EnergyBiz - November/December 2007 - (Page 42)

» GuIDe&souRCeBook This level of engagement with these departments, as well as the sense of having a stake in the game, allows the engineering group not only to focus on solutions to current problems, but also to proactively seek methods to prevent issues from occurring in the first place. A knowledgeable, trained workforce with effective programs and procedures can fail when people don’t follow the rules. At Shawnee, we use technology and human interaction together to achieve our goals. When procedures and programs are created, there is a high level of expectation that employees adhere to them. If something isn’t working, we encourage a questioning attitude that allows employees to lobby to change things. Giving employees the opportunity to create programs and procedures helps create buy-in. Even more importantly, employees know they are accountable for following the rules until they are changed. Maintenance planning at Shawnee is optimized by including all interested parties – maintenance, operations, and engineering – in prioritizing work and reviewing work orders. We work hard to ensure that we are all working on the right things at the right time. This high level of integration between the teams also allows for better collaboration, and it gets them thinking in big-picture terms, like “How does this affect the unit or plant in the long run?” Extensive communication among workers is a linchpin of our success. Some additional success factors include expecting the unexpected, having the right partners, repair and maintenance, management by example and investing in the workforce. exPeCtInG the unexPeCteD The best-laid plans, as they say, can come crashing down when the unexpected occurs. But even an unexpected setback can be mitigated through sufficient planning. Shawnee employees know the importance of pre-job planning, and it is a way of life for all of us. This includes pre-job briefings, generation sensitive activity recognition and a close focus on the use of human performance tools/error prevention. The critical path of a job doesn’t stop with the planning. Mitigating risk requires a vigilant watch over the work as it is being carried out. Employees are expected to stop work if something isn’t right and go back and put their heads together to get the job done right. A part of what our success hinges on happens outside the plant. Shawnee employees work to develop relationships with groups including other business units inside TVA, vendors, contractors and industry experts to make them a “part” of the Shawnee team. This helps build accountability for success and enables the outside groups to help Shawnee fulfill its goals. Shawnee operations, maintenance, outage and engineering employees work well with all other departments in achieving plant goals and keeping each other informed on system problems as well as providing support where needed. Shawnee’s philosophy is whoever is working on a project is part of the Shawnee team. The material condition of the plant is a priority from turbine blades to light bulbs. Making sure that all parts of the plant are repaired and maintained has contributed (GENEraTION TEchNOlOGIES) greatly to the success of the plant. Employees know that management is serious about the plant and its performance, and they emulate the same attitude of striving for perfection. Just as important is the fact that we use our funding in the right places and spend the money wisely. Even though funding in a 50-plus year old plant is a challenge, we strive to meet the challenge every day. Shawnee management expects total teamwork from its employees; thus, management exhibits that value. The management team sets the example, which has become the culture of the plant. Managers and employees are put in positions to succeed. Shawnee management has many years of experience, and with experience comes credibility. With credibility comes trust, and with this trust comes a high level of success. We ask a lot of our employees, so management works hard to make sure that employees have what they need to be successful. The emphasis and training in human performance, safety and leadership growth has dramatically reduced human performance errors and elevated potential leaders at Shawnee. outAGe PLAnnInG AnD ImPLementAtIon Perhaps the most important thing to keeping a unit online is making the most of a planned outage. At a 10-unit plant, planned outages are frequent. We continually strive to improve our outage planning and implementation to ensure we are addressing all the issues. We plan our outages well in advance in accordance with numerous outage-planning milestones. Our outage meetings are a priority, and we make them meaningful by openly discussing issues and providing each other valuable feedback and presenting best practices to achieve success. Outages in recent years have been successfully implemented, which is evident by the long runs we have been able to accomplish. At Shawnee we are continually mindful to involve our employees in our decision making at all levels. We strive to involve employees in our safety initiatives, campaigns to raise money for charitable agencies and other community efforts. This enables us to make better-informed decisions and improves morale. FoCus on the FutuRe We are proud of our records at Shawnee, and those are some of the steps we’ve taken to help us achieve our goals. But make no mistake: We are constantly looking for ways to improve and to move beyond our current successes and on to the next level. Our mindset of continuous improvement won’t let us sit back on our laurels and continue with the status quo. We focus on the future. Our continued questioning attitude and drive to be the best will keep Shawnee a viable, important asset for TVA now and for years to come. We like to say it takes “people, processes and passion to be successful,” and without the people none of our success would have been possible – both today’s people and those from many years past who laid the groundwork through decisions and examples to help be us be where we are today. Jeff Parsley is plant manager of TVA’s Shawnee fossil plant. 42 E n E rgyB i z November/December 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EnergyBiz - November/December 2007

EnergyBiz - November/December 2007 Contents Continental Grid Vision Needed Readers’ Views and Opinions Next for National Grid Clearing the Air The Need for Nuclear Energy Trade Status Report The Innovators California On The Leading Edge FERC Sparks Change Getting Coal Right Leadership in Times of Turmoil Innovation Delivers Return A Tale of Two IPOs LNGs Bright Prospects Generation Techologies The Age of Superconductors Leaders with Vision Get Ready for Plug-in Hybrids Betting on Batteries Cost of Decarbonizing Nuclear Helmsman – A chat with Dale Klein, Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Global Energy Snapshot; Low-Income Energy Help; IT Spending Robust; The Greening of State Regulators; Generating Support Simplifying Offshore Wind Regs Chasing Construction Costs Energy Agency Sets New Course Deregulation Means Higher Rates Go-To Staffer Nightmare in Manhatten

EnergyBiz - November/December 2007

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