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A monthly employee publication of the Bonneville Power Administration
March 1998
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A monthly employee publication of the Bonneville Power Administration
March 1998
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The role of “informed constituents” was new but employees quickly adapted. Employees had three special opportunities in mid-February to offer their personal responses to the draft recommendations of the five business executives on the BPA Cost Review Management Committee. As acting Chief Operating Officer Steve Hickok said in his introduction to the headquarters session, “The panel is testing a product in the region. No one is better informed about the operations of BPA than our employees.” And comment employees did. As individual, informed constituents, not as spokespersons for BPA. Headquarters employees gathered Feb. 10 in the Rates Hearing Room to hear Jerry Leone of the Public Power Council, Steve Weiss of the Northwest Energy Coalition and Mike Kreidler of the Northwest Power Planning Council offer their views of the cost review process and product to date. Employees then had the opportunity to comment on the draft recommendations. Field employees had a telephone hookup with Hickok on Feb. 12. Also on Feb. 12, Ross employees gathered to see a videotape of the three presenters from earlier in the week and to offer their insights. Not surprisingly, comments varied by location — Ross participants were focused on Transmission; headquarters people were primarily concerned with the Power Business Line; and field employees had their own issues. Some comments addressed broad policy issues and the role of BPA, while others focused on the implications of cost cutting. Many speakers, both employees and the invited speakers, were concerned about BPA’s mission and about large policy issues because those were outside the scope of the experts on the Cost Review panel. Hickok explained the panel’s role this way: “BPA provided the panel with information on the Federal Columbia River Power System and then asked them — if they were taking the FCRPS into the competitive environment we see ahead, what would they look at for opportunities to increase value and decrease costs.” |
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Leone offered what she characterized as a “wry” view of an earlier public meeting on the draft recommendations. She said the various interest groups responded to proposed cuts this way: “You gored my oxen and I want his oxen gored.”
Weiss complimented BPA employees for their “incredible integrity,” cautioned the agency not to “fall into the lose/lose position of being just like a business” and urged the region to review the policy implications in the panel’s recommendations.
Kreidler commented on the need to protect the valuable FCRPS resource for the region while looking for balance in service to the Northwest and responsibility to the U.S. Treasury.
The employee comments were sorted by topic and then forwarded to the Council to be included with comments from public meetings held in Portland, the Tri-Cities and Spokane. The Cost Review panel will consider the comments when deciding whether to revise its draft cost management recommendations.
The panel’s draft recommendations went out for regional comment so the panel could benefit from that input before making its final recommendations. Those are expected to be sent to the BPA administrator, the region’s four governors and Congress in mid-March. Hickok said he expects BPA will involve the region in deciding how to respond to the final recommendations.
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| Left to right: Jerry Leone, Public Power Council; Steve Weiss, Northwest Energy Coalition; Mike Kreidler, Northwest Power Planning Council address employees. |
Employees were asked. They answered. Now the work begins.
Last December, randomly selected BPA employees and managers completed a survey to rate managers in leadership competencies. The rating was a first step in setting an agency-wide target for managers. Rating categories went from 1 (very unskilled), through 3 (average) and on to 5 (very skilled). The overall score for BPA managers was a resounding average.
BPA managers were rated most skilled in customer focus — one of the four leadership competencies identified earlier as keys to BPA’s future success. While encouraging, this rating is an internal perception and should not be confused with customer, constituent or tribal satisfaction survey results. BPA might actually need to be very close to a 5 in customer focus to get higher customer satisfaction ratings from those outside the agency.
