public power magazine - march/april 2015

Public Power on the Hill page 14

wHy energy Storage is Such a big Deal page 20

AmericAn Public Power AssociAtion • mArcH/APril 2015

Make Solar work for you

page 26

We Want You to Be a Lineworker

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PublicPower.org / @PublicPowerOrg 3

WebPublicPower.org

TWiTTer & iNSTAGrAM@PublicPowerOrg

FAcebOOk facebook.com/americanpublicpower

eDiTOriAL TeAMJoe NipperSenior Vice PresidentRegulatory Affairs and Communications

Meena DayakVice PresidentIntegrated Media & Communications

Paul CiampoliNews Director

Jeannine AndersonNews Editor

Laura D’AlessandroIntegrated Media & Communications Editor

Robert ThomasArt Director

INQUIRIES

[email protected] 202-467-2900

SubScriPTiONS [email protected] 202-467-2900

[email protected]

Advertising for APPA publications is managed by Naylor, LLC.

Public Power (ISSN 0033-3654) is published six times a year by the American Public Power Association, 2451 Crystal Drive, Suite 1000, Arlington, VA 22202-4804. ©Copyright, 2015, American Public Power Association. Opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily policies of the association. Periodical postage paid in Arlington, Va., and additional mailing offices.

For permission to reprint articles, email [email protected].

COLUMNS

4 Public Power Lines

34 Washington Report

35 Engineering

36 Security

37 Innovation

38 Hometown Connections

40 100 Years of Pride in Public Power

6 We Want You to Be a LineworkerStill a viable career, a new era of electrical

work is luring the next generation of

professionals.

14 Public Power on the HillElected representatives don’t have much time

to spare; read how to make the most of a Hill

visit.

20 Why Is Energy Storage Suddenly Such a Big Deal?Batteries are leading the way in a new wave

of energy storage technologies and utilities

are ready to give the field the jolt it needs.

26 Make Solar Work for YouCustomers want solar and no matter how

they access it, they will turn to their utility

for help.

FEATURES

CONT ENT S

Cover illustration by Scott Mattern

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Lineworkers: The Public Power Cover StoryBy Sue Kelly • President & CEO, American Public Power Association

PuBLIC POwER LINES

@CEOPublicPower • blog.publicpower.org

4 Public Power / March-April 2015

Time magazine recognized “The Ebola Fighters” as its 2014 Person of the Year — “for being willing to stand and fight so the rest of the world could sleep at night; for tireless acts of courage and mercy…; for risking, for persisting, for sacrificing and saving,” as described by Nancy Gibbs in a December 2014 article.

Business and citizen associations and other volunteer organizations in every community organize events to honor their first responders. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the firefighters and police officers who saved lives were rightly honored as heroes.

The healthcare and aid workers who fought Ebola and the first re-sponders who save lives every day — all at tremendous risk to them-selves — are richly deserving of our gratitude and appreciation. But so are the electric utility lineworkers who often work in the most hazardous conditions to ensure that the lights stay on and that our lives are safe and comfortable.

Public power lineworkers in particular distinguish themselves with the deepest commitment to the communities they live and work in. Their story is the story of public power.

But lineworkers may never make it to the cover of Time. Or be the subject of a Hollywood blockbuster. Or, on a more modest scale, even be recognized by their local newspapers — or have customers and neighbors stop to thank them for all they do.

If lineworkers are not celebrated as the heroes they are, perhaps we — the utilities that employ them and associations that represent them — need to do more to tell their stories of courage and commitment.

I’m glad that many public power utilities organize a Lineworker Ap-preciation Day. It’s wonderful that we actually have an International Line-man Museum and Hall of Fame, in Shelby, North Carolina. And I have to give a shout-out to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which has a magnificent bronze statue of a lineworker in its lobby.

The article “We Want You to Be a Lineworker” in this issue of Public Power magazine (see page 6) describes the skills of lineworkers and empha-sizes a focus on safety. The American Public Power Association’s annual Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo, which the Sacramento Municipal Utility District will host in May, is in its 15th year. The rodeo allows lineworkers from across the country to showcase their skills in a safe environment and engage in friendly competition.

Public power needs to emphasize the skills and strengths of our lineworkers. We need to tell their story, and recruit new hires reflective of their communities to step into the shoes of those line-workers who will soon be retiring. We have a more important, and unique, story to tell about public power lineworkers. It’s the story of their inherent values and commitment to the community. In fact, the lineworkers’ values represent the essence of public power.

Public power lineworkers are typically part of the community they work in. They’ve often gone to school right in the community. They worship in the community, they coach baseball, they shop at the local grocery store, and they attend the PTA and citizens’ association meet-

ings. Some even pass on the love for the profession down through the generations.

All of which means the lineworkers know the community better than Google Maps ever will — especially useful in case of outages — and care about the people in a way that no contract worker or outsider can.

Every public power utility should introduce their lineworker superhe-roes to customers. Tell their everyday stories of courage, hard work, and love for community in bill stuffers and newsletters; pitches to the local newspaper and TV station; and on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Doing so will make customers more aware of the benefits of being served by a public power utility.

In 2014, APPA introduced Captain Public Power, a comic-book-style, tongue-in-cheek mascot to help recognize and share the heroism of our lineworkers, and as proof that it does not take an expensive campaign or a Super Bowl commercial to make public power better known. It just takes telling our story, in creative and engaging ways.

And maybe one day, public power lineworkers will be a major cover story, and not just in Public Power magazine. n

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New Era of Electrical Work Lures Next Generation of Professionals

By Anthony J. Rivera


What it takesSeasoned professionals in the trade say linework attracts a special type of person with a unique mixture of character and values. It’s a combination of wanting to help others and a willingness to commit to the craft and more.

“Linework is a chess game,” said Max Fuent-es, line supervisor for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California. “You’re trying to see five, six steps ahead before you even make that first move. Because the one thing you don’t want in linework is unexpected events.”

Accidents on the job were once common and, as a result, lineworker labor came at great cost. These days, the trade is much safer thanks to con-stantly evolving safety best practices and proce-dures in coordination with regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Mike Hennesey, senior vice president of North-west Lineman College in Meridian, Idaho, said somewhere around 50 percent of lineworkers were killed on the job until sometime around the 1940s when safety standards began to improve.

“Safety is paramount,” Hyland said. “Safety is an especially important part of the public power culture. APPA’s Safety Manual, in its 15th edition, has been the go-to resource for public power utilities since 1955.” The association and its safe-ty manual review task force will begin updating

“Lineworkers risk

their lives on the

job every day, as

much as firefighters,

construction

workers or security

professionals,” said

Mike Hyland, senior

vice president of

engineering services

at the American

Public Power

Association. Hyland

also serves as chair of

the National Electric

Safety Code. “Public

power utilities and

national standard-

setting entities are

vested in protecting

lineworkers’ safety.”

MORE ONLINE: View this article on publicpower.org to watch a video interview with Westerville’s Cody Leitner, an apprentice lineman who won third place in the Alley Arm Insulator Change Out apprentice challenge at APPA’s Lineworkers Rodeo in 2014.

the manual in late 2015 to keep pace with recent OSHA changes.

all in the FamilyRegulations alone, however, haven’t made the profession safer over the decades. Many utilities say they foster a family-like atmosphere and a culture of safety. Without a doubt, this culture has made it a very safe trade. As they say in Westerville, Ohio, “I am my brother’s keeper.”

