Rebecca Shiflea

LeidosSenior Project Manager

Vice President and Chair, Scholarships Walter D. Jones

Intermountain Rural Electric Assn. Assistant General Manager, Operations

& Engineering

Chair, Fundraising James Helvig

AMEC Director, Power Delivery

Chair, Member Development Michael A. Jones

SRPDirector

BOARD OF DIRECTORSPaul Compton

Kiewit Sr. VP, Business Development

H. Kent Cheese TestAmerica Laboratories, Inc.

VP, Sales

Kelly Harrison Westar Energy

VP, Transmission

Rick PutnickiRMEL

Executive Director

STAFF LIASONNatalie Andersen

RMEL Manager, Member Services & Retention

rmel foundation Board of directors

RMEL is holding a Safety Roundtable on Friday, August 22, 2014 at Kansas City Power & Light in Kansas City, MO. The Safety Roundtable begins with a short pre-sentation, and is mainly focused on an open discussion period. Each attendee has the opportunity for participation and dialogue on their particular safety issue, and all par-ticipants will receive a continuing education certificate.

SRP’s Good Catch program was started to obtain field information on near misses by field personnel. Historically, near misses are under reported if reported at all due to fear of reprimand. This program was designed to get the reports of near misses anonymously by using the positive phrase good catch instead of near miss or close call.

• A designated Safety Committee mem-ber is assigned the duty of Safety Rover for a period of 6 months.

• The Safety Rover is issued a green hard-hat to designate him as the Safety Rover in the field.

• The Safety Rover will visit various job sites, power plants, hydro facilities and min-ing areas.

• The Safety Rover conducts job site safety audit and reviews near misses with crew.

• The Safety Rover reports near misses to designated Admin to enter them anony-mously to Power Systems Safety Share point site as a Good Catch.

Dave S. Monday, Project Manager, Sub-station Maintenance, SRP, and Dan Triguero, Section Supervisor, Substation Maintenance, SRP, will also review how SRP was doing things prior to implementing the “good catch” program and discuss the issues that led them to look for a better way. SRP’s STOP program and how and a discussion of some of the more serious incidents they’ve had and what they’ve learned from those will also be part of the presentation.

Immediately after the presentation, at-tendees will participate in an open forum to provide or request information. All attendees are encouraged to bring safety issues for discussion and materials for shar-ing. Safety Roundtables are an excellent opportunity for RMEL members to share challenges and hear actual experiences and hot topics focused on safety in the industry today.

The Safety Roundtable is open to all RMEL members and is recommended for those with responsibility for the develop-ment, implementation, monitoring and oversight of safety programs for electrical utilities, as well as safety consultants. There is no registration fee to attend, however an RSVP is required. All attendees completing the course will receive 1.0 Professional Development Hour.

august Safety roundtable in kansas city to Focus on SrP’s “good catch”

near Miss Program


Preliminary Planning for 2015 events has BegunWhether you are starting your 2015 budget

process now or are already in process, make sure to budget for RMEL in 2015! Continuing education and networking are valuable and cost-saving investments.

Here’s a Preview of the Preliminary 2015 Event Schedule:• Introduction to the Electric Utility Workshop• Physical and Cyber Security Conference• Utility Financing for Non-Financial Personnel Workshop• Safety Roundtable - February 2015• Power Supply Planning and Projects Conference• Generation Vital Issues Roundtable• Transmission Planning and Operations Conference• Transmission Vital Issues Roundtable• Distribution Overhead and Underground Operations and Maintenance Conference• Distribution Vital Issues Roundtable• Electric Utility Workforce Management Conference and Roundtable• Introduction to Transmission Protection and Relaying Workshop• Health, Safety and Training Conference• Safety Roundtable - April 2015• Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference• Customer Service Conference• Grid Modernization Workshop• Transmission Operations & Maintenance Conference• Plant Management, Engineering and Operations Conference• Generation Vital Issues Roundtable• Safety Roundtable - August 2015• Distribution Protection Workshop• Fall Executive Leadership and Management Convention• 2016 Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference Planning Session• Distribution Engineers Workshop• Renewable Planning and Operations Conference• Electric Utility System Operations Workshop Environmental Right-of-Way Conference• 2016 Fall Executive Leadership and Management Convention Planning Session• Safety Roundtable - November 2015

