|
|
A monthly employee publication of the Bonneville Power Administration
September 1998
|
|
|
A monthly employee publication of the Bonneville Power Administration
September 1998
“Basically a miracle,” says Mike Berger in describing how a 5.5 million retrofit at John Day and The Dalles dams went from concept to operation in six months.
“We re-invented the fast track construction project,” says Berger, an electrical engineer in the Power Business Line who managed the project for BPA. “We threw out all the rules. But the attitude of every team member was ‘there is a solution.’”
At an Aug. 10 ceremony at The Dalles Dam, Administrator Judi Johansen thanked the project team, noting that “BPA, the Corps and contractor T&D Engineering and Construction overcame numerous contractual, technical, scheduling and logistic hurdles to bring this project online on schedule.” Its unique design, she said, “allows the system to be operated for the benefit of both power and fish.”
Nature drove the tough timeline on the project to help improve the reliability of BPA’s southern intertie. Turning the generators at the dams into synchronous condensers helps the transmission system recover quickly from unexpected surges and lapses in loads when generators are not needed for power generation. Engineers wanted to get the system into place before this year’s spill season began and the generators were idled.
The synchronous condenser is not a new technology. Similar capability is installed at Grand Coulee. But this was the first time an existing dam of this size had been retrofitted. The obstacles were immense, says Berger.
The synchronous condenser project was born of the dark day two years ago (Aug. 10, 1996) when a combination of factors created instability on BPA’s southern intertie. In response, the line tripped open, causing blackouts in California and shudders throughout the BPA region.
Hearings were held and blue ribbon panels convened to examine the event. While no single cause was identified, the Corps and BPA developed lists of recommendations to keep the event from happening again. Factoring high in many recommendations was the need to provide some cushion in the transmission system so that, if lines trip unexpectedly in one part of the system, the rest of the system can quickly absorb the disturbance.
|
When the huge generators are operating at the dams, their presence helps stabilize sudden changes in load until operators can correct the problem. However, as the summer wears on, fewer generators are running because there is less water in the river. At the same time, a lot of power continues to go over the southern intertie to meet California cooling loads. A lightning storm, a sudden generating plant outage or an arc from a line to overgrown vegetation can reduce voltage on the system and risk tripping the southern intertie. In synchronous condenser mode, the turbine acts as a shock absorber if the system’s voltage drops. In normal operation, water is spilled through wicket gates onto turbines that turn generators to produce electricity. When the generator is switched to condenser mode, the wicket gates are closed and compressed air is pumped into the chamber to push the water level below the turbine blades. Then the turbine spins freely in the air, using very little power (maybe 1.5 megawatts) and providing what in transmission parlance is called “reactive support.” |
From left: Col. Robert Slusar and Terry Armentrout of the Corps of Engineers join Mike Berger and Judi Johansen to celebrate the successful project. |
The new synchronous condenser capability at John Day and The Dalles dams has increased this summer’s line rating for the southern intertie by about 200 megawatts, according to Transmission Business Line engineer Bill Mittelstadt. TBL has also put several other improvements into place since 1996 that have increased the capability of the line.
At John Day, where nightly fish spill requires switching the generators on and off each day, the units can be quickly switched from generator to condenser mode. Operators working at desktop computers simply click on a button that says ‘condense this unit,’ and thousands of gallons of compressed air go whooshing into draft tubes.
The projects were recommended last summer, and a feasibility test in October showed that the process could work. BPA and the Corps were determined to get synchronous condenser capability installed before the spring runoff. The Dalles design work began in October, and the work was completed on April 15. John Day work started in late December and was done June 11. All 10 units are in operation today.
An April test simulated a system distur-bance by switching a capacitor in and out of the system. “Indeed, these units moved exactly as we thought they would,” says Berger. “Everyone was quite happy.”
And they have remained happy as the system continues to work.
Pat Zimmer, writer in Communications
“My father used to hunt in this area. It’s critical winter habitat for deer,” said Barb Aripa, chair of the Cultural Board of the Environmental Trust for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.
Aripa made her observation as she, other Colville tribal leaders and BPA representatives toured land near Nespelem, Wash., that the Colville Tribes purchased for wildlife habitat.
The Colville Tribes and BPA are working together to rebuild wildlife habitat losses associated with the construction of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams. “Bonneville is proud to be part of restoring wildlife habitat that was lost when federal dams were built,” says Alex Smith, vice president, Environment, Fish and Wildlife.
BPA has provided $9.1 million to the tribes to purchase and enhance land for the Hellsgate Winter Range Mitigation Project. The purchases are made under the Washington Wildlife Coalition Agreement, which is part of the Northwest Power Planning Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program.
During the Aug. 5 tour, the group celebrated the addition of 6,500 acres of land to the wildlife mitigation project, which now totals 16,500 acres on the Colville Reservation.
The land will be managed in perpetuity for wildlife under a long-term agreement between the tribes and BPA. The tribes are building fences to protect the land from grazing livestock, reseeding native vegetation and providing weed control. The project provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife species including deer, elk, bobcats, mink, woodpeckers and sharp-tailed grouse. The Colville Tribes chose to focus on winter habitat for big game because, as development has encroached on habitat, the animals have lost their low-elevation winter range land. Winter range land is in short supply throughout the Northwest as well as on the reservation where most of the low-elevation wildlife winter range had previously been privately owned ranch land.
The Hellsgate project consists of many types of land including shrub-steppe, grasslands, bare ground and rocks, agricultural lands, coniferous forest, Ponderosa pine savanna, riparian and shoreline bordering the Columbia River. “This variety of habitat will help maintain the diversity and well-being of wildlife for our future generations,” said Steve Judd, senior wildlife biologist for the Colville Tribes.
