Public Power - September/October 2007 - (Page 27)

appears to be sufficient interest from the state’s utilities. “We thought a few would be willing to support the program,” said Roger Kueter, director of community college projects at UNI and a Cedar Falls Utilities trustee. But after a brief presentation about the program at an IAMU meeting earlier this year, Kueter asked how many thought their employees would be interested. “Twenty to 30 hands went up.” Worker retention—Most public power utilities try to hire and train people who live in their home territory. “It’s easier to retain people when they have a connection to the community,” said IAMU’s Haug. But that isn’t always enough. Spencerport’s Linder said he has seen more people going from municipal utilities to IOUs. “A journeyman or first-class lineworker is a hot commodity.” Spencerport closely monitors what investor-owned utilities pay, said Linder. “We are nearly in sync. We could still lose people, but the chances are less if the pay is appropriate for the skill levels.” His advice to other municipal utilities: “Do the best you can on benefits, pay and training. If you don’t, these people will travel.” While the benefit package—wages and fringe—isn’t “number one,” it must be competitive, said River Falls’s Beranek. And that can be an issue for municipal utilities. Austin Energy is tied to a citywide compensation plan, said the utility’s Alba. “If someone of- fers one of our employees a job and we want to make a counteroffer, it’s very difficult to get such an offer approved.” But there is a plus side, he said. It’s job security. “We rarely lay off people. We’re closing one of our power plants, but all the employees are guaranteed continued work with us.” NPPD’s Budlar admits that the utility has lost dozens of operators to other states. “But many of those who leave come back. “In some cases, the grass is not as green as they thought it would be. Long-term benefits are not necessarily better elsewhere.” California’s IID Energy has had similar experience. “We have lost people to Southern California Edison,” said Johnson. “But they’re local folks and they can end up being moved all over the state. Sometimes they come back.” The ties that bind—It’s essential that public utilities take the initiative, said Austin Energy’s Alba. “We need to go to Maintain Repair or Replace? The people at Osmose help you to optimize the lifecycles of T&D assets by connecting you with the data describing their location, condition and potential for continued use. Improved Pole Inspection and Utilization with StrengthCalc™, LoadCalc™ and FastGate® Viewer Pole Restoration with the C2-Truss™ to reduce replacement costs Accurate Network Data through Osmose FastGate® Field Surveys Asset Data Queries and Reporting with FastGate Manager for Poles and Joint Use Eliminate out-of-date paper records with the Osmose Mapping Center SM The Power to Make Intelligent Choices SM (716) 319-3423 • www.OsmoseUtilities.com © 2007 Osmose® www.APPAnet.org SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2007 27 http://www.APPAnet.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - September/October 2007

Contents Washington Focus 10 Questions Public Power (Every) Week Training Tomorrow’s Work Force What’s in Your Wallet? U.S. Lags in Broadband Deployment Now What? For Engineers Safety Community Broadband For Governing Boards Human Resources Hometown Connections Customer Service DEED Index to Advertisers Advertisers by Category Parting Shot

Public Power - September/October 2007

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