Spring conference Sees Success in austin texas

A record 346 electric utility industry professionals attended RMEL’s 2014 Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference in Austin, TX, May 18-20. The 30 technical sessions and networking

events scored high marks among attendees. Attendees were able to use RMEL’s

first-ever event app, which allowed them to create their own conference schedule and see the full conference agenda, access

presentations PDFs before, during, and after the event, use the “add your notes” feature that let them take notes in the app and email them to themselves, network with other attendees through the app, participate in live polling and surveys, locate sessions and exhibitor booths with ease with Confer-ence Maps, learn about speakers, exhibitors, and other attendees, read about Emerging Leader Award Winners with a dedicated page showcasing this year’s award winners, stay up to date with event announcements and view a Champion Sponsors List and Exhibitor Listing and Map.

The event featured keynote presentations from Brian Lloyd, Executive Director, Public Utility Commission of Texas, Gurcan Gülen, Ph.D, Senior Energy Economist, Center for Energy Economics,Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin and an Executive Leadership Panel including Scott Heidtbrink, COO, Kansas City Power & Light; Cheryl Mele, COO, Austin Energy; Tom Kent, VP & COO, Nebraska Public Power District; and Mike Hummel, Associate General Manager, SRP.

Educational breakout sessions took place in three tracks: generation; transmission and distribution; and management.

The slate of generation track presenta-tions guided attendees through topics like co-generation vs. self-generation, multi-pollutant control, energy efficiency in plants, challenges and potential solutions of wind power, sodium bicarbonate dry sor-bent injection at Kincaid generating station, pending regulations and carbon capture technology and NERC reliability.

In the T&D Track, there were details on approaches to regional transmission plan-ning, energy storage, data collection for asset management, information and opera-tion technology considerations for volt VAR optimization, route selection, protecting assets, renewable impacts on transmission and distribution and causes of underground cable failure.

The third track of presentations, focused on management, covered transitioning the workforce, workforce issues, economic impact of fracking and petrochemical boom on the utility infrastructure, reaching the public with an accurate electric utility mes-sage, NERC, competition, successful project management panel and geographic data.


Eight electric energy industry professionals were awarded the new RMEL Emerging Leader Award on May 19th during the 2014 RMEL Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference in Austin, Texas.

The Emerging Leader Award recognizes and honors RMEL mem-bers who are up and coming in their company and have had 5-10 years of experience in the industry, establishing significant contribu-tions within their organization and have demonstrated the potential for leadership and continuing service in the electric utility industry.

The 2014 Award Winners are:• Mo Awad, Manager, Transmission Planning, Westar Energy• David Crowell, Principal Analyst I, Cost Schedule & Power Production, SRP• Vernon “Buddy” Hasten, Sr. Manager, Plant Operations & Reliability, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.• Mary Ann Zehr, System Operations Training Specialist, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Assn.• Jason Hartman, Director, Generation Project Engineering, Black Hills Corporation• Patrick Hanrahan, Distribution Engineer, Nebraska Public Power District• Keith Weatherby, Technical Director, Transmission, Distribution and Communications, Technical Resources Group, Ulteig• Christopher Wood, Environmental Engineer, Platte River Power Authority.

RMEL congratulates all of the 2014 Emerging Leader Award win-ners.

The 2014 Distinguished Leadership, Industry Leadership and Honorary Life Membership Awards will be given at RMEL’s 2014 Fall Executive Leadership and Management Convention on September 16th in San Antonio, Texas.


