by Scott M. Lindsay - Northwest Public Power Association

Training Opportunities
ENVIRONMENTAL TASK FORCE MEETING
Who Should Attend: Utility environmental professionals
(new and experienced), government agency
staff, vendors, and anyone who is tasked with or
interested in environmental issues, regulatory compliance
or mitigation, in the environmental arena
of electric utilities.
Overview: The long-standing Environmental Task
Force is open to all. This meeting occurs three
times each year to review and discuss new and
proposed regulations and issues facing each utility,
to discuss new methods and techniques, to hear
from subject matter experts on key issues of the
day, and to hear from selected vendors with new
technology or services. The meeting is typically followed
on the next day with training on an environmental
topic.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2009 — PORTLAND, ORE.
HAZWOPER 8-HOUR FIRST RESPONDER
AWARENESS/RECERTIFICATION TRAINING
FOR UTILITY PERSONNEL
Who Should Attend: First responders who are
likely to witness or discover a hazardous substance
release and need to initiate an emergency response
sequence by notifying the proper people. The first
responder shall have received at least eight hours
of training.
Overview: Refresh your knowledge and understanding
of the requirements for hazardous waste
operations and emergency response (HAZ-
WOPER), as required by 29 CFR 1910.120. This
course also helps to satisfy the annual HAZ-
WOPER training required for recertification. This
course is designed to train operations-level responders
to take defensive actions to a hazardous materials
spill.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2009 — PORTLAND, ORE.
NWPPA/NRECA STRATEGIC PLANNING, 2630.1
Who Should Attend: Cooperative board members.
Overview: Boards have ultimate responsibility for
ensuring and evaluating the long-term health of the
organization. They help fulfill this duty by identifying
goals through strategic planning and by authorizing
the appropriate allocation of resources
through the adoption of financial policies and by
budget review and approval.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2009 — SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
NWPPA/NRECA ENERGY EFFICIENCY,
CONSERVATION, AND DEMAND RESPONSE
IN TODAY’S ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
Who Should Attend: Cooperative board members.
Overview: The unprecedented growth in demand
for energy will have significant impact on consumers
and utilities everywhere as resources
become scarcer and prices move higher. This
course helps directors understand the basics of
energy-efficiency technologies and how they must
be integrated into the utility’s strategic plan and
coordinated with power suppliers. Special emphasis
will be placed on understanding the potential
impacts on utility revenues and expenses.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2009 — SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
FRONT LINE LEADERSHIP SESSION #5:
SUPERVISING UNION EMPLOYEES
Who Should Attend: Operation directors, managers,
line superintendents, labor relations professionals,
and human resource managers who supervise
union employees and deal with stewards and
officers of the union.
Overview: The MARC Union-Labor Relations
program increases the skills and confidence of
front line supervisors to serve as management’s
8 NWPPA Bulletin August 2009
front line representatives in dealing with employees,
stewards, and officers of the union. Union procedures
with proper documentation are consistently
followed in handling grievances, providing
job performance counseling, administering disciplinary
action, and making job promotion
decisions.
SEPTEMBER 22-24, 2009 — SPOKANE, WASH.
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY USING THE TLC
APPROACH
Who Should Attend: Communication, public information,
and public relations employees.
Overview: Join Dave LaBelle as he presents lessons
from his book, I Don’t Want to Know the
Technical Stuff…I Just Want to Shoot Pictures.
This veteran photographer and nationally known
instructor will teach his Timing, Light, and
Composition (TLC) approach to taking great photos.
Stick around for this optional session, which is
scheduled at the conclusion of the NWPPA
Northwest Innovations Conference.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009 — REDMOND, ORE.
WEBINAR: EFFECTIVELY RESPONDING TO,
AND MANAGING, THE EMERGENCY
(Presented as a four-part webinar series)
Who Should Attend: Operations managers and
supervisors.
Overview: Initiation of the emergency response;
the initial tasks of all senior managers or their
alternates; the task of all employees (safety and
assessment); board emergency procedures; emergency
coordinating committee; external coordination
of the media and the public; and standing
orders.