“Whether you’re in the bucket or on the pole, you got to watch out for each other,” said Bob Rumbaugh, manager of technical training at American Municipal Power in Columbus, Ohio.

It is clear lineworkers from coast to coast stress these same values. Their aim is not just to keep each other safe but to help each other be the best lineworker they can be.

Working with high-voltage electricity is a dangerous job.

“It has a certain characteristic with it,” said Luke Burgess, a 49-year-old crew supervisor at Santee Cooper’s Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, distribution area.

The men and women who build and maintain power lines throughout the United States sustain a way of life many Americans take for granted. It’s a unique job. Few professions are as underappreciated.

“Lineworkers risk their lives on the job every day, as much as firefighters, construction workers or security professionals,” said Mike Hyland, senior vice president of engineering services at the American Public Power Association. Hyland also serves as chair of the National Electric Safety Code. “Public power utilities and national standard-setting entities are vested in protecting lineworkers’ safety.”


“And that’s the good thing about being a line-worker or a line technician,” Burgess said. “You have a support system where people are always wanting you to strive to be your best.”

There is one distinctive — even iconic — part this job is known for: climbing electrical poles. For most, it’s a wake-up call about the physical burdens of the job. For some, taking up the skill of “climbing trees” comes naturally.

One of those naturals is Burgess. He said the skill came quite easily to him. He credits his background in heavy construction in West Vir-ginia’s coal mining country for the quick adapta-tion to linework. When it came to pole-climbing training, he said things just seemed to flow.

shiFting FocusAs national policy and politics shift focus to the power industry’s vulnerabilities and security, some utilities are pushed into a state of transition.

“We’re moving into, I believe, a new era as far as a new type of lineworker,” Burgess said. “Tech-nology is really taking over in the thing that we do everyday.”

The grid isn’t the only thing aging. The work-force among the utilities is aging as well. Many say the need to employ new workers has arrived. The question, they say, is whether enough people are being brought in.

“You’re seeing a lot of hiring throughout the nation right now,” Hennesey said.

Companies are casting a wider net than ever

SAFETY: In April 2014, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration updated safety guidelines that impact power generation transmission and distribution. The American Public Power Association is offering several safety courses at the upcoming Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo and Engineering and Operations Technical Conference in May in Sacramento, including a day-long seminar on the new OSHA regulations. For more information visit publicpower.org/EandO. Read more about safety on page 35.

before. While fewer women are seen in the trade than men, organizations are eager to bring on anyone who can meet the requirements of the trade.

“I know utilities right now would love to hire a lot more [women] and we average about one every other term at the campuses right now,” Hennesey said. “And they do very well in the industry. It would be nice to attract more people in the trade that’s for sure.”

all Walks oF liFeThose considering a career in the industry will find some of the lineworkers at municipal utilities have a range of experiences. Many find that public power utility life turns anyone into a

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jack-of-all-trades.Many lineworkers in the industry

share a particular set of characteristics. The pro-fession attracts those who seek a blue-collar job with an aspect of selflessness.

For some, the path to linework started when they were young. John McMillan, 51, is the elec-tric distribution manager for the city of Manassas, Virginia, whose son works in the public power business his father’s worked in for over 30 years.

Others, like Fuentes, say they had to begin from square one in their passage from apprentice to journeyman.

“I had no idea what linework was about,” said Fuentes.

Fuentes, 54, said he actually got his start after a friend offered to mentor him. In his spare time, the two of them practiced climbing, hanging cross arms and tying knots. Fuentes applied and then

passed the written and skills exams. Despite the extra practice, he said he

was lucky to be picked with the first group. From there, the career continued to open up for him.

“I was barely 30 years old and all of the sud-den I’m leading crews,” Fuentes said.

Even though he seemed to excel in it, he em-phasizes the path through the trade is challeng-ing and not for some.

“Working on wood poles, overcoming the fear of heights, being able to work in an elevated posi-tion for hours at a time in all kinds of different weather; that may be the toughest initial part of becoming a lineman”, Fuentes said. n

MORE ONLINE: View this article on publicpower.org to watch a video interview with Manassas’s John McMillan.

WOMEN IN LINEWORKRead more about the history of women in the field of linework at publicpower.org/womenlineworkers.

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Number of Lineworkers per 1,000 Customers:

Journeyman ......................0.806492

Apprentice ........................0.222189

Contracted ........................0.053414

Total Lineworkers ...............1.082095

Average Number of Lineworkers Per Square Mile:

Journeyman ..................... 0.433044

Apprentice ....................... 0.107796

Contracted ....................... 0.029042

Total Lineworkers .............. 0.569882Source: Data gathered from public power utilities through the American Public Power Association’s Distribution System Reliability Operations Survey. For more information, visit publicpower.org/reliability


Follow @PublicPowerOrg

and use #PublicPower to

join #Lineworkers online

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The Atmosphere

Sacramento Municipal utility District, California: “You’re engaged in fellowship with other people in the trade… the people that go there are conservative with good family values.”

Max Fuentes

American Municipal Power, Ohio: “You see a lot of camaraderie between the teams and the guys competing.”

Bob Rumbaugh

Santee Cooper, South Carolina: “The family doesn’t see what [lineworkers] do so they get to experience first hand… So you know they get to see sometimes it’s not an ordinary day at the office.”

Luke Burgess

The Competition

“You’re an athlete… You’ve got three sets of eyes watching you for the littlest mistake or misstep.”

Max Fuentes

“You have to practice it and you practice it many different ways to see what works best for yourself and your team to get this thing done the most expeditiously and the safest and within all the rules, too.”

Bob Rumbaugh

“It’s exciting because you got guys coming in there wanting to show you their skills.”

Luke Burgess

The American Public Power Association’s Lineworkers rodeo is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The Public Power Lineworkers rodeo is where public power lineworkers come together from all over the united States and u.S. territories to demonstrate their skill and knowledge in the craft of linework. For more information, visit publicpower.org/rodeo. Here’s what lineworkers rodeo pros are saying.

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Electric power is a heavily regulated indus-try. That means advocacy in Washington, D.C., is one of the most important priorities for public power’s national trade association. Relationships with lawmakers and regulators are vital for pub-lic power’s business.

Public power visits Capitol Hill en masse each spring for the American Public Power As-sociation’s Legislative Rally, but members make visits in small groups or individually throughout the year. When you make your visit, will you be

prepared? APPA is here to make sure you have all the tools you need.

The association’s 2015 advocacy work will focus on environmental regulations, grid reli-ability, grid security, financial tools, wholesale electricity markets, community broadband and the quadrennial energy review. But having a successful visit to the Hill means more than just being informed on these issues.

In-person visits from constituents are the most influential way to communicate with

members of Congress, according to a survey performed by the Congressional Management Foundation. Legislators also consider keeping in touch with constituents the most important part of their job, the foundation said.