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Two other key competencies — motivating others and building effective teams — were among the lowest-rated BPA managerial skills. The fourth — process management — was in the middle. In general, BPA managers’ people skills scored lower than their process skills. A multi-year plan to address these deficiencies is now in play. The Executive Committee-endorsed plan calls for strong executive sponsorship, clear targets for improvement and ready recognition of exemplary leadership behavior. Specific steps include 360-degree assessments for all managers, individual development action plans to address the most critical deficiencies (particularly in the four key competency areas) and high-leverage tools and resources to support managers working to increase their effectiveness in the targeted competencies. Sponsors and champions of such change are critical to its success. They have the responsibility to set the targets, allocate time and resources, identify roles and accountabilities, monitor progress, model the desired behaviors, ask for feedback on their own development actions and provide and participate in related development opportunities. That’s a tall order, but BPA executives recognize that exemplary managerial skills are essential to BPA success. The commitment is there. Senior executives did the 360-degree assessments first. Now they’re working on development plans. Steve Hickok, acting chief operating officer and lead sponsor for the managerial improvement target, is working on his own development plan. “I’m working on being more approachable, on putting others at ease so information can flow better and I can have the benefit of employee input on challenges facing the agency,” he says. He is initiating more transactions, sharing more information, asking for more input from others and employing disarming humor. He finds that when he comes across as approachable, many with whom he interacts feel more motivated and sense the value of their input. Work results improve. |
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Hickok says this new behavior isn’t real com-fortable for him yet, but he gets some reinforcement and welcomes more feedback. People who have experienced Hickok’s new approach at recent employee meetings or at the 8:30 a.m. Monday coffee sessions say they like it.
Vickie VanZandt, vice president of operations and planning in the Transmission Business Line, says her 360-degree feedback and Myers-Briggs results showed high marks in action orientation and intuition. This combination, she notes, can lead to quick decisions made without the benefit of enough valuable input from others, which can have an impact on the quality of decisions and on the motivation of those who need to implement them. So, VanZandt is working on getting more input from others, on ensuring more decision making by her management team and on managing time to allow for the necessary dialogue. Her current development plan is a direct result of feedback from her 360 assessment. She sees that things work much more smoothly when these steps are taken but recognizes that change doesn’t come overnight. Setting up the needed time management has been the hardest part. It takes commitment, practice, feedback and encouragement.
Continued agency-wide measurement of progress in the leadership competencies is part of the plan. Stay tuned for further developments. — Marilyn Berti, employee development specialist in Human Resources
Members of Congress in January applauded BPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for signing a direct-funding agreement that will create efficiencies and enhance the operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System.
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Under the agreement, BPA will directly fund repair and maintenance costs at the 21 hydroelectric power plants owned and operated by the Corps. Prior to the agreement, such costs were funded through the federal budget process and then BPA repaid the U.S. Treasury at year’s end. The newly signed agreement eliminates the congressional appropriations loop but retains congressional oversight. It also allows the Corps to make power plant repairs that otherwise would have been delayed because of budget limitations and inflexible schedules inherent in the annual appropriations process. “This agreement makes extraordinarily good sense,” said Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio at the signing ceremony Jan. 27 in Washington D.C. “The delegation, BPA and the Corps have worked hard together to see this through. To me, the best thing about this agreement is that it will help us in our fight against privatizing BPA.” |
Pictured left to right, (back row) Wash. Rep. Norm Dicks, Wash. Sen. Slae Gorton, Ore. Rep. Peter DeFazio. (Front row) Acting Administrator Jack Robertson and Dr. John Zirschky, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works). |
The changes serve the best interest of taxpayers and BPA ratepayers alike. Shortening the time needed to secure funding for repairs and maintenance provides greater assurance that generators will keep running. The agreement should also improve the performance and cost efficiency of the generating projects. For example, BPA may now be able to fund off-shift maintenance work, which would allow power plants to run during BPA’s peak generation hours.
“What we have is a marvelous example of how two government agencies are acting like the private sector to make sure that their goals can be reached more promptly and at a lower cost,” said Wash. Sen. Slade Gorton. “BPA has always been essential to the economical success of our region. This agreement is a significant step towards keeping BPA essential, which is a step in the right direction.” — Crystal Ball, public affairs specialist in Public Affairs
Systems overhauls, the starship Enterprise and business process changes are all muddled together in hallway conversations.
The link to all these pieces is the Strategic Information Systems Plan, or SISP, which has been under development since December.
“BPA has not done an effective job the last 10 to 15 years of electronically connecting the business systems we have,” says Larry Davidson, manager of Information Resources and Client Financial Services as well as leader of the SISP effort. “Many of our existing systems can’t talk to each other, which affects access to information and the timeliness and effectiveness of how we do work,” he says.
The processes being evaluated fall into three functional areas: operations, logistics and finance. One of SISP’s strategic objectives is to tie BPA’s business systems together to provide more timely, accurate and relevant information. Another is to maximize the efficiency of BPA’s processes in support of cost reduction efforts. This look at all of BPA’s business systems could result in an agency-wide, or “enterprise-wide,” software solution.
