Public Power - June 2008 - (Page 38)

The Little Utility That Could had no redundancy in our system.” One of the most important keys to success, according to Benedict, is good personnel. “The general manager was able to attract a lot of good people,” he said. Second, he said, has been establishing an excellent board. “The board is composed of people who are, on the one hand, forward-thinking, but on the other hand, appropriately conservative,” said Benedict. “The board has also always been very stable.” Most of those who sit on the seven-member board have done so for over five years. In fact, the former chairman, who recently passed away, had been on the board since the 1940s, said Benedict. According to Benedict, building on an excellent community relations presence is paramount. For instance, ED-3 runs a safety program in local schools and works ED-3’s biggest challenge has been to become a self-sufficient utility, said Dan Thelander, chairman of the utility’s board. Photo by Katie Benedict 15,000 ATTENDEES • 400 EXHIBITORS • 200 SPEAKERS Exhibits, Workshops, Tours, New Products, Special Evening Events, Leading Experts, Latest Policy and Market Developments, and lots of Fun! Presented by: GigaWatt Sponsors: TeraWatt Sponsor: R E GISTE R O N L IN E T ODAY ! with local hardware stores to provide customers with rebates for the purchase of compact fluorescent bulbs. “We are also succeeding in keeping our rates reasonable, if not low,” he said. Nevertheless, Benedict admits he spends a lot of time thinking about the next important project. A recent slowdown in homebuilding has given ED-3 some time to look at a couple of major projects: one, to continue to get the rights-of-way and easements for new 69-kV lines and some new substations; the other, a new power plant. “We continue to look for ways to improve reliability,” said Benedict. “In our old system, most of the lines were radial—one line out to where the customer is. If there was a problem with the line, everyone was out.” ED-3 continues to add loops to the system, so it can feed back from other sources. ED-3 also works with Salt River Project in Phoenix for access to a large transmission line SRP is building through the Maricopa area. For generation, ED-3 is working with a group of 30 public power utilities and other entities in Arizona that is exploring the possibility of building a natural gas-powered generation plant. “We hope to have this started in the next year or so,” he said. While ED-3 could have immediately hired a slew of high-experienced technical professionals, the board instead chose to work with consultants to transition. “We were able to find some PUBLIC POWER 38 JUNE 2008 http://www.solarpowerconference.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - June 2008

Public Power - June 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Finding Common Ground on Climate Change Solutions A Patchwork Approach to Renewable Energy Whose Grid Is It Anyway? The Little Utility That Could Benchmarking Customer Service Can Prairie Hay Power Your Town? Storming the Control Room Investing in the Smart Grid Coming of Age: Superconducting Cables Community Broadband Economic Development Customer Service Human Resources For Governing Boards Safety Parting Shot

Public Power - June 2008

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