But legislators and their aides are swamped with information. Representatives work an av-erage of 70 hours per week when the House is in session with about 13 meetings per day, the foundation’s survey found. Thus, interacting with legislators can be a challenge due to their

Public Power on the HillPublic power visits Capitol Hill en masse each spring for the American Public Power Association’s Legislative Rally, but members make visits in small groups or individually throughout the year. When you make your visit, will you be prepared?

By Amy Thomas

Be Prepared: Research the issues you want to cover and the member of Congress with whom you are meeting.

Top 5 Tips for an Effective Hill VisitLegislators and their aides handle many issue areas. They’re incredibly busy. You need to make a lasting impression in the short time you have their attention. Here’s the formula.

Bring it home: Make the connection between policy decisions on the Hill and your customers at home.

Make your voice stand out Tell compelling stories • Use expert knowledge • Bring a community perspective


hectic schedules. Making a lasting impression is key.

If even getting a meeting is a challenge, House schedulers told the Congressional Management Foundation that having a constituent in the group is the trick. Groups with constituents from a member’s district will take priority over any other type of request. But the group should be a manageable size, a chief of staff told the founda-tion, four at most. Rooms are small and it’s easier for fewer people to get the message across.

When conducting the meeting, a little eti-quette can go a long way. Be punctual to re-spect the legislator’s schedule and flexible as needed if his or her schedule changes. Make your discussion pointed, but avoid politics. Leave some information behind, like an APPA issue brief, to serve as a reminder. Find issue briefs at publicpower.org under Legislation.

Finally, be sure to follow up. Answer ques-tions if the office reaches out for information — it’s better to be reliable and trustworthy rather

than evasive or silent, the foundation said. And if the office does not reach out, reach out and follow up with the staffer you met with. Touch base if new information on important issues becomes available — such communication can go a long way in helping the legislator keep the issue front-of-mind. It is also helpful to copy APPA staff on these communications to help congressional staff make the connection be-tween constituents and the national group.

Be specific: Bring forth the top two or three issues that your customers are most concerned about rather than trying to discuss every issue you follow.

Follow up: Thank legislators and their aides for their time and offer yourself as a resource when they have questions; invite them to see what you’re working on the next time they visit home.

Grassroots: Empowering the peopleTrade associations like APPA are important, but ultimately legislators are motivated by people who vote for them. Constituents need to voice their opinions on policies.

Rally with @PublicPowerOrg for #PublicPower

at 2015 Legislative Rally March 9-11 in

washington

Keep it simple and relevant: Focus your discussion on the issues relevant to your interests; don’t waste time on tangential topics.


Policy Makers Council advocates on top priorities for public power

The American Public Power Association’s Policy Makers Council is a group of elected and appointed officials who gather to support public power’s priorities in Washington.

In addition to serving in their elected or appointed positions at home, PMC members serve public power on their own time and are not compensated. Chairman Bill Slaton, for example, is a board member at Sacramento Public Utility District. And when PMC members are here in D.C., they’re busy, Slaton said. At their summer fly-in last year, PMC members had more than 100 meetings on Capitol Hill.

PMC members also visit the Hill with other APPA members during the Legislative Rally in the spring. While visiting the nation’s capital, PMC members host receptions for members of Congress and their staff. When they’re not in D.C., PMC members join together virtually for monthly conference calls during their three-year terms.

While the PMC supports all of APPA’s priorities, members focus on select issues. In a recent interview, Chairman Slaton shared the group’s focus for 2015 as well as what he’s gained from his participation.

If you had to pick one, what is the PMC’s top priority for 2015?I would say it probably has to be the EPA [111d] regulations [for existing plants]. I think that has significant potential impact to our members — although the impact varies widely, depending on the individual utility’s portfolio — but everyone can agree we need to make sure we have flexibility in the solutions for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions, while making sure our customers are not overly burdened.

What other issues will the group be working on?Obviously cybersecurity — to make sure we get the right information when we need it, when it’s important, and not overly burden us with a structure that creates either delays or extra workload that don’t directly affect our ability to protect ourselves. It’s all about protecting ourselves. Tax-exempt financing, of course, as Congress moves toward potential tax reform. We know that is high on the list for folks who want to restructure our tax code. And lastly, the regional transmission organizations, or RTOs. I think our view as an organization is that we want to make sure that our participation makes business sense for us and that our customers are not burdened with cost without benefit. As always, the devil is in the details.

What benefits does the PMC provide to public power?The PMC doesn’t have different priorities than APPA, we’re just a more focused group and I think that’s really the benefit to public power. By gathering elected officials who really are the ultimate decision makers for these utilities all over the country, our ability to step into a Congressperson’s office and to be able to articulate what would best serve our constituents I think is powerful — we’re serving as they are serving. And it’s great to have staff there and it’s great to have general managers there and technical staff who really have the in-depth knowledge, but to hear it from us because we’re directly accountable to the voting citizens, is really powerful.

What are the benefits of being a part of the PMC?I’m on the board of SMUD, so we’re just intensely involved in the policy issues for SMUD all the time. And so to be able to step back from that and to be able to have those conversations with people who are in similar positions as I am in, and be able to talk about what they face with their customers and their stakeholders is just extremely valuable. That to me is the biggest value personally — to understand what other people are doing and getting ideas from them and taking them back to our utility.

We each set our own appointments. And really the one thing that’s particularly interesting is to be able to have the chance to go on visits to members of Congress where it’s not your territory. You get a chance to meet elected members who are from other parts of the country that you normally would never be in the room with. So you have a chance to see how other people are operating on the Hill and then of course the PMC gets very focused also on the regulatory side. We actually are able to — again, because we’re elected and appointed officials — have some appointments on the administration side that you wouldn’t normally get.

Would you recommend the experience to others?I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone who both is interested in broadening their horizons and willing to be an advocate. And plus we have a good time. It’s a small enough group, we know each other, we have fun together, we enjoy the time we spend with each other. It’s very focused. It’s a lot of work, there’s no question that when we’re there we’re working.

Q&A


EnErgy StoragE Is Suddenly Such a Big Deal By Elisa Wood

Why

By Elisa Wood

A wAve of energy storAge is coming,

with bAtteries leAding wAy. the

cell phone k ick-stArted the trend.

but now utilit ies, especiAlly public

power util it ies, seem About to give

it A reAl jolt.

Energy storage — the holy grail of electric power — has been too expensive or too location-specific for broad use. As a result, electric power has been mired in unfortunate use-it-or-lose-it economics. But lithium ion batteries promise to change all that.


Big Storage PlayAs prices drop, batteries look increasingly appealing for use on the grid.

“The utilities are riding that wave to use this technology in their own application,” said Haresh Kamath, program manager for energy storage and distributed generation at the Electric Power Research.

Late 2014 and early 2015 brought a wave of energy storage an-nouncements from investor-owned utilities.

Oncor floated the idea of bringing 5 GW of storage to the Texas grid. Southern California Edison secured 261 MW of energy storage. Exelon and Total made a $27 million equity invest-ment in a California storage company, Stem.

Big moves on the investor-owned side have created a great deal of hoopla. But in truth, public power compa-nies have been more quietly advancing battery storage for quite some time.