Which explains where the starship comes in. Enterprise simply means a business, not a starship or a car rental company. So, enterprise-wide software simply means business process software that would be used throughout BPA.
And this is an agency-wide assessment. “The TBL started independently,” says Keith Hartner, Information Technology Supervisor for the Transmission Business Line. “Now what we’re doing is a component part of the SISP. The intended goal from the perspective of the TBL is to have enhanced data recovery capabilities.”
“An enterprise-wide solution could end up being the procurement of software,” Davidson says. “SISP is looking at what needs to be re-placed, and how much could be replaced by or interfaced with enterprise-wide software — software packages that fit together. One of the vendors’ selling points is that the packages take advantage of industry best practices.” SISP will determine what packages or combination of packages would best fit BPA’s specific business needs.
While an enterprise-wide software solution is intended to link all systems, it would not replace all of BPA’s data systems. “There are no enterprise solutions for specialized systems such as RODS [real-time operations dispatch and scheduling system], SCADA [supervisory control and data acquisition] and the scheduling computer project,” Hartner says. “But the data from these systems can be integrated into that environment so it can be used with the enterprise software.”
Enterprise-wide solutions are designed to be plugged in and function off the shelf. “A fundamental assumption is that we wouldn’t have to customize; instead, we would adapt our work to the software,” Davidson says. “We haven’t yet convinced ourselves that this is the best way to go. But we spend millions of dollars annually on the maintenance of computer systems as well as on interfacing pieces of systems or developing customized applications for selected work groups. One benefit of enterprise-wide software could be full integration of data as well as elimination of duplications and redundancies.”
Davidson is realistic about the challenges. “We would have to have a commitment from management and employees throughout BPA that this would significantly change how we do business. We would have to devote sufficient resources internally. We would need consultant help. It’s not an insignificant expenditure of dollars and resources,” he says.
BPA has consultant help with the current phase of SISP, which ends with a recommendation to the Shared Services board about the first of March. The executives will decide whether BPA should proceed with further study of an enterprise-wide software solution, including proceeding with a cost-benefit analysis. A re-quest for proposals would be completed by this summer. Davidson expects that implementation could take from a year and a half to three years.
Not only does the SISP coordinate with the Shared Services board, it is part of the effort to hit the agency target of having a Business Information Strategy approved by the Executive Committee by March 31.
Periodic updates on SISP are posted on BPA’s Intranet. From the BPA homepage, go to Corporate, then to the Business Services Group (C) Web site and scroll down to the SISP link. Questions and comments also may be addressed to Kammy Rogers-Holliday at 503-230-5873 in Portland. — Martha Swain, public utilities specialist in Power Products, Pricing and Rates
BPA meteorologist Chris Karafotias can predict the future. The future weather that is. And he is good at it. So good that his weather forecasts from the fall of 1996 through the winter of 1997 contained fewer average forecast errors than those of the National Weather Service.
That accuracy means a lot to BPA. “Our forecasters are consistently providing more accurate volume and streamflow forecasts than the National Weather Service,” says Mark Maher, vice president for Generation Supply. “This allows us to more promptly provide a larger inventory to schedulers and the trading floor for marketing. This translates to more opportunity to gain higher revenues for BPA. Also, our forecasters have repeatedly shown that they can predict cold snaps earlier with more accuracy than the National Weather Service, allowing us to position the hydro system and enter the market (if needed) earlier than other utilities/marketers and before prices are elevated by demand.”
When asked how he managed this feat, Karafotias answers, “By studying charts and models, and by using experience.” He’s also quick to point out that the folks at the National Weather Service are sharp and probably have more general experience than he does. The edge is that Karafotias is able to focus and fine tune his skills around the specific forecasting needs of BPA, mainly its energy loads and marketing objectives.
Karafotias studies the charts and models and meets with colleagues Glen Gettemy, Steve Barton and Roger Pimentel each day to translate the weather and streamflow forecasts. Temperature forecasts for BPA’s load centers (Seattle, Portland and Spokane) are converted into hourly load forecasts for the next seven days to support scheduling, operations and marketing. “This isn’t something that one person does by himself. We’re trying to anticipate the power market. Our forecasts give a heads up to the marketing and operational decision making. The entire Weather and Streamflow Forecasting section is involved.”