SEPTEMBER 30, OCTOBER 7, 14, AND 21, 2009 —
PRESENTED VIA WEBINAR AT 9:30 A.M. PACIFIC TIME
MONTANA ENGINEERING SECTION MEETING
Who Should Attend: Engineers and operations
managers from public electric utilities within
Montana.
Overview: Join your Montana engineering and
operations colleagues in a casual atmosphere to
discuss the issues and hot topics that are important
to you and your Montana customers. This longstanding
meeting is designed to offer learning and
networking opportunities for engineering and
operations personnel from electric utilities throughout
the membership within Montana.
OCTOBER 1-2, 2009 — WEST YELLOWSTONE, MONT.
ELECTRIC UTILITY SYSTEMS OPERATION
Who Should Attend: Employees in engineering,
legal, rates, purchasing, computer applications,
marketing, customer service, public relations,
inventory control, finance, accounting, safety, and
risk analysis, as well as those from generating
plants.
Overview: This popular two-day course presents a
clear understanding of the technical heartbeat of
the utility by providing employees with a comprehensive
understanding of electrical system operations
including fossil fuel; hydro and nuclear generation;
and transmission and distribution. In addition
to technical information, the course also covers
the economics of operation, system and equipment
protection, and safety. The course assumes
no electrical background and builds on the basics
to provide a comprehensive understanding of the
equipment and operation of the electrical system.
OCTOBER 6-7, 2009 — TACOMA, WASH.
WEBINAR: EMERGING MEDIA 101
Who Should Attend: Communication and marketing
staff, and any utility employee or policy maker
with an interest in electronic communication.
Overview: Twitter. Facebook. Blogs. RSS feeds.
Podcasts. The world of emerging media is changing
rapidly. You’re not alone if you have questions,
but your key audiences are counting on you to
start thinking about how to use these new technologies
to communicate. Through this webinar,
we will help your team understand these techniques
by defining the language and showing you
how other organizations in the utility sector are
dabbling in using emerging media techniques.
OCTOBER 8, 2009 — PRESENTED VIA WEBINAR AT
10 A.M. PACIFIC TIME
ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
Who Should Attend: Engineers, line workers, substation
workers, apprentices, and support staff
who have direct responsibility for the construction,
operation, and maintenance of a utility’s distribution
system.
Overview: This course provides in-depth coverage
of an electric utility’s distribution system, from the
distribution substation to a customer’s outlet.
Topics covered include substation transformers and
testing; step and touch potential; various systems
which customers may request such as single-phase
and three-phase power; details of overhead and
underground electrical systems; reliability; transformer
and capacitor details; and substation communications.
It is imperative that managers not
send people to this class who have not completed
the Electric Utility Systems Operation class.
OCTOBER 8-9, 2009 — TACOMA, WASH.
CHALLENGING FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Who Should Attend: Anyone who has completed
the first three modules of the NWPPA Utility
Accounting Certificate Program. Anyone with
extensive utility accounting experience.
Overview: This course is a computer-intensive class
that will teach you how key ratios are developed;
techniques for evaluating various financial reports;
components of cash flow; how to review your system’s
cash flow; and the determination of optimum
equity.
OCTOBER 13-14, 2009 — EUGENE, ORE.
INTERNAL CUSTOMERS — ACHIEVING
SUCCESS THROUGH COMMON GOALS
Who Should Attend: Anyone with an interest in
customer/member service skills or interoffice relationships.
Overview: The success of any organization rests on
individual employees and their commitment to
working together as a team to make the organization
the best it can be. How well employees work
together has a lot to do with their individual success,
the success of their fellow employees, the utility,
and their customers/members. This seminar is
intended to assist participants in improving the
communication skills between internal and external
employees as a means of enhancing their work
with others and their customers.
OCTOBER 14, 2009 — EUGENE, ORE.
UNBUNDLED COST OF SERVICE AND RATE
DESIGN
Who Should Attend: Any utility employee or policy
maker with an interest in ratemaking and/or
cost of service analysis.
Overview: The course provides an introduction to
utility ratemaking and the potential impact to utilities
in our restructured industry. Participants will