“Historically, the public power companies have been much more aggressive in researching and implement-ing these technologies than even some of the investor-owned utilities,” Kamath said.

Not hindered by lengthy rate cases, public power com-panies “are able to look at this investment from a purely technical and economic standpoint and say, ‘Yeah, this makes sense,’” he said.

Imperial Irrigation District, a municipal water and power utility in California, announced plans to install a $68.2 mil-lion battery to help integrate 50 MW of solar power. The utility agreed to have the battery installed by December 2016, as part of a settlement it reached with FERC over a blackout that left 5 million people without power in the Southwest in 2011.

IID was one of the several parties to reach similar settle-ments with FERC over the 2011 blackout.

As early as 2003 the Golden Valley Electric Association, a cooperative utility in Alaska, made the Guinness World Record with the world’s largest battery, a 27-MW nickel-cadmium installation that can provide power for 15 min-utes. In 2013 alone, the $35 million battery prevented 60 outages. The utility expects it to last 20 to 30 years.

It’s Not for EveryoneMeanwhile, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District has been conducting research and analysis into a wide range of energy storage technologies. The results underscore that no one size fits all when it comes to energy storage.

California is requiring that investor-owned utilities secure 1.3 GW of energy storage by 2020. After the study, SMUD decid-ed it would not join the program. Because the municipal util-

ity’s avoided costs are relatively low, many forms of energy storage remain too

expensive to justify, Li-ion batter-ies among them.

However, that is not to say the utility is forsaking energy storage — far from it.

“Even though we chose not to adopt the [California] en-ergy storage target at this time, we are still very en-gaged in energy storage, from the utility system level to the customer side,” said Mark Rawson, SMUD en-ergy research technology officer.

SMUD has a goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 90 percent by 2050. So re-newable energy develop-ment plays a large role in its portfolio planning. The utility needs energy storage to smooth the variability of wind and solar, he said.

To that end, SMUD is in-vestigating development of a 400-MW pumped stor-age facility, known as Iowa Hills, about three miles from Camino, California.

Thank you, cell phone. The little palm-of-our-hand device that transformed the way we communicate is inadvertently revolutionizing the power industry.

BATTERIESDemand for the batteries is driving

their advancement. Everyone

wants a cell phone that retains a

longer charge. Companies have

accelerated R&D, ramped up

manufacturing and driven down

prices. As a result, Li-ions also

are the choice among electric

vehicle manufacturers, which puts

further downward pressure on

prices. Tesla now makes a $274/

kwh battery and expects its mass

manufacturing to cut the price

another 30 percent to $196/kwh,

according to Lux Research.


What kinds of energy storage do you see emerging as most important for the North American grid?Corrigan: People have been using thermal storage, pumping storage for years. But for the kind of scale we envision for storage, it is going to have to be electron storage.

Pate: Batteries are the predominant electron-type storage and there is a lot of progress being made on batteries. Lithium-ion technology is getting a lot of focus right now.

I think you will have other types of storage evolve over the 25-year horizon. Energy-to-gas is an interesting technology, with hydrogen storage starting to gain ground in Europe. Hydrogen burns cleanly, and of the gases used for storage, probably has the highest energy content per unit of volume. And it can be used in fuel cells.

How quickly do you see advanced energy storage playing more than a pilot-project role?Corrigan: It is going to take somebody who believes in it and then demonstrates it to the rest of the market. I can envision a bandwagon effect because there is a pent-up need for storage.

This is an opportunity for public power utilities to build their brands. There is a real opportunity for the towns and cities to get out in front on this and offer perhaps aggregated renewable energy, perhaps aggregated PV, alongside storage — even perhaps helping consumers do it themselves.

Pate: In California and in areas where renew-ables are a focus, this energy storage topic is front-of-mind. I think in the next five years, you

will start to see more wide-scale commercial application.

What are the biggest obstacles to greater use of energy storage? Market, regulatory, technical?Corrigan: The predominant one now is the economics, getting costs down for bulk storage. Engineers are making rapid progress on that front.

Pate: Technology breakthroughs will enable the economics. We need to find the right busi-ness case to validate payback to remove the risk. In parallel with that, policy and regula-tions will evolve.

What is the importance of smart grid intelligence, sensors, metering in a system that includes energy storage. How do they enhance energy storage?Corrigan: The vision coming out of New York, California, is that renewable energy sources and storage finally enable the energy consumer to be a direct participant in the energy market. Ultimately financial markets and consumers need to have confidence in the technologies. So revenue-grade metering is critical for the financial markets.

Pate: When we talk about revenue grade, it means it has one percent or less error. If it’s not precise, it means lost money. n

Advances in Energy Storage

this is an opportunity

for public power

utilities to build their

brands. There is a real

opportunity for the towns

and cities to get out in

front on this and offer

perhaps aggregated

renewable energy,

perhaps aggregated

PV, alongside storage

— even perhaps

helping consumers do it

themselves.

Q&A

Advanced energy storage brings new complexity to energy markets, so it creates

need for better data. Hence, companies like Elster, which manufacture meters,

sensors and other measurement devices, are keeping a careful eye on this emerging

market. Here’s what we learned from Pat Corrigan, Elster’s vice president of

markets and channels, and Ron Pate, vice president of smart grid solutions.

Pat Corrigan Ron Pate


energy storage 101energy storage is not one technology, but many. Pumped storage has been a standby for years, but utilities need to have ample water resources to make it work. batteries are the new buzz; they are energy dense, scalable, portable, falling in price and can be installed just about anywhere.

Batteries

storage systems create ice at night (when

energy is cheaper) to cool buildings by

day.

Fly Wheels

A fly wheel uses high-speed rotation

to create energy, often using magnetic

bearings and vacuums. Fly wheel

companies have positioned themselves as

valuable providers of grid services. So far,

though, the technology has been slow to

take off in the u.S., hampered somewhat

when a pioneering company fell into

financial difficulty. n

Lithium batteries are the energy storage

up-and-comer. They are rechargeable

and used commonly in consumer

electronics. Dating back to 1991, these

solid-state batteries are known for

packing a lot of power into a small space.

Other solid-state batteries include the

ultracapacitor, also growing quickly for

grid use, and the older, more traditional

nickel cadmium.

Pumped Hydro-Power

Nearly a century old, pumped storage

uses fixed or variable pumps to create

a pool of water that can be released

quickly down into a turbine to create

electricity. The u.S. has 40 pumped

hydro stations that provide about 20

Gw.

Compressed Storage: Operating

somewhat like pumped storage,

compressed storage instead uses

air that is stored in an underground

cavern and then heated to create

pressure. Compressed storage can

be used to displace natural gas. It

has been used for several decades in

limited applications, but is gaining

new attention as a way to smooth

intermittent renewables.