Participants in the Colville tour: (from left) Bob Lohn (BPA), Joe DeHerrera (BPA), Maureen Murphy, Barbara Aripa, John Smith (BPA, Alex Smith (BPA), Joe Peone, Jim Smith (kneeling), Deb Louie, Bob Austin (BPA), Katherine Cheney (BPA), Steve Judd, Tony Atkins. |
“We’re happy to work with the Colville Tribes to restore the land for so many species of wildlife,” says Bob Lohn, BPA’s Fish and Wildlife manager. Some of the trees and shrubs used to rehabilitate the land are being grown at the tribal greenhouse. Four thousand sagebrush and bitterbrush seedlings and five hundred pine trees have already been grown in the greenhouse and planted on the land. More shrubs and trees for planting are expected to be grown as needed. |
“The animals, plants and roots on these lands are still critical to our people and our culture. We need that connection, and the wildlife benefits from this project are forever,” said Deb Louie, vice chair of the Business Council and chair of the Natural Resources Committee of the Business Council.
The Colville Tribes have been using holistic resource management on the reservation. The goal of the holistic approach is to maintain the culture, traditions, language, history and sovereignty of the tribes; to provide housing, employment and educational opportunities; to provide diverse income opportunities; to increase awareness of the culture; and to live in balance with the earth.
“Through the holistic management of the Colville Tribes, we can take care of our ecosystem for our future generations,” said Louie.
The Hellsgate project is one of several partnership projects between Northwest tribes and BPA. In April 1996 BPA established a Tribal Policy outlining Bonneville’s trust responsibility and providing a framework for a government-to-government relationship with the thirteen federally recognized Columbia Basin tribes.
Nicia Balla, public affairs specialist in Communications
Editor’s Note: The proposed targets for the coming year are notable for an increased focus on the workplace environment. Administrator Judi Johansen has made this a personal priority. In the following Perspective, she describes her vision for the workplace.
I want our agency to focus on specific areas dealing with the work force and the workplace environment. I’m not looking for broad platitudes about the workplace. I want us to have concrete results. So, in that respect, I’ve asked the executives to focus on the following areas of emphasis for the coming year
1. Succession planning: This is making sure that we have the ability to retain and attract skilled employees in mission-critical areas and, more broadly, in areas that further our agency strategies. Succession planning is an acute issue because of the demographics of our work force. Some 30 percent or more of our employees are eligible to retire within the next three years.
2. Rewards and recognition: I want to see a system that gives managers the ability to acknowledge in both financial and nonfinancial ways the contributions of an individual or the contributions of a team when they are performing in an extraordinary way toward our mission.
Funding for our rewards and recognition program will likely increase in the next fiscal year. The point behind this is that we need to be able to compete with the private sector in rewarding and incenting individuals whether they are in hourly craftsman-type positions or marketing positions or wherever they might be.
3. Two-way communications: This area is centered on managers establishing good two-way communications with employees. I’ve asked the executives and managers to incorporate into their planning for the next fiscal year targets that get at this increased two-way communication. I want to see improvement not only in employees’ understanding of our business and our mission and how employees contribute to our mission, but I want to see how managers are communicating our strategies to employees.
4: Management systems for businesslike decisions: Another area of attention for the workplace is a more “businesslike” direction. We need to put in place management systems that assure we are looking at our business decisions in a traditional businesslike way. I want our business lines to be managed in conformance with performance policies that relate to the rate of return on investments we make and to how much financial risk we can afford to take, be it on the Transmission, the Power or the Energy Efficiency side.
While we have borrowing authority that Congress has authorized for us, there are limits to that authority. Therefore, we need to make sure that we have defined the priorities for allocating capital and assuring that it’s going to mission-critical areas and is the best approach we can take on an investment once the decision is made to focus on a particular area. Also, looking at the value at risk or the capital at risk for the agency becomes more important as we head into more competitive commodity-type markets. It’s a discipline we really need to impose on ourselves.
5. Cost control: Cost control is obviously going to be a very, very critical thing for all parts of our business. There’s no question in my mind that if we are to meet our goal on the Power side to deliver power at cost below market, we have to achieve a level of cost reductions or efficiency improvements that is at the order of magnitude of the $146 million that the Cost Review Panel defined for us.
That means, when it comes to the personnel side of things, we need to make sure that our staffing is at an appropriate level. Reductions in force are not off the table, but I want to be very clear about what I am saying to you. I am saying that, at this point — not knowing what our competitive position will be in the future — I do not want to take any options or tools off the table that may be needed to keep us viable.
One of the Cost Review recommendations is to seek greater flexibility in personnel and procurement policies. Frankly, we may need tools that the federal system doesn’t provide to us in order to meet our business targets. We can’t afford to foreclose on any flexibility. I want to make sure we look at all possible tools as we address work-force issues. These range from those that the federal system currently provides us, be it reduction in force or the current incentive program, to tools that we may need to get special legislative authority for.
The combination of all of these areas is important. To summarize, I want us to have a work force and a workplace that are competitive in terms of our ability to retain and attract good, skilled people. I want us to be flexible in terms not only of having the ability to adapt sizewise to the challenges we face but also in terms of giving us the ability to reward and incent and compensate people so they will continue to be BPA employees and are not tempted to go out into the private sector and perform similar jobs.