Janet Stevens, meteorological technician, verifies the temperatures each day to see how forecasts can improve. This is a big help to the meteorologists, who need to know what went right or what went wrong so they can be more accurate next time. Karafotias explains that with so many diagnostic models “we’ve been spoiled by the computer. The models have become pretty accurate, so sometimes it’s tough to beat them in the long range.”
“El Niño has certainly thrown us some curves,” explains Karafotias. “It’s very unusual to have consecutive days of near 50° Fahrenheit temperatures this time of year in Spokane, so it’s been a complete shift in forecast thinking this year.” Karafotias is not sure how his forecasts will verify overall this year because of the unusual pattern.
But they will probably still be the most accurate around.
Does the word ‘Internet’ give you heart palpitations and sweaty palms? Do you feel guilty because you’ve never opened your Web browser? Do you long for the days when people still said “period” instead of “dot?”
If you answered yes to any of these questions, welcome to Web Worriers Anonymous. Repeat after me:
“Hello, I’m (insert your name). And I’m a Web-o-phobe.”
But not for long. Just keep reading and you’ll overcome your fears.
You don’t have to be a Web wiz to benefit from the Internet and particularly from the BPA Web site. But it helps to understand a few concepts, know where to look for help and be a little curious.
The Internet is E-mail. It’s file transfers. It’s many things, but the feature most people relate to — or fear or hate — is the World Wide Web, or, simply, the Web. That’s what we’ll deal with, in basic terms, on these pages.
The Internet is vast but the concept behind it is simple. It’s a worldwide network (or web) of computers, including the one on your desk, that can talk to each other. Still too obtuse? Then consider it the library of the future.
A century ago mega-tycoon Andrew Carnegie spent a fortune building libraries. This era’s Carnegie-clone, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, is making his fortune, at least in part, by creating software and information for this new international library without walls.
While the Internet is universal, smaller computer networks also exist in which selected users can share other, sometimes more confidential, information. These smaller networks are called Intranets. BPA’s internal Web site is an Intranet. It’s accessible only from BPA computers by BPA employees and contractors. BPA also has a separate external Web site that is part of the Internet. That site is open to anyone from Tillamook to Timbuktu and is geared toward the public, customers and constituents.
Sometimes the information you seek from the Internet is as near as your next mouse click. But not always. Ben Franklin’s admonition to “try, try again” makes perfect Web sense. Inquisitiveness plus patience often yield the desired result. But not always. So, if the slowness of the Web connection or the apparent landslide of options frustrate you, consider how long it might take to find what you’re looking for using more conventional means, such as a newsstand, public library or university collection. Don’t forget: the clock starts running the moment you turn off your computer, grab your umbrella and leave your desk to start that conventional information search.
Remember that BPA’s Web sites and the Web browser on your computer are business tools that should be used strictly for work-related purposes. You’re encouraged to ride the business information wave at your desk but save your recreational Web surfing for home!
Now that you know a little about the Internet, Intranets and the Web, let’s tackle a few more terms.
Web page: a single file of information found on the Internet and Intranet.
Web site: a collection of Web pages, all of which are related somehow. BPA’s internal and external Web sites contain thousands of Web pages about programs, products, rates, events and work groups at Bonneville. Within these sites are smaller Web sites related to the business lines, Environment/Fish & Wildlife, Human Resources, publications and many other areas.
Home page: think of it as the front door to a Web site. The better ones offer you many options to what lies beyond. The BPA internal home page is shown on page 5. BPA’s external home page looks a lot like it.
Web browser: the software that allows you to enter the BPA Web site and what’s beyond it on the Internet. There are many different brands of browsers. Microsoft’s® Internet Explorer® is the one supported by BPA’s Help Desk.
Web address (or URL — Universal Resource Locater): A URL is a unique string of characters that identifies one, and only one, Web page. The URL for BPA’s internal home page is http://webip1/; for the external home page it’s http://www.bpa.gov. If you know a Web address you can simply (but carefully) type it into the white address line in your Web browser, then hit “enter” and you’ll go to that Web page.