Thermal Storage

using heat or cold to store energy,

thermal storage comes in many forms,

and tends to be useful in specific rather

than broad applications. There are

systems that rely on steady underground

temperatures and cement to store energy

for heating and cooling buildings. Solar

power plants sometimes use molten salts

to store heat that is later discharged. Ice

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The Snohomish County Public Utility District in Everett, Washington, is embark-ing on a new energy storage project, the first-ever built using the Modular Energy Storage Architecture. The PUD said its MESA project, located at a substation in Everett, aims to accelerate the growth of the energy storage industry, improve

Snohomish PUD and Washington Governor Announce Energy Storage ProjectBy Jeannine Anderson

PUMPED HYDRO-POWERWhile batteries are out for now, they are likely to be in SMUD’s future, as prices continue to fall, Rawson said. The utility has been involved in demonstration projects that use batteries, including a 34-home net zero development in midtown Sacramento. The project incorporates Li-ion batteries to store solar PV.

How soon will Li-ion come down in price enough to be cost-effective for SMUD? Rawson estimates it could be three to five years. Meanwhile, work needs to be done on making standard connections between components, a stumbling block right now for storage technology, Rawson said. SMUD is one of nine founding members of the Modular Energy Storage Alliance, which is working on standardization.

726400_IFD.indd 1 12/18/14 5:41 PM


reliability, and help utilities better inte-grate renewable energy sources.

The utility’s project will include two large-scale lithium-ion batteries at the Everett site, each rated at 1 average-megawatt. The first of these giant bat-teries — housed in a modified shipping container — has been installed, said PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos.

Later this year, a second project will be added that will use advanced vanadium flow battery technology. That system will be rated at 2.2 average-megawatts, he said.

The project, made possible in part by a $7.3 million investment from the Washington Clean Energy Fund, is the first of several MESA energy storage projects the Washington utility is pur-

suing this year. “The electrical grid needs to change

to take on more renewable power, and standards-based storage and software will play major roles in that change,” said PUD General Manager Steve Klein. “MESA provides standard interfaces to bring more choices for utilities, reduces projects’ complexity and promises to lower costs.”

1Energy Systems, the principal PUD partner in this effort, is the architect of the MESA software controls.

To support the Snohomish PUD project and the other Clean Energy Fund projects, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is working with partici-pants to develop use cases, or detailed

descriptions of the many ways en-ergy storage can increase renewable energy use and improve grid efficiency and resiliency. The PUD and the other utilities will consult these use cases as they implement and evaluate their projects.

“This project demonstrates how MESA technology standards, pio-neered in Washington, will accelerate global innovation in energy storage,” said Darcy Wheeles, program direc-tor of the MESA Standards Alliance. “Standards-based products make it easier and less expensive for utilities to control and optimize energy stor-age and integrate renewable power sources with the grid.” n

Read “Making Hay Even While the Sun Doesn’t Shine” on page 37

PH

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TES

y o

F S

No

Ho

MIS

H P

UB

LIC

UTI

LITy

DIS

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T


Making

Work for YouThe Best Business Models for Public Power

By Michele Suddleson

Solar


PurchaSing PowerPower purchase agreements are a utility-level solution to adding solar generation that can avoid the high upfront cost that the technol-ogy requires despite declining equipment prices.

Sterling Municipal Light Department in Sterling, Massachusetts, secured lower-than-market pricing on a power purchase agreement for solar energy that helped land it SEPA’s designation as No. 1 utility for solar integration on a watts-per-customer basis in 2013.

Sterling’s utility maintains a portfolio with 30 percent of its power from renewable sources on its own accord. Municipalities in Massachusetts are exempt from the state’s 400-MW solar carve-out, but those like Sterling choose to participate.

The utility leveraged relationships with large customers to create public-private partnerships so that it can participate in solar generation projects without owning them. As a municipality, the utility solicited bids and selected vendors who were required to pro-vide the lowest fixed purchase price-per-kWh for the solar power. While Sterling electric customers were guaranteed a low rate, project partners benefited, too. The municipality made the project easy to build for the private partners who took advantage of solar tax incentives and renewable energy credits.

owning Your PowerTax credits for renewable power project de-velopment are mechanisms that public power utilities, as tax-exempt entities, cannot take

THE DECLINING

COST OF SOLAR

Hardware

Customer Acquisition

Permitting, Inspection, Interconnection

Installation Labor

Other Soft Costs (Profit, Overhead)

2010 2013 2014 2015

$7.00

$6.00

$5.00

$4.00

$3.00

$2.00

$1.00

$0.00

$/w

att

dc

Fact: Customers

want solar. And no

matter how they

access it, they

will turn to their

utility for help. The

technology may not

be for everyone,

but utilities that

prepare proactively

can better respond

if customer interest

does arise.

The United States

added 4 gigawatts of

solar generation to

its grid in 2013. Public

power contributed

200 megawatts to

that total, bringing its

own solar generation

capacity quota to

900 MW.

As public power

utilities, working with

the community

we’re a part of is

our No. 1 priority.

Utilities are

uniquely positioned

to maximize the

customer benefits

of solar, and public

power utilities

in particular are

poised to support

innovation and

effective integration

through customer

relationships.

Public power

utilities are already

employing a variety

of business models

to facilitate solar

build-out. Some

models suit public

power better than

others, according to

research produced

by the American

Public Power

Association’s

Demonstration of

Energy & Efficiency

Developments

research and grants

program and the

Solar Electric Power

Association.

advantage of on their own. So while genera-tion projects offer economies of scale that can lead to cost savings for utility customers, they may be challenging for public power utilities. But in those challenges, public power finds creative opportunities.

Joining forces is one way public power has been making generation ownership more affordable since the 1950s. To finance a 3.54-MW solar facility in Napoleon, Ohio, Ameri-can Municipal Power, Inc., worked with three of its member communities and the Solar by Soldiers program and located the project on a brownfield site. Solar by Soldiers puts military veterans to work constructing renewable power projects.

AMP is a wholesale power supplier and service provider for 130 public power utilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Delaware and Indi-ana. Three Ohio members own the Napoleon project: Napoleon, St. Marys and Waynes-field. The project is connected to Napoleon’s electric system, which saves AMP money on transmission costs.

engaging the communitYWhile utilities who own solar generation can control transmission and interconnec-tion, managing customer-owned or cus-tomer–leased assets is a separate challenge, but one in which many options exist for engaging those customers. Utilities in mu-nicipalities may choose to employ financing mechanisms such as net metering or feed-in tariffs to make solar economically feasible for customers.


Gainesville Regional Utilities in Gaines-ville, Florida, began using a feed-in-tariff in 2009 with approval from its city commis-sion. The feed-in-tariff paid as much as 32 cents-per-kWh with a 20-year contract for solar systems constructed in 2009 and 2010. The utility recalculated rates in 2011 and or-ganized generation into three classes, prices for which ranged from 15 cents-per-kWh to 21 cents-per-kWh.

Residential solar installations are typi-cally small in comparison to utility-scale projects, so the utility capped capacity for the program at 4 MW per calendar year. The program was overly successful, receiving eight years’ worth of applications within its first few months of operation. In 2013 a total of nearly 4 MW was installed through the program.

Sharing aSSetSIt can be easier for utilities to manage one centrally located solar generation system rather than find ways to interconnect and integrate separate distributed installations, which is why community solar projects are an attractive alternative. Community solar projects, sometimes called solar gardens, involve customer ownership through shares of the project’s cost. Depending on the financing mechanism in place, a customer’s participation may mean an offset to their electric bills.