And finally, some of you have heard conversations about a “fun” committee that grew out of the last executive retreat. Let me put that in context. When I talk about having fun, I do not intend that this is the way to address the serious and fundamental workplace issues that I have laid out here. But it’s my belief that an important part of having a healthy work environment is also having the ability to have fun, so long as it is within appropriate bounds. I see having fun as an additive, not as a substitute, for addressing serious issues.
I’ve worked in a lot of places, and the places that have been most productive are those where there was trust and where there was a relaxed atmosphere. Having fun is more the end result of the trust and confidence people have. I’m not prepared to give up on the idea that we can do the serious and substantial things and can also laugh on occasion.
The August 10 issue of The Northwest Salmon Recovery Report carried a wide-ranging interview with BPA Administrator Judi Johansen. The Report’s editor, Bill Crampton, kindly gave The Circuit permission to print the following edited excerpts from the interview. A copy of the complete interview is in the Public Information Center at agency headquarters in Portland (503-230-7334).
NORTHWEST SALMON RECOVERY REPORT: Can you discuss your vision for BPA and where you want to take the agency?
JOHANSEN: I want Bonneville to be a regionally controlled entity that provides power at cost to as broad a population segment as possible. I want our transmission system to be a separate entity — maybe, we need to look at financing issues, etc. — that becomes the premiere highway and catalyst for competition in the wholesale market. And I want the revenues that we generate to be used to fund public purposes for this region, which would include funding of research and development for renewables for the next generation of conservation and environmental programs, such as the fish and wildlife program.
NSRR: On the transmission separation, can it be done independently, without legislation?
JOHANSEN: We are doing as much as we can. And we can belong to an ISO (Independent System Operator) so I think a lot of it can be done. You don’t have to go all the way. But I want to look at all of the issues before we say yea or nay. At a minimum I want us to be a positive force in being part of the ISO. We’ll just have to look and see what a transfer looks like and see if that’s not better for the competitive markets at the wholesale level.
NSRR: Maybe you haven’t had much time to think about where we are on river governance, but could you give me a general impression on how you view the processes that are there now and what you can do to bring more efficiency to regional decision making? If there is one consensus out there, it’s that decision making has broken down in the Columbia/Snake Basin.
JOHANSEN: I am very intrigued by proposals that create a regional entity that is responsible and accountable for making and balancing river use decisions. And I say that knowing there is a risk some of my own decision-making authority might get snared in that net as would three or four other federal entities, and states and tribes, for that matter.
I frankly think the sense of frustration is so commonly and acutely felt that we are not going to define a cohesive plan for the Columbia/Snake River Basin until we get somebody who truly is accountable for a broader set of issues. There are just too many people who have a veto. So I am intrigued by those suggestions, but since I am only a month into this I can’t say what my favorite flavor is. But I for one am willing to look at, and I am very much an advocate of, this region regaining control over the decision making of its natural resources, and, with the listings, we have lost that.
NSRR: You hired Lorri Bodi (co-director of the Northwest office of American Rivers). What will be her position?
JOHANSEN: We will bring her on at a very senior level, and she will report directly to me in a nonsupervisory role as a policy advisor. It is not the deputy position, I want to underscore that.
NSRR: Wasn’t there some pressure out there for you not to take this step?
JOHANSEN: Yes. But, you know, Lorri brings a lot of things to the table. She shares a frustration that we all have that because of the lack of focus on an agreed upon objective for managing the river, we’re wasting money. There is no question we are wasting money. And I think Lorri would agree with that. While Lorri is also staunch for the cause of fish, she’s a world class negotiator and she knows how to negotiate to conclusion agreements with business and indus-try that stick. And in talking to folks from Che-lan PUD and Douglas PUD who just negotiated HCP (Habitat Conservation Plan) agreements with her, they are very happy with her. Lorri was, in fact, a leader in bringing those together.
Why not bring those skills to us, to the fed-eral family, and put her to work on the Columbia issues and see if she can help us do a similar thing, that is, define commonly agreed to objec-tives amongst the tribes, states, federal agencies and river users and then craft a financially doable plan and implement that around those objectives. That’s why I’m bringing Lorri in.
NSRR: Included in the range of numbers for the mainstem are some really dramatic scenarios at the high end, such as five-dam drawdown and full compliance with the Clean Water Act. Some would even consider two-dam drawdown dramatic. Many people in the region are saying some of these options are simply unrealistic, that Congress will never approve money for them. They say it’s just not going to happen so why include them on the list as future fish costs. Are you able as BPA administrator to talk about that a little bit?
JOHANSEN: There are a couple of issues here. One is, are they politically feasible? From my read of the (Northwest) delegation — and that’s really where the decision rests for whether or not we are going to breach dams, it’s with the delegation because it requires congressional action — there is almost unanimous feeling that it is not politically feasible. You have delegation members who are saying anything from it isn’t going to happen — saying even if I liked it I couldn’t sponsor it — to I am going to be stand-ing on the dam when they blow it up; it’ll happen over my dead body. With the exception of Congresswoman Furse — and I haven’t actually talked with Furse about breaching — with her leaving I don’t think there is anyone in the delegation that is going to stand up and say I propose breaching those dams. That’s just my read. So politically feasible? I don’t think so.
NSRR: It appears there is the potential here of the biological side saying a certain scenario is the best thing to do, maybe the only thing to do that will recover salmon, while others will say that’s not feasible. How will policymakers work through that and work with the delegation?
JOHANSEN: That’s what Congress is for, to weigh those public policy tradeoffs. The science — and I am not a scientist and don’t say this with any professional knowledge — but the science won’t be compelling.