Hyperlinks: they make the Web whirl. Hyperlinks take you from one piece of information to another. You know you’ve found a hyperlink when your cursor changes into a pointing finger. They also tend to stand out by being a different color of text from the rest of the Web page or by being pictures, buttons or icons
Ready to take the plunge? Dry off those palms and double-click on your Internet icon (usually a globe) in your Program Manager to launch your browser. Employees will open to a BPA internal Web site, perhaps even the page depicted here. Now what do you do?
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Navigational tools help you get around pages and Web sites. The most powerful navigational tools are the ones you already know regardless of your Web savvy: the scroll bars on the right and bottom of your screen. Many Web pages, including BPA’s, contain more information than one screen can display. In fact, the BPA home page shown to the right is actually a combination of two screens’ worth of information. You must scroll down below the rectangular button links to get to the hypertext links on the page. So, remember to scroll around a page to see all of its information. (If your monitor is displaying a different BPA page from the one shown here, take a moment to scroll down to the bottom. Then click on the small BPA triangle on the left. That hyperlinked icon will take you to the internal home page.) The back and forward buttons (depicted by left- and right-facing arrows) in the toolbar near the top of the screen move you one at a time among pages you have recently seen. |
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The refresh button (circular arrows) in the toolbar is useful in two ways. Sometimes pages are updated without you knowing it. If you get the sense when looking at a Web page, “This information seems outdated,” try refreshing the page. Clicking this button is also a useful first troubleshooting step if your browser seems stuck or your cursor has turned into a seemingly bottomless “hour glass.”
The favorites pull-down menu (or icon of a folder with a starburst) allows you to electronically “dog-ear” Web pages for future one-click access. When you come across a page you know you’ll want to use again days or weeks from now, use the add to favorites command. If you are using the customized BPA version of Internet Explorer® you should find some pre-selected Bonneville sites already on your favorites list.
In addition, several buttons at the bottom of BPA Web pages can help you search for information or find a staff phone number or E-mail address. And if you’ve lost your bearings on the Web site, you can always return to BPA’s home page by clicking on the little Bonneville triangle at the bottom of the page.
Another button at the bottom of BPA Web pages allows you to send a comment to the Webmaster (the person who oversees an entire site). For the BPA Web site, that person is Larry Stewart. In addition there are several people who coordinate activities for their business line or work group Web site. Some of these coordinators are listed below:
PBL external site: Grant Vincent
PBL internal site (called Pyramid): Steve Westmoreland
TBL: Dan Bisenius
Energy Efficiency: Doug Untalan
Environment: Joyce Lindsay
Fish & Wildlife: Dave Askren
Business Services: Darren Jungling
Human Resources: Yvette Gill
Public Affairs: Ken Kane
If you have questions about these Web sites or want to put some information on them, consider these folks to be Web Worriers Anonymous counselors. To contact them, just use that phone or E-mail list hyperlink at the bottom of any BPA Web page to get their number or address. (Go ahead, you can do it!)
And finally, you can turn to the Web Users’ Forum, which really is a support group of employees and contractors who use and contribute to BPA’s Web sites. They meet periodically to discuss their successes, failures and innovations. Their next meeting is March 11, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in Room 160 at headquarters. Field employees can join the discussion by calling 503-230-3344, then using password 1579.
So go ahead and give the Internet a try. Start locally — on the BPA Web site. When you’ve mined your first electronic nugget of useful information, you’ll be so pleased (or relieved) you’ll want to shout “Eureka!” But try “Yahoo!” instead.
It’s at http://www.yahoo.com.
To really master all the basics, take the “Navigating the Internet” half-day course offered by the training staff. Check the training schedule (under the Corporate button) to see when it’s being offered. — When Ken Kane isn't coordinating BPA's Public Affairs Web site, he's often home tinkering with his personal Web site, proving that knowing a little can be a dangerous thing!
The Women’s Rights Movement marks July 13, 1848, as its beginning.
On that sweltering summer day in upstate New York, a young housewife and mother, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was invited to tea with four women friends. When the course of their conversation turned to the situation of women, Stanton poured out her discontent with the limitations placed on her under America’s new democracy. Hadn’t the American Revolution been fought just 70 years earlier to win freedom from tyranny?
But women had never gained freedom even though they’d taken equally tremendous risks through those dangerous years. Surely the new republic would benefit from having its women play more active roles throughout society. Stanton’s friends agreed with her, passionately. This was definitely not the first small group of women to have such a conversation, but it was the first to plan and carry out a specific, large-scale program.
