By Bonnie Biocchi, Executive Director

Spring appears to finally be arriving and it is great to see things bursting into bloom. It’s kind of like that here at NEPPA too! So, what’s new at NEPPA?

Let’s start with our new website. If you haven’t logged on for a while, I encourage you to check out our new site at www.neppa.org.   As you will see, the website is jam-packed with useful information and is now more closely integrated with our database. This gives us many new capabilities for member outreach, information communication and tracking and offers the ability to register and pay on-line. NEPPA.org includes a unique ID for each member. If you haven’t received yours (or can’t locate it) please reach out to Wendy or Jackie so that you can update your information, add logos and job postings for your utility and explore many other features.  Here’s a quick user guide to help you get started.

Another new opportunity at NEPPA is our new Supervisory Skills Program. We are partnering with the leadership development experts at Dale Carnegie to deliver the skills you will need to supervise and manage in today’s ever-changing workplace.  This 4 (½) day virtual program will be held in June and is designed to explore a leader’s self-awareness and communication style, address delegation, provide guidance for problem analysis and decision making and offer techniques for performance coaching.

In April, we conducted our Introduction to Electrical Hazards & Safety Training program which was very well received. If you missed this – don’t worry! Plans are underway to offer it again in the fall.

To better inform our programming and provide useful tools for our members, we have begun a serious of short surveys to solicit your opinions and feedback. You may have seen our Annual Conference quick pulse survey or received our Underground survey. Please respond to these as your opinion will be valuable we move into the post-pandemic phase of training and events.

We are also conducting a broader membership survey to benchmark and guide the execution of our Strategic Plan. We’ve partnered with GreatBlue Research to conduct an extensive membership awareness and satisfaction survey. While not every member will receive this survey, if you do, please take the time to respond and give us your honest feedback. We want to be responsive to your needs!

Over the summer, I will begin my annual member visits. I am very much looking forward to seeing you in person again! Until then, I am wishing you continued good health and safety.

Join us on Wednesday, May 26^th for our inaugural Climate Initiatives Roundtable being held either in-person at NEPPA’s Training Center (200 New Estate Road, Littleton, MA 01460) or virtually via Zoom.

NEPPA has partnered with Dale Carnegie Training to bring their high caliber supervisory and leadership training in-house for the Supervisory Skills Program. This program is designed to equip existing and emerging leaders with the tangible skills to better manage themselves, their teams, and their organization.

8:30 am (EST)

**NEW DATE & LOCATION**

8:30 am (EST)

8:30 am (EST)

8:30 am (EST)

*Please contact communications@neppa.org to be notified as soon as registration opens.

Tax & Finance: FY22 “Skinny Budget” Released; Committees Begin Hearings; Sen. Wyden Unveils Clean Energy Tax Overhaul…

Cybersecurity: Government Agencies Release Reports on Cybersecurity Threats; Biden Administration Announces 100-Day Cybersecurity Sprint…

Transition: Senate Confirms Trottenberg, Mallory, and McCabe…

Cyber attacks are certainly on the rise in every industry and public power is no exception. The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack is the latest in a string of escalating attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure and the company has temporarily halted all pipeline operations as it assesses next steps. For an excellent recap of the situation, read the recent APPA article about the attack.  

A big thank you to Katherine Manson, MA Division of Industrial Accidents, and Dave Ketchen, Assistant GM for Littleton Electric Light and Water for leading our GM Roundtable on April 29^th. The session focused on how to apply for a workplace safety grant which can be used for safety training. The maximum grant amount is $25,000 which could be used to access a wide variety of NEPPA training. If you were unable to attend the session but would like to learn more, let us know if you would like access to the zoom meeting.

On April 21, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Clean Energy for America Act. It would convert the existing technology specific energy tax credits into a “tech-neutral” approach under which project developers can elect to receive an investment tax credit (ITC) or production tax credit (PTC). Public power utilities and other tax-exempt entities would not qualify for these tax credits but would be able to issue taxable direct payment Clean Energy Bonds (CEB). Specifically, issuers would receive a tax credit of up to 70 percent of the interest paid on a CEB.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

If you have any interest in advertising in the Directory, you can view the advertising options and sign-up online through WWW.EMCONSULTINGINC.COM/ADRESERVATION/NEPPA