Register for SDMEA Superintendent & Foreman Conference

Posted on February 14, 2012 by

The February 25th registration deadline is approaching for the 19th Annual Superintendent and Foreman Conference from the SD Municipal Electric Association. The conference is scheduled for March 6-7 at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel Event Center in Watertown, SD.

Registration is $60 per person. Mail payment and completed registration form (below) to SD Municipal Electric Association, 208 Island Drive, Ft. Pierre, SD 57532.

Supt-Foreman Conf. Registration Form

Agenda: Tuesday, March 6

11:00 am-12:30 pm – Registration
12:30-1:30 pm – Smart Grid Technology and Applications with John Macek, S&C Electric Company
1:30-2:00 pm – Smart Phones with Sean DePauw, Sprint PCS
2:00-3:00 pm – Automated Switching with Keith Hannemann, Energy Product Sales
Break
3:15-4:15 pm - Mutual Aid Coordination with Don Johnston, City of Flandreau and Brad Lawrence, City of Ft. Pierre
4:15-6:15 pm – Vendor Show
6:30 pm - Prime Rib Dinner

Agenda: Wednesday, March 7

8:00-8:40 am – Breakfast
8:40-9:40 am – Infared Cameras & Security Products with Michael McKibben, Flir Company and Cary Logan & Jay Krzyzaniak, DSG
Break
10:00-10:30 am – WAPA Update with Greg Vaselaar, WAPA
10:30-11:00 am – MRES Update with Bill Radio, MRES
11:00-11:30 am - NESC Updates with Mike Willetts, MMUA
11:30 am-12:00 pm – SDMEA Update with Jeffrey Mehlhaff, SDMEA
12:00 pm - Lunch

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Clean Baseload Nuclear Energy Gets First Approval in 34 Years

Posted on February 10, 2012 by

It’s been 34 long years but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has licensed a utility to build nuclear reactors in the U.S. for the first time since 1978.  Long after France decided to follow this course over three decades ago (80% of the electric energy in France comes from nuclear baseload units), the federal government finally, maybe gets this stark fact – we cannot effectively reduce carbon emissions without a nuclear renaissance.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s chairman, Gregory Jaczko, opposed licensing the reactors at this time even though he had earlier praised their design. Jackzo said “There is still more work” to be done to ensure that lessons learned from Japan’s Fukushima disaster last year tidal wave -are engrained in the reactor design, he told his colleagues.

By a 4-1 vote to approve all of his colleagues said the lessons had been learned and it was time to move on.  “There is no amnesia,” said Commissioner Kristine Svinick, speaking for the  majority and noting that the industry has been directed to adopt those lessons.

The licensing covers two reactors estimated to cost $14 billion that the Southern Company wants to add to its existing Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia. Preliminary work has already begun and plans are for the first new reactor to be operating in 2016

.”This is a monumental accomplishment for MEAG Power, our partners and the nuclear industry,” said MEAG Power President and CEO Bob Johnston. “We are committed to bringing these units online to deliver clean, safe and reliable energy to the 41 participant communities that have joined this effort.”

“The NRC should be commended for their groundbreaking decision to approve these new nuclear units,” said APPA President and CEO Mark Crisson. “At a time when stringent environmental regulations are adversely impacting the existing industry capacity, this approval sends a strong message of support for the development of new, clean nuclear power to help meet our nation’s growing energy needs.”

Crisson also pointed out the significant role of public power, saying the consistently strong credit rating of public power utilities enabled the owners of the plant to obtain the financing necessary for the construction and operation of the new units.

MEAG Power owns 22.7% of the new units, with a cost estimate of approximately $3.7 billion. The other owners are Georgia Power, 45.7%; Oglethorpe Power Cooperative, 30%; and Dalton, Ga., Utilities, 1.6%. MEAG Power in 2008 entered into 20-year contracts to sell approximately 40% of its share of the output in the new units to JEA and approximately 25% to PowerSouth Energy Cooperative. Those agreements will help its 41 member utilities participating in the project to match future need with resource availability, MEAG Power said.

MEAG Power said it secured the majority of its capital funding for the new Vogtle units in March 2010 through a $2.62 billion public market financing, at the favorable net interest cost of 4.35%. Additionally, MEAG Power has been offered a conditional commitment of $1.8 billion in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy. The Obama administration has offered the project a total of $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees.

Predictably, nine environmental groups immediately said they would challenge the license in federal court, alleging that the NRC is violating federal law by issuing the license without fully considering the lessons of the Fukushima accident. They plan to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to order the commission to prepare a new environmental impact statement for the reactors. The Union of Concerned Scientists, perhaps the leading anti nuclear group that somehow says with a straight face it wants to improve nuclear safety not end nuclear power, very predictably sided with Jaczko.

“The project is on track, and our targets related to cost and schedule are achievable,” said CEO Thomas Fanning. Fanning noted, “There will be issues (from the Fukushima review) that apply to the U.S. nuclear fleet, but they apply much more closely to the current fleet, not this newest generation of nuclear technology.”.