How can it be when you’ve got so few data points being collected over so few years? And the data might tend to point to a direction one way or the other but even then policymakers are going to be left with the difficult situation of having to make a judgment whether the science is compelling enough to justify taking dams out and all the hassle that creates.
NSRR: And where does the role of the BPA administrator fit into this process?
JOHANSEN: Fortunately, we don’t make the decision to breach, and we don’t make the biological call. But we will be generating the information within our expertise on the impacts of it. Frankly, a lot of it is already coming out through the Corps process — the power impacts, power replacement, etc. But it’s not our decision.
The financial piece of it may be in our court. Although, if you poll the delegation now, I think many of them are saying even if there were to be dam breaching we think it should be taxpayer funded, not necessarily ratepayer funded.
NSRR: Do you agree with that?
JOHANSEN: I agree with it because I think it goes beyond the authorized purposes of the projects. Those things were put in place contemplating a certain balance and that’s the balance that we as an agency are charged to operate under. When you destroy that balance and you convert power producing facilities into nonpower producing facilities, I think that the equities might tell you that at least a significant portion of that should be borne by someone other than the ratepayers.
NSRR: How would you characterize Bonneville’s relationship with the tribes?
JOHANSEN: The tribes are sovereign entities whose treaty rights we must respect. Their frustrations are longstanding and, in many instances, very legitimate. So they are not to be pushed aside.
I have a couple meetings scheduled during the next month where I am going to go out and start conversations with tribal leaders. I think that’s the important thing — talk to tribal leaders and that’s what I want to do. I am only one federal official in a sea of many, but I certainly think it’s my obligation to engage the tribal leaders.
Bonneville funds a lot of infrastructure for tribes and state fisheries agencies and there are some success stories out there. There are some good things that have happened between BPA and the tribes. But there are also some failures and those are the burrs that stick under our respective saddles.
The tribes’ frustration is not just with Bonneville, I think it’s with the federal government overall and what’s going on in harvest regulation and a number of areas. I suspect the tribes are going to be resorting to litigation again and it’s going to turn all these issues into sort of a white hot debate yet again, and I don’t know quite what the outcome will be from that.
NSRR: Finally, there is the issue of Bonne-ville’s competitiveness. Are you in good shape?
JOHANSEN: We’re in great shape but we are not done. We need to implement in order of magnitude the types of cuts contemplated by the Cost Review panel. The pressure is on us to continue to make significant progress in cost cutting, in finding opportunities for efficiency and in enhancing revenues.
So that might be putting some more money into the federal projects so they aren’t in a break down maintenance mode and they are actually generating more kilowatthours out of units that are operating — I’m not sure of the exact number — something like at 80 percent.
We have a gold mine out there and, because of the antiquated appropriations cycle and the politics of funding that the federal system has been the subject of for so long, we are not taking advantage of that.
We are going to be smaller. We are going to continue to downsize. I don’t think layoffs are needed because so much progress has been made by BPA in downsizing even in the last few years that I have been struck by how many people have left this agency since I was here a few years ago.
Administrator Judi Johansen has said that the biggest challenge most employees, including herself, face is balancing family and work. BPA is striving to make that balancing act easier.
Since the mid-1980s, BPA has focused on improving the workplace by creating a number of programs to help employees improve work and family life as well as overall employee health and well-being.
Those programs have received the Department of Energy award for Exemplary Family Friendly Programs and honorable mention in The Office of Personnel Management Director’s Award for Outstanding Work and Family Programs.
Here’s a reminder of some of the many programs available to employees.
Flexible Work Schedules – BPA employees have many options when it comes to work schedules. Telecommuting, part-time positions and job sharing are available. Many employees can work flexible hours as long as they work 40 hours a week and are at work during specific core hours that vary by location. But some positions require that employees work certain hours to assure that the power system remains safe and reliable. Flexible hours give employees new opportunities to spend time with their families. Joan McNamara, education coordinator, works four 10-hour days so she can spend Fridays taking care of her 17-month-old granddaughter, Abigail. “She’s just learned to say grandma,” says a proud McNamara.
Leave – Thanks to the federal Family Friendly Leave Act, employees may use up to 13 days of sick leave annually to care for ill family members or to attend the funeral of a family member. For longer term situations, the Family and Medical Leave Act entitles employees to take time off for the birth of a child, adoption or serious health conditions, including those a close family member. Contact Margaret Lee in Human Resources at 503-230-3486 for more details.
Sandy Menashe, an accountant in Financial Services, took time off to care for his two young sons. His managers were very supportive when, in 1991, Menashe spent two months taking care of six-month old Alex and in 1993 he spent two months taking care of six-month-old Ben. Each time as he transitioned back to full-time work, he telecommuted and worked part-time. His wife, Wendi, had been home with each of the boys for their first six months. “I got to build a strong foundation with my kids and, at the same time, gained an appreciation of the time and effort involved in caring for young kids,” says Menashe.