Within two days of their afternoon tea, the group had picked a date for a convention, found a suitable location and placed a small announcement in the Seneca County Courier. They called it “A convention to discuss the social, civil and religious condition and rights of woman.” The gathering would take place at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls on July 19 and 20, 1848.
It took more than 70 years of effort from thousands of political strategists, organizers, administrators, male supporters, activists and lobbyists for women to win the right to vote. The ability to vote provided the means to achieve further reforms.
In 1912, Oregon was one of the first states to pass the law that allowed women to vote. In the election of 1914, Abigail Scott Duniway, an Oregon pioneer woman and strong activist for the women’s rights movement in Oregon, was the first Oregon woman to vote. Portland’s Mount Scott is named after her, as are Duniway Park and school.
Today we are living the legacy that began at that afternoon tea. Throughout 1998, events celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Women’s Rights Movement will be taking place. They will be looking at the massive changes these women set in motion when they daringly agreed to convene the world’s first Women’s Rights Convention.
Through BPA’s 60 years, the agency has come a long way, but there is a long way to go. Although statistics are not available from the early years, the Diversity Management staff developed a work force comparison study for the 25-year span from 1972 through 1997. In 1972, BPA employed a workforce of 2,558 permanent full-time employees, of that 488 were women. In the fourth quarter of 1997, the workforce was at 2,861, of that 933 were women. While there has been a fairly steady, but small, increase in the number of women and minorities in professional positions, women’s proportionate representation in professional positions has lagged well behind their representation in the overall workforce. This appears to coincide with large losses during reduction times and small gains during hiring times.
In contrast, the number of women in administrative positions has nearly doubled since 1972, and women have been consistently over represented in clerical positions (making up 91 percent to 93 percent of the workforce). In addition, women and minorities have more than doubled their representation in technical positions by making gains when there was hiring and retaining their proportionate representation when there were reductions or declines. While the blue collar workforce declined steadily during the 25-year period, representation by women increased from one female to 54.
Historical information provided by the National Women’s History Project. Twenty-five year BPA statistical review developed by Libby Herrera, Diversity Management. — Judy Rush, equal employment specialist in Diversity Management
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To observe the 150th anniversary of the Women's Rights Movement, employees are invited to attend the folowing events at BPA:
Monday, March 2. Kickoff, headquarters, Room 122, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Keynote speaker: Lauren Moughon, currently working at the Oregon Senate Minority office. Topic: "Covered Wagons to CEOs: Women in History." Telephone bridge number 230-3344, passcode: 4372. Please limit one call per field site. Share a conference room and listen to the kickoff together. Thursday, March 5. Headquarters, Room 122, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Slide show, narration and discussion about Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon woman pioneer and activist for Oregon's woment to win right to vote. Keynote speaker and presenter: Kay Bower. Wednesday, March 11. Headquarters, Room 160, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Video presentations: "A Woman's Place" and "Equality, A History of the Women's Movement in America." Both are 30 minutes long. Wednesday, March 18. Headquarters, Room 122, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Presentation and discussion: "Trends in Representation of BPA Women and Minorities -- a 25-year study." Presenter: Libby Herrera. Wednesday, March 25. Headquarters, Room 160, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Repeat video presentations: "A Woman's Place" and "Equality, A History of the Women's Movement in America." Both are 30 minutes long. In addition, a display of the this year's national commemorative poster and a historical timeline of significant events will be located in the headquarters lobby near the cafeteria and in the Dittmer Building at the Ross complex. |
There was a time, not so long ago, when lawyers enjoyed a high degree of respect and, in some instances, much affection within their peer group. It is of such a time and such a person that we write.
That person is J. Kenneth Kaseberg, lawyer at BPA from 1944 until 1973 who just celebrated his 90th birthday. What did he do? Just about everything. He was there during some of the most turbulent times as well as some of the most somnolent times. His duties ranged from trying to keep the lights on and the system operating to participation in some of the most significant decisions with which BPA would ever be involved.
Some of the programs with major long-term effects were the Pacific Northwest-Pacific Southwest Intertie and the Hydro-Thermal Power Program. These took place in different decades and under different administrators. Each, in its own way, was to have a long-lasting impact on the entire West Coast, including Canada.