The Obama administration has claimed that it supports nuclear power. Moving past the knee jerk opposition of the environmental lobby with the issuance of this license is the first clear indication that it intends to back up those words with concrete action. Hopefully the NRC has set the United States on the opposite path of the war on coal agenda of the administration’s EPA.

“This is a historic day,” the Nuclear Energy Institute said in a statement. “Today’s licensing action sounds a clarion call to the world that the United States recognizes the importance of expanding nuclear energy as a key component of a low-carbon energy future that is central to job creation, diversity of electricity supply and energy security.”

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has taken strong steps to improve safety at the 104 reactors in the U.S. In particular, better defenses against earthquakes, floods and fires are coming after Fukushima. Nuclear reactor structures are also designed to withstand a 9/11 style suicide large plane crash.

Part of Heartland’s resource portfolio is from the Cooper Nuclear Project located in Southern Nebraska.  We’re proud of public power’s role in this project and excited at the possibilities that this new license offers for reliable, clean energy.

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Deadline approaching for 2012 GOED award nominations

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

It is time to submit nominations for the 2012 Community of the Year and Excellence in Economic Development awards from the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

The Excellence in Economic Development award recognizes one South Dakotan who has committed his/her time and energy to making our state a better place to work and live. Nominees must be volunteers in the area of economic development.

The Community of the Year award is presented to one South Dakota community that has exhibited leadership in the area of economic development and recognizes achievement, innovation and growth resulting from community efforts. Recent winners include Heartland customer communities Arlington, Parker, Plankinton, Madison and Sioux Falls.

Residents and officials from Arlington accept the Community of the Year award from former South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds (far left) at the 2010 GOED Conference.

The awards will be presented by Governor Daugaard at the 2012 GOED Conference April 11-12 in Sioux Falls.

Heartland strongly encourages our South Dakota customers to take a moment to recognize their community and its members for their achievements in economic development by submitting one or both applications. Economic development is a crucial ingredient to a community’s vitality, and an award such as these can bring well-deserved recognition and pride to your city and its residents. Both award applications can be found below, as well as a tentative conference agenda.

Applications are due February 15. You may email completed applications to mary.leheckanelson@state.sd.us or mail them to the following address: Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Attn: Mary Lehecka Nelson, 711 E Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501-3369. You may also call (800) 872-6190 with questions.

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Energy Department “Flips the Switch” on savings

Posted on February 6, 2012 by

The U.S. Department of Energy ushered in a “new era for energy efficiency” when they flipped the switch on the National Mall recently in Washington, D.C.

Facing East toward the Capitol Building, LED lights line the interior paths of the National Mall. Photo courtesy Quentin Kruger and the Energy Department.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and other officials gathered for a lighting ceremony to commemorate the upgrade of 174 vintage Olmsted lamposts to include energy-efficient LED light bulbs.

“Investing in an American economy that is built to last includes taking advantage of all of America’s energy resources while working to improve efficiency,” said Chu. “Installing these energy efficient bulbs on the National Mall is an important demonstration of our commitment to partnering with the private sector to promote energy saving technologies.”

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, left, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, right, flip the switch to turn on new LED lighting on the National Mall. Photo courtesy Quentin Kruger and the Energy Department.

Close up of one of the 174 LED retrofitted lights. The original fixtures were installed in 1936. Photo courtesy Quentin Kruger and the Energy Department.

Officials predict a savings of 65% on electric bills and lowered maintenance costs for the National Parks Service thanks to the retrofitted bulbs, which are expected to last 25 years. The new lighting also provides a brighter and more secure park area, which welcomes 25 million annual visitors.

LED stands for light-emitting diode. The bulbs differ from other fixtures because they emit light — and heat — in a specific direction, using both light and energy more efficiently.

Courtesy Energy Star

The fixtures installed on the National Mall are the LED Retrofit Kit for Outdoor Area Lighting from Sylvania. These kits are suitable for college campuses, industrial parks, city street lighting, parking kits and many other outdoor lighting applications. Using only 55 watts of power, the bulbs are designed for maximum long-term performance, low cost operation and ease of installation without the need of replacing an entire fixture.

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APPA now offering online archives

Posted on February 3, 2012 by

The American Public Power Association (APPA) continues to make upgrades to their website, publicpower.org. Users can now access historical issues of Public Power magazine, Public Power Daily and Public Power Weekly newsletters and APPA board meeting minutes dating back to 1940 thanks to the site’s new archives feature. Access is limited to APPA utility members such as Heartland customers.

In order to view archived issues, you must first visit the Media/Publications pages of the site and select the publication you want to search. For example, the landing page for Public Power magazine contains blurbs from the current issue on the left and a link to the archives on the right, as shown below.

Once you have reached the archives, you can select any recent issues or browse by year, decade or month.

The documents located within the archives are also fully text-searchable, meaning you can locate items using key words. You can do this from any page on the APPA site by using the search engine located in the upper right portion of the pages. For example, try searching “Keep America Beautiful.”

“Keep America Beautiful” refers to the 1960′s campaign launched by Lady Bird Johnson, wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, which drove strong public support for putting more power lines underground. The archives produce 164 search results for that campaign, many of which are issues of Public Power magazine, some dating back to the 1960′s.