January 14, 2014Introduction to the Electric

Utility WorkshopAustin, TX

January 15, 2014Introduction to the Electric

Utility WorkshopSan Antonio, TX

January 21-22, 2014Utility Financing for

Non-Financial Personnel Workshop

Lone Tree, CO

February 13-14, 2014Distribution Engineers

WorkshopLone Tree, CO

February 21, 2014Safety Roundtable - February

2014Westminster, CO

March 6-7, 2014Power Supply Planning and

Projects ConferenceLone Tree, CO

March 7, 2014Generation Vital Issues

RoundtableLone Tree, CO

March 11-12, 2014Transmission Planning and

Operations ConferenceLone Tree, CO

March 12, 2014Transmission Vital Issues


March 13-14, 2014Distribution Overhead and

Underground Operations and Maintenance Conference

Lone Tree, CO

March 14, 2014Distribution Vital Issues


March 27, 2014Electric Utility Workforce

Management Conference and Roundtable

Lone Tree, CO

April 10-11, 2014Advanced Substation Design

WorkshopLone Tree, CO

April 23-25 2014Health, Safety and Training

ConferenceLone Tree, CO

April 25, 2014Safety Roundtable - April

2014Lone Tree, CO

May 18-20, 2014Spring Management,

Engineering and Operations ConferenceAustin, TX

June 12, 2014NERC Training Conference

and RoundtableLone Tree, CO

June 26, 2014Transmission Operations and

Maintenance ConferenceOmaha, NE

July 22, 2014RMEL Golf Tournament

Westminster, CO

July 29-30, 2014Plant Management,

Engineering and Operations Conference

Salt Lake City, UT

July 30, 2014Generation Vital Issues

RoundtableSalt Lake City, UT

August 2014Safety Roundtable - August

2014Kansas City, MO

September 14-16, 2014Fall Executive Leadership

and Management ConventionSan Antonio, TX

September 25, 20142015 Spring Management,

Engineering and Operations Conference Planning Session

Lone Tree, CO

October 9, 2014Asset Management

ConferenceLone Tree, CO

October 16, 2014Renewable Planning and Operations Conference

Lone Tree, CO

November 6, 2014Review of Industry Standards

for Distribution WorkshopLone Tree, CO

November 14, 2014Safety Roundtable – November 2014Fort Collins, CO

2014 event calendarinaugural emerging leader awards given at 2014 rMel Spring

conference


The RMEL Foundation will hold its annual Silent Auction on September 15, 2014 at the RMEL Fall Executive Leadership and Management Convention in San Antonio, TX. All proceeds from the auction support the RMEL Foundation and its efforts to provide scholarships to students pursuing careers in the electric energy industry. The Founda-tion has provided 167 scholar-ships totaling over $390,500 in the past 14 years. Your support is needed to build the endow-ment and continue to provide scholarships. Visit www.RMEL.org and click on Foundation at the top of the page for more information.

Participants typically purchase

items for per-sonal use. Every donation contributes to the overall suc-cess and money raised at the event. Creativity counts, but here are some ideas to inspire:

Popular items: • Vacations & trips• Hotel and condo stays• Spa services (for women and

men!)• Golf outings and golf items• Electronics• Event tickets (sporting, theatre,

concerts)• Valuable artwork (sculptures,

paintings, photos)

• Restaurant certificates• Jewelry• Tools• Themed

gift baskets• Appliances• Sporting goods or recreation

equipment• Services (landscaping,

handyman, auto repair)

Exciting, exclusive or unique items:• Lunch with a famous sports

figure• Autographed memorabilia• Tour a news station, TV or

radio studio • Unique adventures such as a

helicopter or hot air

balloon ride• Private lesson with a

well-known chef or artist

The RMEL Foundation was incorporated on May 5, 1999 and received its 501(c) 3, IRS non-profit, tax-deductible status on March 3, 2000. The RMEL Foundation’s purpose is exclusively for the charitable and educational purposes of awarding scholarships to deserving and qualified students in engineering or curriculum related to the utility industry. Questions about the Silent Auc-tion or donations?

Contact RMEL at (303) 865-5544 or email [email protected].

Donate to the rMel Foundation Silent auction and Benefit Scholarships

FOUNDATION

For the 2014-2015 academic year, the RMEL Foundation has awarded $84,000 in scholar-ships to 28 deserving students pursuing careers in the electric energy industry. The RMEL Foundation Scholarship Selec-tion Committee received over 250 well-qualified applications in 2014. With students applying from across the United States

and pursuing many worthwhile degrees and careers in the electric energy industry it was very difficult for the committee to select the recipients out of such a high caliber pool of ap-plicants.

Recipients were selected based upon their goals for their future in the industry, motiva-tion, academic achievements

and service to their community and school.