Community solar projects may be spon-sored by the utility, a group of consumers or a third party. Colorado Springs Utilities took the latter option when it added com-munity solar garden rules to its renewable energy standard in 2012. The utility offered a bill credit program for customers and the gardens are constructed and owned by the developer. The third party is also responsible for customer participation.

The Colorado Springs city council in

PURCHASED POWER

• All customers• With subscription

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UTILITY OWNERSHIP

• All customers• With subscription

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2013 extended the rebates for the commu-nity solar garden program’s initial run and directed the utility to roll its lessons learned into a new program. The utility launched a 2-MW program later that year with monthly bill credits for each rate class between .04 and .06 cents-per-kWh. Developers for the projects are chosen through a request for proposals process and customers can either purchase or lease a share of the garden. De-velopers receive payment from customers for their purchase or lease of the share and also receive payments based on the solar garden’s performance. n

©El

ster

201

4

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Vital connections to energize

your community.

When you’re fully connected, everyone benefits. And with vital connections from Elster you have everything you need to bring smart meter data to thepeople and processes that depend on it. The result?Happier customers, streamlined business processes,greater grid reliability, enhanced security and bettercommunications performance.

With end-to-end solutions from the meter to the AMInetwork, meter data management system andintegrated applications, Elster is helping public powerutilities everywhere unlock the value of their metermeter data. And with our incremental options formigrating from AMR to AMI, the move to a smartergrid has never been easier.

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CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

• Customer owned/Utility owned• Leased

COMMUNITY SOLAR

• Public power sponsored• Third party sponsored

FIND OUT MORE: Get more case studies and tips for bringing solar to your customers in Solar Engagement Options For Public Power, now available in APPA’s product store at publicpower.org/store

30 Public Power / March-April 2015729946_Orrick.indd 1 15/01/15 5:56 PM

Public power utilities may encounter solar not on their own accord but because of their customers — why are customers so interested in solar? Why should utilities follow their lead?

Solar has always appealed to a small group of customers who valued self-reliance or wanted to demonstrate environmental stewardship. As solar has become more affordable — the price of a solar PV panel has dropped by about 80 percent over the past 10 years — a growing segment of customers see solar as an economic choice. A 2013 survey by The Solar Foundation revealed that 74 percent of people who chose to invest in solar did so because they perceived that solar would save them money or that solar was competitive with utility rates. As the cost of solar continues to drop, more customers will seek out solar for economic reasons.

Since all utilities are different, the right model for solar can vary from place to place. Some business models are better than others — any favorites for small, locally owned utilities? What’s your advice for public power utilities approaching solar?

We believe that public power utilities across the country would be wise to look first at com-munity solar. It is proving to be a popular and successful way for non-profit, community-based utilities in particular — public power and electric co-ops — to actively engage customers in solar. A utility-managed community solar project allows the utility to provide customers a voluntary means to access solar. The utility can control the location and the size of the system to meet customer demand. One electric co-op CEO recently told me, “In my 35 years in the

Solar buSineSS modelS

Solar is a fast-rising area of interest for consumers and utilities alike with

burgeoning popularity and declining costs.

Julia Hamm is the president and CEo of the Solar Electric Power as-

sociation, a non-profit organization focused on helping utilities integrate

solar into their portfolio. Hamm recently answered some questions about

solar and public power utilities.

PublicPower.org / @PublicPowerOrg 31728495_Exceleron.indd 1 1/21/15 4:03 PM

utility business, I have never seen anything close to the positive reaction we received for launching our first community solar project.”

The impact of distributed generation on the utility business model is a big question facing the industry. Where do you see the utility business model in 5 years and 10 years and how is solar a part of that?

There is an undeniable trend to a more de-centralized grid, and solar is just one element driving this change. While baseload, central station power will continue to be the back-bone, the rise of distributed energy sources is going to command a lot of attention as it puts pressure on the utility to manage the grid dif-ferently. Utilities are the key to the successful integration of distributed energy, just as they are to serving new customer loads such as elec-tric vehicles. We believe that utilities can make the management of resources like solar, wind and energy storage a viable part of the business model of the utility in the very near future.

Solar is clearly all the rage right now. As a result, some folks have said it’s just a flash in the pan trend. What’s your take on that and how should utilities proceed?

It is always wise to be cautious about the ‘next big thing.’ In the case of solar, we do not see a retreat from the fundamental progress that has been made in reducing the cost of manufacturing a photovoltaic module from north of $5-a-watt to well less than $1-a-watt. The scale, sophistication and efficiency of manufacturing is well-established and mar-kets are expanding around the globe. Solar PV is a relatively simple, straightforward technology with very low operating costs and proven reliability. It cannot “do it all” as it is inherently a variable resource, limited by the availability of sunshine. Utilities are in the perfect position to capture the highest value of solar by integrating it with other resourc-es. At SEPA, our mission is to help utilities work through these changes and discover how solar can become a positive asset to the utility and its customers. n

“A utility-managed community solar project allows the utility to

provide customers a voluntary means to access solar. “

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Why Community Broadband Makes SenseBy Desmarie Waterhouse

WASHINGToN rEPorT

Cedar Falls Utilities provides electricity to approximately 18,000 customers in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The utility recently made national head-lines, thanks to a visit from President Obama who applauded the city for building its own broadband network two decades ago. And it’s no ordinary broadband network — it’s 100 times faster than the national average.

Cedar Falls is just one of our nation’s not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities that power homes, businesses and streets in nearly 2,000 towns and cities, serving 47 million Americans. More than 100 public power utilities (and this number is growing) provide some kind of advanced communication service — high-speed Inter-net access, cable television, local and long-distance telephone, and voice-over-Internet-protocol. Since 1996, the number of public power utilities providing or planning to provide communication services has increased ten-fold and continues to grow. A recent White House report highlights successful community broadband initiatives in the public power communities of Lafayette, Louisiana; Chattanooga, Ten-nessee; and Wilson, North Carolina.

Approximately 70 percent of public power utilities serve cities with less than 10,000 residents. Many of these utilities were established be-cause private utilities failed to provide affordable electricity to smaller communities. Today, these public power utilities are meeting the new needs in their communities by providing broadband services where no other providers will and by facilitating competition where service is inadequate or too expensive.

Now, as the President himself pointed out, community broadband may not be for everyone. However the success stories in Cedar Falls, Lafayette, Chattanooga, and Wilson point to the value of a communi-ty-owned model for Internet connectivity, a service that’s becoming as essential to our lives as electricity and water. It’s the model that public power electric utilities have followed for more than 100 years.

When a city or county decides to invest in municipal broadband, the public power business model offers three key advantages.

First, the fact that public power utilities are locally grown and locally owned means they are part of the community and understand its needs and challenges as no outside corporation can. As American Public Power Association President and CEO Sue Kelly said, “Our guys live in the same towns as their customers. They go to church with them. They go to Rotary with them. When we say it’s community power, we mean it.”

Second, public power utilities are owned by the community, not by shareholders. With no obligation to deliver a profit, they can keep costs affordable for customers, while providing reliable service.

Third, the ability to finance capital projects through the issuance of tax-exempt municipal bonds has allowed public power utilities to innovate and remain responsive to changing customer needs.