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An Energy Policy That Congress Should Pass

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

In his State of the Union address, President Obama asked the Congress to pass an energy efficiency bill that will help manufacturers eliminate waste and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings. He promised energy savings of $100 billion over the next decade, with less pollution, more manufacturing, and more jobs – with the right legislation.

What energy policy steps could deliver all of these benefits, and maybe more?

Tax credits to encourage energy efficiency programs are a key stimulant to action. However, there are more lasting initiatives the federal government can implement that would encourage the private sector to fund these energy efficiency programs without asking for help from taxpayers and saddling consumers with high energy costs.

Below are four steps that could to be taken to fulfill the goals listed in the State of the Union address.

  1. The federal government is the largest energy consumer in the country. It has taken some important steps toward energy efficiency, including the recently announced Better Buildings Challenge. But the biggest change the federal government could bring would be to apply the same principles to energy efficiency that helps to educate consumers on the food they eat and the products they purchase. A Federal mandate that all commercial buildings in the U.S. should be ‘labeled’ to reveal their energy efficiency would dramatically focus attention on how energy is used. This would provide the business community with a sharp focus on the dollars being wasted by how they use energy. That is why the LEED Platinum designation for our Headquarters was so important to Heartland.

    In the same way that a consumer reads the nutrition information on packaged food, building energy labeling would give businesses clear information about the efficiencies of the buildings they select to occupy, the factories they operate and the stores they own. This information would permit tenants to make informed decisions about where to rent, create competition in the building management community to use energy efficiency as a selling point, and drive public pressure to bring low efficiency buildings up to a higher standard. The private sector could develop the measurement and verification standards, but the federal government can move this forward with a building energy labeling mandate based on these standards.

    2.  As the president discussed in his State of the Union, there are trillions of dollars of profits earned by U.S. businesses locked up in foreign countries. Repatriating those dollars would have a major positive impact on our economy, but the debate over how to do that effectively has gone on and on for years with no action. Why not allow businesses to repatriate dollars with zero tax impact, if those dollars are used for energy efficiency investments here at home?

    If energy efficiency is indeed a national priority, as the President suggested, then let’s use dollars which are not serving U.S. interests while locked up overseas to drive this national priority here at home. This could bring billions of dollars back home. – ensuring that those dollars go immediately into programs that help businesses and consumers save energy, and potentially create thousands of new jobs. This simple step would have an immediate impact on the U.S. economy, energy efficiency and move us toward real energy independence.

    3. The Senate and the House should pass the energy efficiency bills being advanced with bipartisan sponsors. These initiatives would strengthen building codes, provide financing options for manufacturers, and require the federal government to improve its own energy management.

    4. There are initiatives the Administration can take that will have a major positive impact on new jobs and energy efficiency that don’t require Congressional action. The Department of Energy should sponsor a new training and awareness program for states and cities on the topic of performance contracting. Performance contracting is the cornerstone of the federal government’s Better Buildings Challenge, upgrading buildings and making them more energy efficient at no cost to taxpayers. Some states and cities have leveraged performance contracting as well, but education and adoption at the state and local level is currently very slow.

These four steps – three that require Congressional action and one that the Administration can implement – would jump-start the U.S. economy with potentially tens of thousands of new jobs, millions of dollars in energy savings that can be used for economic development, and dramatic reductions in pollution and real energy independence. And it can be done without heavy handed, expensive regulations demanding compliance in unrealistic time frames using technology that is not currently available.

There’s a clear case to be made for developing and implementing energy management programs. We’ve seen our energy consumption drop by 50% since occupying our new LEED Platinum headquarters. This building is one-third larger than the one we left behind.

If the Congress, the Administration and the private sector will work together to make it happen, it most assuredly will happen.

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Upcoming webinar: Electric Utility 101, Generation

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

Register now for upcoming webinar Electric Utility 101: Generation, taking place Tuesday, January 31 from 1:00-2:30 pm (Central Standard Time).  Aimed at public power policy makers and non-technical management, the webinar* will focus on the production of energy.

Webinar Description

Electric Utility 101: Generation
Power supply and delivery are highly technical, complex and interrelated issues. Historically the generation sector was made up of traditional production facilities such as coal, nuclear, hydro, gas and oil. Today, generation is more diverse and includes not only traditional fuel sources but also a wide range of renewable generation, such as wind and solar.  In addition, integrated resource planning and demand-side programs also impact supply-side options.

This webinar focuses on the first step in the complex power supply chain, the production of electric energy. The webinar will also present an overview of the major types of generation characteristics when supplying the daily load curves.

Speaker:
Wallace Barron, President, Barron & Associates, Inc.

Who Should Attend:

  • Utility personnel interested in an overview of the electric industry, specifically generation issues
  • Non-technical utility personnel
  • Public power policy makers and elected officials
  • New employees at public power utilities

The webinar is being offered by the American Public Power Association (APPA). Cost is $89 for APPA members and $179 for nonmembers. Click here to register, or visit www.publicpower.org/events for more information.

*Please note, this webinar is NOT part of the governing board web series, also currently being offered by APPA.
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