Over the past 14 years the Foundation has awarded 167 scholarships totaling $390,500. The RMEL Foundation is proud to award funding to these de-serving students for continued education in the electric energy industry. The scholarship dona-tions have been established

through individual and corpo-rate donations, as well as contri-butions from the Silent Auction, Spring Conference Golf Outing and the RMEL Foundation Golf Tournament. To learn more about the RMEL Foundation, visit www.RMEL.org.

Congratulations to all this year’s scholarship recipients.

Collin ArgoAuburn, NECedarville University

Steve GatesRapid City, SDSouth Dakota

School of Mines and Technology

Jason BarthHolly, CO

Kansas State University

Jonathan GrecoBoulder, COUniversity of

Colorado

Dylan BenoitMinneapolis, MN

University of Minnesota Twin

Cities

Zachary HeitkampDunbar, NE

University of Nebraska Omaha

Viviana BermudezFolsom, CA

Harvey Mudd College

Patrick KeepColumbus, NE

Iowa State University

Mikayla BladowFort Collins, CO

Clemson University

Calvin LiOwings Mills, MD

Georgetown University

Nicholas CobbAllen, TX

University of Texas - Austin

Adam MetzgerManhattan, KSKansas State

University

Brady Cromer Falls City, NE

Southeast Community College

Jesse FloresMount Vernon, WA

University of Washington

Anika PatelSouth Lake Tahoe,

CAUniversity of

California - Los Angeles

Ryan RickersonGeorgetown, TX

Texas A&M University

Ruby RollDurango, COLewis & Clark

College

Eric RothmierBlue Springs, MO

University of Missouri

Katy ShiColumbia, MO

Stanford University

Dakotah SimpsonRapid City, SDSouth Dakota

School of Mines and Technology

Karl NiendorfOshkosh, WIUniversity of

Wisconsin

Julie SlamaPeru, NE

Yale University

Dakota StormerAustin, TX

University of Texas

Matthew TallmanPage, AZ

Eastern Arizona College

Sean ThomasonLockesburg, AR

University of Arkansas

Community College

Myder VangSaginaw, MI

Michigan Technological

University

Myissa WeissFarmington, NM

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Christopher WixFort Collins, COColorado State

University


rMel Foundation awards 28 Scholarships in 2014


Zagzebski, President, U.S. Strategic Business Unit, AES, will share their strategies for the future and how they’re going to get there. A brief discussion from each CEO, followed by an open Q&A session with the attendees, will convey the outlook for the different types of utilities.

Erwin Furukawa, CEO, EF Strategy and Planning Group, will present on creating a model that balances customer, public policy and utility goals. Today we are seeing major changes evolving in our industry. New technologies are emerging that are becoming more viable alternatives; new market entrants are introducing energy services as part of their portfolio; customers are becoming more adept and regulators are in the pivotal position to create a new energy market place. As these changes evolve, it is critical for utility leaders to focus on customers and work with policy makers in shaping a model that meets customer, public policy and utility goals.

Dr. Dale Klein, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, University of Texas, will discuss how a nuclear plant works and the safety systems that are in place. The status of the United States and worldwide use of nuclear power plants will be described. Also included will be a discussion of the accident at Fukushima Daiichi.

Foreign plans for the future of energy are moving in many directions. As Germany is in the process of going back to coal, the UAE is building nuclear like crazy. Can the U.S. learn

from the foreign energy market? In order to stop “reacting”, do we need a 10 year plan? Gary Rackliffe, VP, Smart Grids North America, ABB, will discuss global trends and energy plans for the future.

Thomas Casey, Managing Principal, Discus-sion Partner Collaborative LLC, will focus on the research which led to the best-selling book Executive Transitions-Plotting the Op-portunity! The presentation will highlight first party research with over 2,000 senior execu-tives, and client experience with over 200 senior executives. The speech will contain insights on three aligned topics, including enterprise succession plans, capability defi-ciencies of successors and post exit planning challenges for executives. PDFs of the book and related blogs and articles will be made available.