In 2015, Congress plans to examine and update federal communi-cations laws and to spur broadband deployment and adoption. APPA urges Congress to continue to recognize the important role that local governments, including those that own their electric utility, can play

in stimulating local economies and accelerating universal broadband deployment. As some state actions limit or prohibit public power utilities from providing advanced communications services, Congress must adopt legislation that affirms the right of units of local govern-ment to decide how best to serve their residents. n

From the White HouseAffordable, reliable access to high-speed broadband is criti-cal to u.S. economic growth and competitiveness. President Obama believes that there should be a level playing field for community-based solutions.

- Community-Based Broadband Solutions, released by the Executive Office of the President, January 2015

Read more at whitehouse.gov

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Brush Up on Best Practices Through Reliability TrainingBy Alex Hofmann

ENGINEErING

Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers show that utilities across the board are upping their game when it comes to safety. Nonfatal illnesses and injuries in the utility sector fell in 2013 from 2.8 to 2.1 incidents per 100 workers.

The American Public Power Association has seen the trend of declin-ing illness and injury, too, steadily for more than 20 years. Incidents are defined as injuries or illnesses arising out of and in the course of employ-ment, which results in death, days away from work, restricted work activity or medical treatment.

Safety standards are getting better. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers both produce standards that focus on the safety of electrical workers and the publics they serve. The standards are dynamic, meaning they are constantly reviewed and revised periodically to reflect changes in best practices and the deployment of new technology.

Building off evolving OSHA and IEEE standards such as the National Electrical Safety Code, APPA’s safety manual — established in 1955 and now in its fifteenth iteration — serves as the premier source for safety compliance information for all utility employees.

Among other events, APPA offers its Safety Awards of Excellence to honor utilities with low incident rates, which will be announced at the 2015 Engineering and Operations Technical Conference in May. The program began more than 50 years ago and has compiled a good amount of safety data allowing utilities to track their yearly performance as well as compare themselves to similarly sized utilities.

Utilities have been creating and improving upon a culture of safety for decades. National standards trickle down to utility-specific protocols. It’s a system that works, and the proof is in the numbers.

As advances continue in the field in areas such as fire-retardant clothing and lineworker fall prevention, we expect the numbers to improve too.

When you see your local utility personnel out in the field, be sure to thank them for con-tributing to a culture of safety that protects the community at-large. n

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Safety: A Top-Down ApproachBy Mike Hyland

Providing reliable service is one of the cornerstones of a public power utility’s business model. Utilities that participate in the American Public Power Association’s Reliable Public Power Provider program become bet-ter providers for their communities and receive recognition through their national trade association. The program itself helps utilities in the public power sector develop best practices and benchmarking for engineering and operations while providing an opportunity for designees to promote their utilities.

APPA is offering an RP3 webinar series beginning March 20 to walk members through the program’s requirements and grading process and provide an opportunity to answer questions about the applica-tion process. For more information and to register for the series, visit publicpower.org/RP3.

For a deeper dive, APPA is offering a two-day course on the pro-gram’s best practices at the annual Spring Education Institute in Colorado Springs. The course, scheduled for May 6 and 7, details the application process and reviews benchmarking data. To register, visit publicpower.org/SpringInstitute. n


The U.S. Department of Energy in January released guidelines to assess and manage cyberse-curity risk through a national cybersecurity framework set forth in 2014.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology released the voluntary Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity in February 2014 in response to an executive order on improving cybersecurity.

DOE worked with stakeholders through the electricity, oil and natural gas subsector coor-dinating councils to help make the framework relevant for energy sector owners and operators and tailored toward their needs to evaluate cybersecurity risks.

The guidance discusses in detail how DOE’s cybersecurity capabilities maturity models work within the framework while recognizing that industry players may be employing other practices that work well within the framework, too.

DOE encouraged utilities interested in establishing new risk management programs to contact the agency via email at [email protected] with questions or to request assistance. The agency’s guidelines and information on its maturity models are available on its website, www.energy.gov. n

DOE Provides Guidance for Cybersecurity Framework ImplementationBy Nathan Mitchell

SECUrITy

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City Utilities of Springfield in Missouri designed, built and com-missioned an energy storage proj-ect connecting four solar-powered homes. The project was carried out with significant funding from the American Public Power As-sociation’s Demonstration of En-ergy & Efficiency Developments program.

The project demonstrated the feasibility of small-scale, com-munity level energy storage and load management for sites with renewable generation or critical needs, including hospitals and first responders.

The Missouri University of Science and Technology is home to a village of four solar pow-ered houses built throughout a decade of university competitions under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon. The utility set out to integrate the four solar houses into a community energy storage system. The util-ity installed a system to support solar generation and allow for the monitored sharing of energy between the four houses while exporting excess energy to energy storage battery racks for use in load shedding, load shifting and temporary islanding.

Before the energy storage proj-ect, three of the solar houses had negligible lead acid battery stor-age and the fourth had no storage capabilities. The houses were built to connect to the grid but were not connected to each other and had little to no monitoring capabilities except for municipal metering. The combined solar energy output of the four houses was 23 kW.

City Utilities started with remedial actions to update and

Making Hay Even While the Sun Doesn’t ShinePROJECT DEMONSTRATES COMMUNICATION IS KEy IN ENERGy STORAGE SUCCESS

By Michele Suddleson

INNoVATIoN

ensure electrical code compliance of the solar systems in the four houses. All the lead acid bat-tery systems were removed and exchanged for fully grid-tied AC Fronius brand inverters designed for the size of the array for each house. All the physical solar installations and wiring were checked and remedied for com-pliance, and individual systems were commissioned to working levels.

The two A123 lithium ion battery racks — with 960 VDC nominal voltage, and roughly a 30 kWh storage — used in this project as the main source of storage capacity were donated to the university. The batteries were used for peak shedding, shift-ing through distributed storage, as well as forced and voluntary islanding.

The project demonstrated that communication between the generation, storage and load is key to success. Further, external communication to decision mak-ers through the use of an online real time energy portal is crucial. The switchgear, the Milbank Manufacturing Synaps6, is the brain and control method for the community energy project. Its monitoring and switching capabilities augment the flow of generation and load. For example, if the solar arrays are generating and the battery is depleted, the system will choose to charge, but if the battery is full, the switch can feed the grid. The Synaps6 also has a web portal for external communication, which hosts an up-to-the-minute graph of the energy sources, loads, and battery storage levels.

A few elements of the system had to be designed to interact

R

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with the donated batteries. This forced the system’s energy storage voltages to be at 960 VDC, which was considerably high for this level of residential storage. The project advisory board decided that a single-phase grid would be the most compatible for this level of work. The high voltage battery and single-phase setup made the design and procurement of the Bi-directional inverter challenging.

Rolla Municipal Utilities, the public power provider for the area, was involved with the project design since inception, and approved the final testing. This testing included both the anti-islanding test to ensure that if the grid was down the community energy storage project would not energize the grid, and the interconnec-tion test to ensure that the solar and battery systems were in working order and would not damage the municipal grid.