Each was derived from and intended to implement something called the “one utility” concept. This meant different things to different entities, but, basically, it meant to operate an interconnected power system as if there were only one utility. The effort was to use existing resources for the greatest benefit for all and to add new resources only as the entire area was perceived to require such resources.
Under the PNW-PSW Intertie Agreements, electric energy could be wheeled from the Pacific Northwest to or from the Pacific Southwest as needed and as resources dictated. Seasonal exchanges of power were part of this program, as was the delivery of electric energy belonging to British Columbia Hydro over the proposed intertie to customers in California. The sale of electric energy and capacity all along the West Coast was to be a continuing benefit to all regions involved. Kaseberg had a lead role in this program. Other BPA lawyers and BPA personnel, notably Bernie Goldhammer, also played major parts in negotiating and drafting contracts that involved virtually all major electric utilities and their lawyers. These agreements were in place in the early 1960s and were quickly followed by contracts for the construction of the necessary transmission lines and substations, the High-Voltage Direct-Current network.
The Hydro-Thermal Power Program was another program within the one-utility concept. This program was organized around the idea of meeting anticipated needs for more power by using the complementary features of the federal hydro generating system in combination with similar hydro generating resources of other utilities together with generating output of “soon to be built” thermal power plants. The program would have taken advantage of the peaking capability of the hydro system together with the thermal generation to maximize the strengths of each kind of generation. Hector Durocher, BPA power manager at the time, provided leadership from the policy side. This program required Kaseberg to play a lead role, both in the efforts to negotiate and draft contracts with all affected utilities but also in drafting and supporting enabling legislation before Congress. The legislation was passed and the contracts completed. HTPP came into being. Other events occurred that affected its full implementation.
Other Kaseberg efforts over the years included drafting and supporting legislation that gives the administrator the power to make most decisions as long as they are consistent with good business practices; supporting legislation that included public preference, a provision favoring public utilities with a first call on BPA resources; negotiating and drafting contracts for the construction of Portland General Electric’s Trojan Nuclear Plant; and adapting and negotiating the “net-billing concept” into BPA contracts. Kaseberg played major roles and was generally the lead lawyer on behalf of BPA in this series of major activities.
Not all his efforts were successful. He recalls several occasions when he drafted and then supported before Congress the idea of a Columbia Valley Authority. As we know, this idea did not jell and Congress refused to pass such legislation.
When Kaseberg retired in 1973, the General Counsel, Robert Ratcliffe said of him:
“Ken Kaseberg has been directly and intimately involved in some of BPA’s most important matters during his tenure with the agency, but one of his very most important influences has occurred among the lawyers with whom he has worked, especially with younger lawyers, where he has served as a role model simply by being the person and the lawyer that he is. He has exemplified for all of us the highest standards of professional competence and ethical behavior. Ken always brings to problems presented to him an extraordinary intelligence, a sound and comprehensive background in the law and a calm, thoughtful and lawyer-like approach to the crafting of a solution to such problems”.
In an interview shortly after his 90th birthday, Kaseberg noted a time when a lawyer’s word was his bond and regretfully observed that such an assurance is no longer as commonly given nor as commonly accepted as was the widespread practice in past years. Perhaps, this is true today because there are fewer lawyers like J. Kenneth Kaseberg. — Omar Halvorson, retired deputy general counsel
Terry Bellerby - Chairperson
When: Friday March 13, 1998, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (meal service: 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.)
Where: Shenanigans on the Willamette (Swan Island)
Entree: Choice of one: Irish stew, Breast of chicken Dijonnaise, Baked Pacific red snapper
Cost: $15.50 per person
Tickets: Available through March 9. Check the latest Watts News or a BPA Bulletin Board for a list of ticket sellers or contact: Bob Hoffman, 5860 West A Street, West Linn, OR 97068, (503) 656-8943
Watts News: In order to receive Watts News, you must first be a member of The Associates. To become a member, see your nearest governor or mail a check for the $5.00 membership fee to: The Associates, B-142, Bonneville Power Administration, P.O. Box 3521, Portland OR 97208
Nancy DeMond received a Technology Transfer Award from the Electric Power Research Institute on Feb. 11.