Above: Sandy Menashe goes hiking with his sons. Right: Joan McNamara shows off the reason she works four days a week. |
Voluntary Leave Transfer — The Voluntary Leave Transfer program is an employee-helping-employee program that is unique to the public sector and is not widely available there. Each year dozens of employees donate annual leave to employees who have used up all their sick leave on their own illness or on a family member’s. Louie Church, foreman II at Garrison Substation, is a grateful recipient of donated leave. He was diagnosed with leukemia and faced a bone marrow transplant — a chancy procedure that was his only hope. The transplant was successful, but he was out of work for about a year. Donated leave made it possible for him to remain an employee. “The response was overwhelming,” says Church. “A lot of people donated over 1,100 hours of leave. That helped me financially and emotionally survive the time off. It is a great feeling to know that, when times get hard, there are programs in place to help you cope. I can’t say ‘thank you’ enough to the people who helped me through some very difficult times.” Church also benefited from telecommuting and temporary details. He returned to his old job full time at the end of August. Contact Margaret Lee at 503-230-3486. Elder Care — BPA also has an elder care program designed to help employees caring for elderly parents or relatives by providing referrals to services in the community. Contact Dan Wilson in Human Resources at 503-230-7343. |
Fitness – BPA supports the health and fitness of its employees by providing on-site fitness centers in Portland and Vancouver. Employees stationed outside of these areas are reimbursed 50 percent of fees at health clubs, community centers or schools that offer BPA-approved aerobic and strength training programs. About 400 field employees participate. Contact Dan Wilson in Human Resources at 503-230-7343.
Education Program – Employees receive administrative leave (subject to manager’s approval) to participate in community education programs. Activities include BPA-sponsored programs such as Kids in the Creek; tutoring math, science, reading or writing; and teaching students about the hydropower system and about BPA programs such as fish and wildlife and energy conservation. Some employees spend their own time helping students. Contact Joan McNamara at 503-230-3709.
Employee Assistance Program – Employees have an opportunity to receive confidential counseling for personal issues such as alcohol or drug use; emotional, marital or family problems; and work-related difficulties. Employees call the counseling service directly and no one at BPA has access to the information. In Portland, the number is 287-8043. Outside of the Portland area, the toll-free number is 1-888-422-8043. The EAP also offers consultation to managers in resolving issues with troubled employees and in improving work relationships. The contact in Portland/Vancouver is Richard Joslin at 503-230-3028. In other areas, contact Tom Tison at 503-230-7337.
Pluralism Council/Resource Groups – Ten resource groups exist under the umbrella of the Pluralism Council. The groups meet monthly to share information, discuss issues and concerns, and proactively work for changes within BPA. The groups are the African American, Christian Values, Disabled Awareness, Men’s, Parenting, Older Workers and Women’s resource groups; the Gay Lesbian or Bisexual Employee (GLOBE) resource group; the American Indian/Alaskan Native Council; and the Hispanic Advocacy Committee. Contact the Diversity Office in Portland at 503-230-4728.
Barbara Ballew, chair of the Parenting Resource Group, sees resource groups as an opportunity to network, find support and make cultural changes at a grassroots level. “It’s been one of my most rewarding experiences at BPA,” says Ballew. Her group helped establish lunch-and-learns on family topics, the child care center and the telecommuting program. The group continues to advocate for issues of interest to working families.
Career Services Program – All employees have access to the career services program, which is located on the first floor of the agency headquarters building. Career information is also available at the Seattle, Walla Walla and Spokane offices. Some employees may find they are dissatisfied with their jobs because their skills and interests don’t match the work they are currently doing. How employees feel about their work can affect other aspects of their lives. The career program offers individuals assessment tests, workshops, career counseling and career resilience information to help employees match their skills with positions at BPA. More career information is available on the intranet at http://webip1/corporate/CHD/career/c_events.htm.
“It is important for employees to take responsibility for and control their own careers because no one else will,” says Debbie Deines, who heads up the Career Services Program. “I think people need to make informed career decisions, and they can do that by utilizing all the resources and tools available to them.”
Nicia Balla, public affairs specialist in Communications
The Northwest welcomed thousands of athletes from around the world in August. They came for the Nike World Masters Games, billed as the world’s largest participatory multinational, multisport competition. From Aug. 9 - 22, about 11,000 athletes, generally ages 30 and over, swam, swung, cycled and sailed in venues stretching from Eugene, Bend, Hood River and Portland in Oregon to Vancouver and Goldendale in Washington.
The numbers and the effort were staggering: it took about 2,400 volunteers to help bring the Games to the 11,000 athletes from 102 countries who converged on the Northwest for the first Masters Games to be hosted in the United States. More than a dozen BPA people took part in the Games as volunteers, officials or athletes, including:
Sheila Riewer, a public utilities specialist in market research for the Power Business Line, was a Jane-of-all-trades during the games. At various times she shuttled athletes from their hotels to their competitive sites, entered final results from various sites into the Games’ computer system and served as a “water girl” at the badminton venue.
Recruited as a driver for the Games earlier this year, Riewer also had a chance to chauffeur members of the International Olympic Committee during their visit to Portland last April. “One of them told me I was the MVP of shuttle drivers,” she recalls. “He couldn’t have said anything nicer to me!”
She enjoyed her experiences at the World Masters Games, too. “Everyone was so friendly. I’m hoping to volunteer at the next Masters Games in Melbourne, Australia, in 2002.”
Linda McKinney was infused with that same feeling of friendliness, even though she was doing a job which doesn’t always engender kind feelings – umpiring softball.
“What a great group of people! They were competitive but it didn’t really bother them to lose. They were just glad to be visiting the U.S. and having a good time,” says McKinney, who called games involving teams from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Like Riewer, McKinney, an environmental specialist when she’s not on the diamond, is considering reprising her role four years hence. “But even if I never do another international tournament, I’ll always remember this experience for the mementos I picked up and the wonderful people I met.”
McKinney was recruited for the Games by electrical engineer Bob Thor. As Umpire-in-Chief for the Portland Metropolitan Softball Association, he served in the same role at the Masters Games. He umped several softball games involving teams from other countries and watched many more.