The project is fully installed and contin-ues to power the four homes from a solar-battery-grid combina-tion and will continue to make intelligent decisions based on economic, social, or municipal commands. This project has the capability to expand to include other sources of energy within the facility, including a combined heat and power natural gas- hydrogen fuel cell.

Members of APPA’s Demon-stration of Energy & Efficiency Developments program can access the full project report online at publicpower.org/DEED. n


Converting an entire streetlight system to LED fixtures is a once-in-a-career project. Whether a system has 300 fixtures or 3,000, full-scale conversion is a project that presents a unique set of challenges that will be under-taken in full view of the community. With the right leadership and technology, a successful LED conversion can deliver to the commu-nity substantial energy and cost savings, as well as significantly improved light quality.

After years of technological advance-ment, there are abundant LED roadway lighting choices that meet the two critical performance criteria when evaluating project feasibility: illumination and economics. In addition, state-of-the-art control systems enhance savings by enabling the remote ac-tivation and dimming of the streetlights and by automating the collection of maintenance data, eliminating the need for drive-by inspections.

But LED streetlight conversion proj-ects require more than just a one-for-one replacement of existing street lighting infrastructure. Audits, photometric analysis and system design are complex processes that require expertise. Fixture selection must extend beyond reduction of baseline energy usage to optimize service life and optical performance. Installation can be challeng-ing, as crews encounter unknown and un-predictable field and mounting conditions.

It may be unrealistic for the busy per-sonnel of small to mid-size public power electric departments to learn all there is to know to about important LED conversion issues. Manufacturers of LED streetlights and controls systems may offer to provide consult-ing services, but they require the purchase of their proprietary fixtures, and they provide no assistance in installing or integrating the fixtures

Tackling the LED Streetlight ChallengeBy Joe Walsh

HoMEToWN CoNNECTIoNS

and controls. To provide maximum flexibility to public

power systems, PowerSecure worked with the staff of Hometown Connections to design a unique LED streetlight conversion option that is non-proprietary and turnkey. PowerSecure International, Inc. is a leading provider of utility and energy technologies to electric utilities, and their industrial, institutional and commercial custom-ers. Hometown Connections is the utility services subsidiary of the American Public Power Association.

PowerSecure and Hometown Con-nections have launched a vendor-neutral program integrating engineering and design services with project construction and installation. PowerSecure will help APPA member utilities choose among the high quality products from the top manufacturers in the global LED market. Whether a utility purchases LED fixtures from PowerSecure or from another manufacturer, PowerSecure will provide full lifecycle turnkey services: design and engineering, construction, labor, commissioning, control systems, and opera-tions & maintenance services. There may be lease or finance options available that reduce the financial contribution from the city or electric department. n

Joe Walsh is Director of energy effi-ciency Services at PowerSecure, inc. in affiliation with Hometown connections, PowerSecure provides LeD outdoor lighting, distributed generation, and solar products and services to public power systems.

Turnkey LED Streetlight ConversionPowerSecure is providing a one-stop solution for

municipal utilities that may be financed through

energy savings.

• Provides a free, no obligation audit of

infrastructure and develops a preliminary

scope, cost and savings analysis.

• Serves as an independent solutions provider,

with a catalog of turnkey options such as

lamps, ballasts, and controls from all the

leading manufacturers to ensure public power

systems may access cutting-edge technology

with a strong record of performance.

• Conducts an in-depth analysis of photometrics,

run hours and dimming schedules.

• Works closely with all city departments to

ensure compliance, safety and affordability.

• Offers best of breed technology and warranties

from a preselected catalogue of fixture and

controls manufacturers.

• Installs and programs controls systems,

commissioned during installation, to ensure

optimal lighting and savings levels.

• Delivers utility-grade equipment and trained

personnel available only from a well-

established utility contractor.

• Provides O&M services, communication and

training to keep utility staff and end use

customers fully informed.

Six Questions to Ask Firstwhat is the right

product and

manufacturer for our

community?

how do we ensure

that the new roadway

light levels are safe for

travel?

how do we capture

the greatest total

savings?

what will the revenue

impact be and how do

we develop a plan to

reassess fees where

necessary?

do we have the right

resources available to

design and install a

project?

how do we evaluate

the project’s total

economic impact and

are finance options

available?

21 43 65


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AMERICAN PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION

National Conference & Public Power ExpoJune 5–10, 2015 | Minneapolis, Minn.

Connect to the FutureJoin us at public power’s most popular event and tune into the political, economic, and technological trends shaping the electric utility industry. Connect changes in the global and national energy landscape to your public power utility and prepare for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Connect with hundreds of public power leaders and policymakers from around the country. Connect with colleagues, partners and allies working to find solutions to the same critical issues YOU face.

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DenisonDenison, Iowa, sits between two rivers in the north-western quadrant of the Midwestern state. Electricity has been flowing in the town of less than 9,000 since 1894 but Denison Municipal Utilities was not incor-porated until 1914. Shortly thereafter the first power plant and related facilities were built. Since then, the utility has delivered electricity at low rates, even through severe flooding. Recently, Denison transi-tioned to an automated metering system and is in the process of replacing its streetlights with LEDs.

obStacleSDue to its location between the East Boyer and North Boyer rivers, Denison has suffered two severe floods. In 1990, both the utility’s 69-kilovolt substations were flooded, interrupting all electric services. Employ-ees worked tirelessly to bring the electricity back. Denison has mitigated the obstacle by installing levies surrounding critical infrastructure and relocating some major equipment.

continuing the FightDenison Municipal Utilities delivers some of the lowest electricity rates in the nation thanks to its Western Area Power Administration hydropower al-location and its participation in Missouri River Energy Services, the region’s joint action agency of which Denison was a founding member. Keeping rates low is what Denison strives for, because in public power, customers are a utility’s stakeholders.

Working cooperatively is not only something Deni-son applies with other utilities, but in its community as well. Operating a public power utility takes the cooperation and coordination of an entire community. Nothing gets done without working together. n- Mark Ramthun, General Manager

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Join the discussion. Be part of the solutions. What is driving our industry to improve performance? How do we, as an industry, make sure we are performing to our customers’ expectations? The 2015 Modern Solutions Power Systems Conference (MSPSC) explores how improving power system performance through technology, data, education, and more will benefit the customers of electric power, all the way to the end user.

MSPSC is one of the most compelling conferences for today’s power system professionals. By taking a comprehensive look at different viewpoints, technologies, and practices, the conference provides opportunities to discover interdisciplinary solutions to the important issues affecting utility and industrial power systems.

June 3–5, 2015The Drake Hotel, Chicago

2015 SESSIONS:

· Power System Performance: Delighting and Attracting Customers

· Using Technology to Improve Power System Resiliency and Performance

· The Capital Market’s View of Today’s Electric Industry

· Building High-Performance Talent in the Workplace

· Exploring the Role of Human Factors in Reducing Risk and Increasing Productivity

· Big Data to Better Decisions

· Mandating Performance: The Economics, Practicalities, and Outcomes of Regulating Complex Systems

· Inventing the Future of Electric Power Sector Performance

Learn more and register at www.selinc.com/mspsc-pp3.

Register by April 15, 2015, to save $250 on your registration.

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public power magazine - march/april 2015

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