The Fall Executive Leadership and Man-agement Convention is a three-day event that begins on a Sunday with a golf outing followed by an evening reception hosted by the RMEL Champions. Monday is a full-day of educational presentations ending with an RMEL Champions reception, dinner and the RMEL Foundation Silent Auction. The final day includes the RMEL annual meeting and a half day of presentations. A guest program, awards presentation and plenty of time to re-lax and network are also part of the tradition. Go to www.RMEL.org for more information and registration.

Fall conventioncontinued from page 1

Doyle BenebyPresident & Chief Executive Officer

CPS Energy

Jesse BerstManaging Director

GlobalSmart Energy

Thomas Casey Managing Principal

Discussion Partner Collaborative LLC

Jim Fama VP, Energy Delivery

EEI

Yolanda FranceDirector, Customer Contact Operations

SRP

Erwin FurukawaCEO,

EF Strategy and Planning Group

John HewaChief Executive Officer

Pedernales Electric Coop

Hunter HuntChairman & Chief Executive Officer

Sharyland Utilities

Dr. Dale KleinAssociate Vice Chancellor

for ResearchUniversity of Texas

Michael MorellFormer Deputy and Acting Director

CIA

Gary RackliffeVP, Smart Grids North America

ABB

Pat ReitenPresident & CEO

Pacific Power

Kenneth ZagzebskiPresident, U.S. Strategic Business Unit

AES

2014 fall convention speakers


corPorate ProFileKANSAS CITY POWER & LIGHT

KCP&L is a full-service Midwestern electric utility headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The investor-owned utility serves more than 800,000 customers in 47 northwestern Missouri and eastern Kansas counties - an area of approximately 18,000 square miles. It takes more than 3,600 miles of transmission lines, 22,300 miles of distri-bution lines and 400 substations to deliver power to its customers.

Providing safe, reliable and affordable energy has been its mission for more than 130 years. Every day, KCP&L works to honor its founders’ standards of innovation, entre-preneurism and community leadership.

The company has earned a reputation as one of the region’s most reliable and affordable energy suppliers and has been locally and nationally recognized for its environmentally-sensitive power produc-tion, plant technology and infrastructure investments.

KCP&L has approximately 6,600 MWs of generating capacity through a diversi-fied generation mix that includes recent environmental upgrades to its coal-fired power plants and investment in renewable generation projects. The company also has a sound environmental strategy. This year, KCP&L announced two new wind projects that will increase its total wind energy port-folio to 939 MW.

“These two projects will nearly double the amount of clean, renewable generation in

our energy portfolio,” said KCP&L President and CEO Terry Bassham. “This portfolio has already seen significant reductions in emis-sions from environmental upgrades made at several of our power plants.”

The company is also committed to giving customers more control over their energy usage through energy efficiency solutions that reduce their energy needs.

“Energy efficiency puts the investment in the customer and it helps keep the cost of electricity affordable,” said Bassham. “Not having to build new generation facilities leads to cost savings for everyone.”

KCP&L provides more than just electricity. It also actively supports the communities it serves. Its employees volunteer nearly 20,000 hours each year to support the neighborhoods where they live and work. They also contribute more than $1 million of their own money to worthy community organizations.

“We believe it’s not just an obligation. It’s the right thing to do—and it’s one of the most rewarding parts of our jobs,” added Bassham. “Together with our community partners, we’re making a meaningful differ-ence in the communities we serve.”

Delivering reliable electric service is one of the foundations of KCP&L’s operating strategy. KCP&L

constantly monitors the transmission and distribution system so issues can be identified and addressed

quickly, which results in fewer outages and reduced response time when outages do occur.

RMEL members may download a copy of presentations at the RMEL Library.

Eight electric energy industry profession-als were awarded the new RMEL Emerging Leader Award on May 19th during the Spring Conference. The Emerging Leader Award recognizes and honors RMEL members who are up and coming in their company and have had 5-10 years of experience in the industry, establishing significant contri-butions within their organization and have demonstrated the potential for leadership and continuing service in the electric utility industry.