Ever the diplomat, Thor sized up the foreign teams: “Their softball skills are not the best, but they’re having a lot of fun. It’s been more friendly than anything. There’s been a trading frenzy all week — hats, pins, T-shirts — everyone just having a good time.”
Elmer Edgell learned first-hand about foreign softball skills . . .or lack thereof. Edgell, a construction electrician who retired from BPA in 1990, is a world-class slow-pitch softball pitcher. And he wears the world championship rings to prove it. When a Russian masters softball team came up a player short at the Games, Elmer stepped into the breach and onto the mound.
“This has really been an experience! They don’t play much softball in Russia, so I’ve had to be something of a coach for them, as well as a pitcher,” he says. “But it’s amazing how much they improved in just three days.”
Good enough to win their games?
“Well, not exactly,” Edgell says with a shrug and a wink, “but they sure had fun.”
Another BPAer also took center stage at the Games. Although Patricia Tawney wasn’t an athlete, she performed just as physically as any fencer, kayaker or runner.
“Sixteen of us from the Phillip Foster Farm National Historic Site demonstrated ‘How the West Was Fun’ during the athletes’ party,” says Tawney. “We rolled two covered wagons into the Oregon Convention Center and set up a traditional pioneer encampment.” There were fiddlers, dancing and lots of hands-on displays such as corn grinding and tool making. The big-gest hit was bucksawing through cedar logs — everyone did that, including a 93-year-old swim-mer who teamed up with Tawney to cut a slice.
The pioneer encampments “are the kind of thing I love to do and the chance to do it in front of thousands of people from around the world was something I couldn’t resist,” Tawney says. “I got kissed on the cheek by the French, and I danced with Czech weightlifters. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Several Bonneville employees helped with athlete registration, including John Quinata, Len Morales and Don Davey.
“It was the most incredible experience,” says Quinata, a supervisor in transmission scheduling and estimating. “It was the closest thing you can get to an Olympic event.” He and his son, Matt, also helped several foreign volleyball teams during a practice session. “The expressions they used — in their own language, of course — when they hit a good shot or a bad shot were fascinating!”
Quinata recruited Morales, an engineer in his workgroup. In addition to working registration, Morales helped out at the media center and the virtual sports demonstration arena, and he ushered at the opening ceremonies at Portland’s Civic Stadium. He particularly enjoyed the opening ceremonies that included remarks from Olympians Carl Lewis, Mary Slaney and Matt Biondi. But to Morales, they weren’t the most impressive athletes there.
“I met a long-distance runner, a Mr. Hebel from Canada,” he says. “He was an older fellow who, as part of his training, had walked from Vancouver, B.C., to Portland to attend the opening ceremonies. Can you imagine that?” Morales didn’t exactly know how to tell him that the track events were taking place another 100 miles down the road in Eugene.
When Davey, a public utilities specialist in Energy Efficiency, wasn’t volunteering he was attending as many events as he could, particularly two of his favorites – basketball and softball. “These older athletes are amazing. They’re out there playing after by-pass surgeries and hip replacements,” he says.
He also enjoyed talking with the athletes at the registration booth, especially two Russian women: “They said our diet in America is bad and our kids are too fat. They said there’s not enough ‘beautiful food’ like in Russia.”
The athletes weren’t the only ones talking. Jon French, an engineer in Network Planning at Ross, did plenty of talking during the Games . . . in an official capacity. French, a veteran swim meet announcer, called the week-long competition at the outdoor pool at Mt. Hood Community College outside Portland.
“There were 750 swimmers representing every continent but Antarctica. Pronouncing those names was exciting!” he says. “The English names I could handle and my wife helped me with the Spanish names, but the Russian and Bulgarian names were a real challenge.”
French saw 30 world age-group records set during his stint at the mike. “They were a great, great group of people. We had a tremendous week.”
A notion heartily seconded by Rumiko Blanc, a secretary in Generation Supply. She also used her voice all week at the Mt. Hood pool but as a translator for about 20 Japanese swimmers.
Those for whom she translated ranged in age from their 50s to 87. Blanc admitted that one man “swam like a turtle” but most of the rest were accomplished, competitive swimmers.
“I watched all of the swimmers and their form. I listened to all of the coaches giving instructions,” says Blanc, who took up swimming seriously about 18 months ago. “I was an eager disciple — I treated all of the athletes as teachers. I questioned them all about technique.
“But what I enjoyed most was seeing so many mature — I wouldn’t say old — enthusiastic, happy swimmers from all over the world having a good time,” says Blanc. “While the Olympic Games are fierce competitions among opponent countries, the World Masters Games are played among age groups in a most peaceful, relaxed manner. Olympians get lean and mean, while Masters remain jolly and merry!”
Finally, there was something more Blanc learned from these athletes — something that went to the heart of the Masters Games.
“I realized that, regardless of age, if you have the desire, the discipline, the determination and the drive, you can improve. I have those things.” And, she adds, “now that I’ve learned so much, I’m anxious to practice!”
Ken Kane, public affairs specialist in Communications
It’s easy to tell someone to work smarter; the problem is figuring out just how to do it.
The folks in Generation Supply in the Power Business Line may have figured it out. To put a Dale Carnegie spin on things, it’s a matter of turning constraints into opportunities.
The constraints are serious: during the summer, the Columbia River is run to benefit fish, not power. Generation Supply’s challenge is to find ways to follow the directives of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s 1995 biological opinion on river operations while maximizing revenues.