DeMond, recently retired from Environment, Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Abatement, received the award for her efforts in working with the state of Washington to develop a risk-based cleanup standard for spilled mineral oil. BPA and the entire electric industry use mineral oil as an insulator in electrical equipment such as transformers. If such equipment fails, the mineral oil can be spilled into the environment. Even though mineral oil is considered to be environmentally benign, Washington had previously required mineral oil spills to be treated under the same stringent cleanup standards as a fuel oil.
Because of DeMond’s efforts, the state has determined that the risk posed by a mineral oil spill is substantially less than that posed by fuel oils and, for that reason, cleanup need not be as stringent. While the new standard will benefit all utilities, BPA expects to save about $200,000 a year.
Oregon and Idaho are considering similar changes to their cleanup requirements.
The Technology Transfer Award is given each year in recognition of important applications of environmental research results within the electric utility industry. The new standard is based on studies of the environmental effects of mineral oil in soil.
A rural electric cooperative that didn’t exist until this year has shown BPA the human face of industry restructuring.
United Electric Co-op of Rupert, Idaho, came into being on Jan. 1. Officials from Unity Light & Power, Rural Electric Cooperative and BPA signed official documents to form United on Dec. 15 of last year.
The reason for the consolidation was simple: both boards felt that a consolidation would achieve cost savings and improve service to their customers and that the consolidation would substantially improve their ability to continue providing locally owned and operated electrical service in a deregulated, competitive marketplace. Through internal and external savings, the consolidation has the potential to save up to $350,000 a year within three years. A portion of the cost savings will go directly to the members as a 3 percent discount on their total power bill for 1998.
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United, located in south-central Idaho, covers approximately 600 pole miles, generates annual gross revenues of about $7 million, uses about 20.2 average megawatts of BPA power, serves 5,000 customers and employs 25 people. While United is the product of the first consolidation of Idaho electric cooperatives since 1947, it may not be the last. United’s board feels so strongly about the need to consolidate that it has invited nearby utilities to join with it in an even larger cooperative. Consolidation of the two utilities was a very complex process for both BPA and the cooperatives. |
Sitting: BPA account executive, Larry King (left); Rural Electric board president and George Toner (middle) and secretary Nels Moller (right) sign the consolidation documents while attorneys Roy Eiguren (left) and Don Chisholm (right) observe. |
BPA was notified of the intent to consolidate in June and by Aug. 8 the contracts and assignments were prepared. “The amount of organization and coordination required was extraordinary,” says Larry King, BPA customer account executive in Burley, Idaho. King, attorney Geoff Kronick and Transmission customer account executive Sue Furst led the effort with the help of approximately 35 other employees from BPA’s legal, Power Marketing, Transmission and Energy Efficiency staffs.
“BPA’s success in meeting the expectations of the management of Rural and Unity is directly attributable to Geoff Kronick,” says King. “His ability to organize and marshal resources kept the momentum. The attorneys in the Office of General Counsel worked efficiently with the Power and Transmission business lines and the Energy Efficiency staff in preparing the necessary contract amendments and assignments. Geoff’s leadership coordinated the diverse efforts and all involved worked hard to quickly identify and solve issues.”
Energy Efficiency staff also performed yeoman work in researching closed contracts and existing contracts so the obligations could be transferred to United. A key example is that Unity participated in the “zero interest” weatherization contract. This contract was terminated in 1985 but Unity, now United, is required to get those loans paid when properties sell. Ron Starkey, assisted by Dick Stroh, Nancy Vacca and Gene Ferguson, researched and collated the contracts and drafted the assignment principles so they could be incorporated into the consolidation agreement.
The effort took a total of seven months, which is a phenomenally short time considering the complex issues involved. The controversial issues were handled one at a time and worked out in the best interest of both utilities. The new board of directors is a prime example of the cooperation. It will have 14 members for the first year. As terms expire, the board will shrink until it has eight members. All members agreed that the easiest decision was naming the new utility. Because the boards are truly uniting the two utilities, United Electric Co-op was appropriate.
The team working on this project demonstrated that BPA has shifted from having an inward focus to an outward focus. The change is confirmed by the transaction surveys being returned. Ralph Williams, chairman of the combined board of directors, in his transaction survey, said, “Kept on track and schedule…. We could not have asked for better service and support….Great Job!!!” — Judy Uhrich, secretary in the Burley, Idaho customer service office