The 2014 Award Winners are Mo Awad, Manager, Transmission Planning, Westar Energy; David Crowell, Principal Analyst I, Cost Schedule & Power Production, SRP; Vernon “Buddy” Hasten, Sr. Manager, Plant

Operations & Reliability, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Mary Ann Zehr, System Operations Training Specialist, Tri-State Generation & Transmission Assn.; Jason Hartman, Director, Generation Project Engineering, Black Hills Corporation; Patrick Hanrahan, Distribution Engineer, Nebraska Public Power District; Keith Weatherby, Technical Director, Transmission, Distribu-tion and Communications, Technical Resources Group, Ulteig; and Christopher Wood, Environmental Engineer, Platte River Power Authority.

Attendees met with 30 exhibitors from a variety of electric industry suppliers, vendors and partners. Other conference networking events included the New Member Breakfast hosted by the RMEL Board and Executive Director and the evening Champions Re-

ceptions featuring a hosted bar provided by the RMEL Champions. The RMEL Founda-tion formally announced the 2014 scholar-ship recipients during the Monday evening dinner program and requested support for the upcoming Silent Auction at the 111th Fall Executive Leadership and Management Convention.

Mark your calendar now for the 2015 Spring Management, Engineering and Op-erations Conference, May 17-19, at the St. Louis Union Station in St. Loius, Missouri.


2014 Spring conference Successcontinued from page 7


caSe StuDyKIEWIT – SUPPORTING XCEL’S VISION: COLORADO CLEAN AIR CLEANS JOBS

Regulation meets LegislationLike most states, how Colorado con-

sumes and produces energy has been an important and challenging issue for decades. Between 2007 and 2010, then Governor, Bill Ritter, and the Colorado State Legislature addressed this issue through several pieces of legislation; one of the most significant bills being the Colorado Clean Air Clean Jobs Act (CACJ). This leg-islation proved to be unique, as it was the ultimate coordination between lawmakers, regulators and regulated utilities. It required regulated utilities to examine 900 mega-watts of coal-fired generation to seek NOx reductions of 70-80 percent or greater.

In response to this act, Xcel Energy exam-ined hundreds of options and analyzed mul-tiple scenarios that could meet or exceed the new requirements, ultimately opting to retire several coal-fired units and build the new Cherokee combined cycle plant near Denver. The Pawnee coal-fired plant near Brush, Colo., would be retrofitted with a DFGD and SCR, and the Hayden Power Plant (Xcel Energy is the majority owner), near Hayden, Colo., would be retrofitted with SCRs on each of the two units.

Kiewit Focuses in on CACJKiewit’s roots date back to 1884, and

today it is one of the most respected contractors in North America with more than 33,000 employees. Kiewit is currently ranked second in power among Engineer-

ing News-Record’s Top 400 Contractors and was named one of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies for engineering and construction. With more than 100,000 megawatts of installed generation capacity in both the advanced gas turbine and air quality control markets (AQCS), Kiewit identified early on that its experience would benefit Xcel Energy, making the CACJ pro-gram a perfect fit for both companies.

Cherokee Combined Cycle ProjectIn mid-2012, Xcel Energy competitively

bid the engineering and construction of the 569-megawatt Cherokee Combined Cycle Power Plant as a design-build contract. As a fully-integrated EPC provider, Kiewit was able to incorporate the Xcel Energy-provid-ed 7FA.05 CTGs, GE D-11 STG and Nooter Eriksen HRSGs into the design. Kiewit relied on its industry-leading knowledge of ad-vanced gas turbine technology – specifically the GE 7FA.05 – to design the Cherokee plant. It would be designed for wind follow-ing, therefore, the CTG/HRSG power trains would be designed to ramp at 15 percent per minute, or approximately 31MW per minute from 50 percent CTG load to full load without HRSG restrictions.

Xcel Energy awarded Kiewit the Cherokee design-build contract in September 2012, and the team mobilized to site in spring 2013. The Cherokee project will require approximately one million manhours with up to 500 men and women on site. Safety is

Xcel Energy’s and Kiewit’s first priority and some-thing both companies take very seriously. In March 2014, the Chero-kee project achieved Star Status as part of OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program – the highest honor a business or worksite can obtain after proving its commitment to excellence in occupa-tional safety and health. “There’s nothing more

important than ‘nobody gets hurt,’” said Kiewit Project Manager Chris Lanterman.