One example is an agreement BPA renegotiated with British Columbia Hydro that maximizes benefits to fish, increases recreational opportunities in Montana and Canada, and boosts BPA revenues compared to previous agreements. It all comes back to having water in the Columbia for fish. The biological opinion called for water to come out of Lake Koocanusa behind Libby Dam to augment low summer flows. This had negative consequences for both Canada and Montana — recreation in Lake Koocanusa was adversely affected and water had to be spilled at Canadian projects downstream of Libby rather than being available for generation.
Since the mid-1990s, BPA had worked with BC Hydro to release water from Lake Arrow behind Keenleyside Dam instead of from Koocanusa; the water released from Arrow is actually better for salmon because it reaches the lower Columbia River much more quickly than water from Koocanusa.
The down side of the arrangement was that it adversely affected BPA because it reduced generation at Libby Dam. This year, BPA has negotiated an arrangement that provides for “in lieu,” or replacement, generation to be delivered to BPA for the energy Libby would have generated if the flow augmentation water were released from Libby.
So, the fish get what they need, both the Canadians and Montanans get improved recreation conditions, the Canadians spill less water than they would if the water were released from Libby and BPA receives the energy Libby would have generated.
“We had this kind of arrangement in the past,” says Greg Delwiche, hydraulic engineer, “But each year we do it better. We used to just think of it as a public benefit for the state of Montana and Canada, but now we’ve arranged for it to be both a public benefit and a benefit for power generation.”
The Canadian agreement is one way in which BPA is changing the way it manages water. The California market is also providing a perfect fit for the summer flow augmentation in the Columbia. As the river’s flows go up, the people in California are turning on their air conditioning. “We have benefited economically by selling to that market,” says Delwiche. “But we have also helped the consumers in California.” BPA power is in demand both because of its price and because it helps reduce air pollution in California where a large percentage of the power is generated by thermal plants.
And Delwiche notes that his group has gotten a whole lot smarter about the way it does its basic work. It sounds bland to say that the group has improved its internal processes, but the actuality is vivid. In the past, Delwiche says, the computer models used for planning loads and resources only looked at weeks and months. The models have recently been improved so the group can now look at hourly loads and resources. “We’ve gone from weak binoculars to high-resolution binoculars,” says Delwiche. That change has allowed BPA to squeeze more value out of the system by maximizing generation and making strategic energy purchases.
Smooth internal work also helped the agency respond cleverly to El Niño effects on the generation system. In the spring of 1997, the weather forecasting group picked up the approaching El Niño and Generation Supply began planning for it. “We looked out into the future,” says Delwiche, “and saw the potential to be short of energy in the spring of 1998 due to subpar runoff conditions associated with El Niño. So we decided not to get overcommitted on sales and began looking at strategic purchases to hedge the risk of below normal spring runoff, the potential for early runoff that often occurs in El Niño years and the risk of a delay in the restart of WNP-2.” It was the right strategy. Instead of buying in a tight market, the agency was selling in a tight market.
“If we can foresee an operating problem before other players in the market do, we can manage the risk at a lower cost. This gives us an edge,” says Delwiche.
Which is a pretty good definition of working smarter.
Cheri Larson, public affairs specialist in Communications
Money talks, some claim. But what does it say?
In the case of the chargeback system for many Corporate services that goes into effect with the new fiscal year, it says that managers who provide services to the agency need to rethink the way they do things.
Starting Oct. 1, managers who use a fair number of internal services — internal audit, media services, building management, computer work station support, internal consulting and training, and purchasing and supplies — will see bills for those services. Managers will also need to include a forecast of costs for these services in their FY 1999 budgets.
This is all part of the ongoing program of cost control in the agency. “Cost responsibility is becoming the key responsibility of every manager of every tier at BPA,” says Nancy Hagen, manager of Managerial Accounting in the Business Services Group.
Not all Corporate services lend themselves to direct charging. The challenge the Shared Services board gave Managerial Accounting in devising the system was, in the words of Stephen Zimmerman, financial analyst in Hagen’s group, “to implement buy-sell relationships by setting up direct charges for those services that are a definable product recognized by user and provider.”
The point of this effort, says Zimmerman, “is that we have brought the costs of our internal services directly to our managers. We have asked each manager to grapple with services coming to them from Corporate on a product-by-product basis. This has also put the providers of these services on alert.”
This is creating the dialogue between service users and service providers that Jim Curtis, senior vice president for Business Services has been talking about. If a manager is going to pay for training, for example, that manager is going to talk with the supplier of the training services about the costs and benefits to be delivered. The manager in charge of supplying the training will have an incentive to be sure that the training is high in quality and low in cost, and the manager requesting the training will have an incentive to determine if the service is really needed at that price.
The proving ground for the chargeback system has been Media Services. Media Services began charging for printing about four years ago, says manager Rick Gadd, and began charging for all services at the beginning of FY 1998. Charging for services has definitely changed the behavior of those using Media Services. “We are doing about 60 percent of the volume we did four years ago,” says Gadd. Gadd believes that some of the changed behavior has saved BPA money, but some has not because some clients are using more expensive copiers now in an attempt to shift costs.
But many of the changes have saved money. “Clients talk to us now about color versus black and white and about the number of copies to be made. Frequently,” says Gadd, “clients shift to black and white because it is cheaper or opt for a smaller print run. Sometimes clients decide that they just don’t need the product after all.”
This dialogue and re-examination of past practices is the point of the new system. Several Media Services clients have come up with cheaper and more effective ways of accomplishing their goals. John Quinata, supervisory electrical engineer in the Transmission Business Line, is one of those. “We have a work order index that we printed and distributed monthly (about 300 copies) and got billed for each month,” says Quinata. “We now have it on the TBL intranet where it is more easily accessible to more people, more frequently updated and cheaper to produce.”