Pawnee CACJ projectAlso in 2012, Xcel Energy competitively

bid the General Construction Pawnee CACJ project, a 505-megawatt Air Quality Control System (AQCS) at the existing Pawnee coal-fired power plant. This contract would include onsite fabrication and erection of two SDA vessels, an SCR reactor, two axial-induced draft fans and associated duct work. The contract was awarded to TIC – The Industrial Company. The team took on the difficult task of performing more than 600,000 manhours of work in approximately 18 months. Given the limited time for outages, and the impending 2015 regional haze compliance requirements, the Pawnee CACJ project became the top priority – it was a critical path project. In order to stay on schedule and complete it on time, TIC retained more than 500 skilled men and women.

“We understood from the beginning how important it was to Xcel Energy and the state of Colorado that we maximize the lo-cal content, making sure as many positions as possible are filled by Coloradoans,” said Terry Carlsgaard, president of TIC.

Hayden General Construction- CACJRetrofitting the two-unit, 446-megawatt

Hayden Power Plant with SCRs would be Xcel Energy’s next CACJ challenge. This construction/erection contract was also awarded to TIC. The SCRs at Hayden offer a unique challenge. Given the current outage schedule, the team will need to manage the schedule length and dual manpower peaks.

Through its operating companies, Kiewit brings a wealth of diverse resources and a track record for delivering the highest quali-ty results — on budget and on schedule – to every project, allowing it to take on projects of any size and scope. Kiewit is proud to be part of Xcel Energy’s success and looks to continue its commitment to safety and innovative thinking for years to come.


BECKWITH ELECTRIC

6190 118th Ave N.Largo, FL 33773-3724(727) 544-2326(727) 546-0121www.beckwithelectric.comJon GrootersWestern Regional Sales [email protected]

Founded in 1967, Beckwith Electric introduced the first solid state tapchanger control in 1968, and was the first to develop the microprocessor protective relay in 1981. Today, Beckwith Electric has thousands of protection and control untis in service worldwide, with a reputation for cutting-edge technology, defined by its customers and refined by Beckwith. This success starts with Beckwith Electric Employees and their commitment to quality products, all 100% designed and manufactured in Largo, Florida, U.S.A.

WAVE ENGINEERING, INC.

PO Box 1153Littleton, CO 80160www.waveengineering.coJeff [email protected]

Wave Engineering is an independent consulting firm specializing in acoustics, noise and vibration. Its clients include architects, contractors, engineers, corporations, developers, governments, institutions, and individuals that

need help with acoustics, noise and vibration control. Projects include environmental noise assessment and monitoring for power generation and distribution systems.

COLORADO HIGHLANDS WIND LLC

20670 County Road 85Fleming, CO 80728(970) 774-3358www.poweringthewest.org/tag/colorado-highlands-wind/Jim MichaelManaging [email protected]

Wind Generation - IPP. 91 MW Wind Farm.

STANTEC CONSULTING

2000 S. Colorado Blvd, Ste 2-300Denver, CO 80222(303) 758-4058(303) 758-4828www.stantec.comMichael DonMoyerSr. Principal, Western US Generation [email protected]

The Stantec community unites more than 13,000 employees working in over 200 locations. We collaborate across disciplines and industries to bring buildings, energy and resources, and infrastructure projects to life. Our work- professional consulting in planning, engineering, architecture, surveying environmental sciences, project management, and

project economics- begins at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. Since, 1954, our local strength, knowledge, and relationships, coupled with our world-class expertise, have allowed us to go anywhere to meet our clients’ needs in more creative and personalized ways. With a long-term commitment to the people and place we serve, Stantec has the unique ability to connect to projects on a personal level and advance the quality of life in communities across the globe. Stantec trades on the TSX and the NYSE under the symbol STN.

VICKREY & ASSOCIATES

12940 Country Pkwy

San Antonio, TX 78216(210) 349-3271(210) 349-2561www.vickreyinc.comCory DickersonSr. Project [email protected]

Civil Engineer & Survey

WESTMARK PARTNERS LCC

630 Brooker Creek Blvd., Ste 345Oldsmar, FL 34677(813) 386-1645(813) 386-1649www.westmarkpartners.comChristopher [email protected]

Business Development Company

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6855 S. Havana St, SuitE 430 | CEntEnniaL, CO 80112

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