Quinata acknowledges that the change was only partly motivated by the desire to save money. The important part, however, is that re-examining what he wanted to accomplish helped him arrive at a method that is cheaper and more effective than the old method. The intranet approach is also working for a booklet of BPA owned and operated facilities. “We used to print and distribute over 100 copies of this booklet annually,” Quinata says.
Financial Operations is following the same model. It is no longer sending out printed copies of the quarterly reviews – they are on the BSG homepage.
Hagen and Zimmerman expect the new costing approach will prompt similar changes in behavior in the new areas. For example, Zimmerman says that groups that are leasing space may examine whether they need all the space they occupy once they are directly charged for it. Again, as groups are charged for computer maintenance and upgrades, more thought will go into deciding whether upgrades are needed. Groups that have unique systems will be forced to decide whether the increased costs of support are justified.
This effort, Hagen and Zimmerman point out, is consistent with the agency’s efforts to cut costs. But, it does not prescribe what managers must do other than examine the costs of their products. To be successful under this effort, providers and clients will be discussing what products are to be delivered and the resources needed to provide them.
It is a dialogue in which money will have something to say, but not everything.
Issues ’98 came and went without making a splash for most employees, but the event has created some ripples. The first ripple was BPA’s delay of the beginning of the subscription contract negotiation phase and the initial proposal of the power rate case.
Of Issues ’98, Steve Hickok, acting chief operating officer, says, “We got the best outcome we could get — a big, ‘Oh, I get it. So go manage.’” The range of comments received, Hickok says, was from “yawn” to “Hey, don’t you have some big program-design issues you have to resolve before you can start subscription?”
Issues ’98 was not designed to reach decisions on most of the issues discussed because the decision processes were and are proceeding on their own separate tracks. The comments were clear, however, that many of the issues that need to be resolved before subscription can begin are simply too big and too important to the future of the Federal Columbia River Power System not to allow more time for discussion.
Other ripples will affect how the Cost Review Board recommendations are implemented (see sidebar). In Issues ’98 BPA presented its proposal for implementing each of the cost review recommendations and made it clear that the administrator would make the final decision after Issues ’98 comments were received.
The public comment period for Issues ’98 opened May 19 and closed June 26. In between were 18 small group meetings and three regional public meetings. BPA also received 24 letters from external stakeholders. The meetings and letters yielded a total of 443 comments, most of which fell into the five issue areas BPA identified at the beginning of the process. Others presented opinions about BPA’s role and about Issues ’98 itself.
The comments were generally constructive and the region responded favorably to the material presented through Issues ’98. “There wasn’t an overriding sense that BPA’s costs are out of control, or our rates are too high or we’re not managing well,” says Helen Goodwin, policy strategist in Corporate Planning.
To present the issues and elicit comment, BPA published five fact sheets that discuss cost management; future fish and wildlife funding; power markets, revenues and subscription; transmission issues; and risk management. In addition to the regional and public meetings, BPA managers held a series of educational workshops for BPA staff.
Issues ’98 had several purposes. One was to give the public an overview and context for major policy issues in BPA’s future. Another was to engage the region in a dialogue about the issues. BPA also wanted to help the public understand the risks and major uncertainties facing the agency as the issues are resolved in the next few months. The focus of discussion was the five years beginning October 2001 and ending September 2006, the first years of subscription power sales contracts.
The business lines and Corporate analyzed the comments and prepared responses. “We want people to know that we heard them and are willing to listen and incorporate their comments in our efforts,” says ZoeAnne Arrington, strategic planner for the Power Business Line.
A final fact sheet was published in late August to close out the process. The final fact sheet includes summaries of the earlier fact sheets and comments received and BPA’s responses, along with a description of next steps and further opportunities for involvement. The administrator’s final decision on implementing the Cost Review Board’s recommendations was released in a separate document (the Cost Management Close Out Fact Sheet).
Next steps to resolve fish and wildlife funding issues include BPA working with regional interest groups, state and federal agencies, and Columbia Basin tribes. The results, due in September, will be a range of fish and wildlife costs for the 2002-2006 period and financing options for recovering the costs through BPA’s rates.
Next steps for the area of power markets, revenues and subscription include BPA’s Sept. 16 release of its subscription implementation proposal. The proposal will be available for public comment until Oct. 23, after which BPA will issue a record of decision. Subscription negotiations are scheduled to begin in mid-October. To support subscription, the power rate case is scheduled to begin in early 1999.
Next steps to resolve transmission issues are taking place in the context of the upcoming power rate case and in the transmission rate case that will begin early in 2000.
Risk management will be addressed in the fish financing forum and in pre-rate-case discussions. During the power rate case, BPA will decide how to implement risk management and which tools to use.
Martha Swain, public utilities specialist in Power Products, Pricing and Rates
|
Cost Review Board Recommendations
At the request of the region’s four governors, in September 1997 the Northwest Power Planning Council and BPA launched a review of BPA’s costs. The cost review panel consisted of 11 members, including five executives with experience in managing large organizations going through competitive transitions. The panel examined all costs, except fish and wildlife costs, to be recovered through BPA’s power and transmission rates. The focus was on the initial subscription period, FY 2002-2006. The panel’s recommendations were advisory and were submitted to BPA’s administrator in March after a public process. The recommendations would reduce Federal Columbia River Power System expenses for power in FY 2002-2006 by $146 million annually from BPA’s previous spending forecast and by $232 million from expenses in the current rates. At the beginning of Issues ’98, BPA proposed to adopt in full the recommendations of the cost review. Comments received during Issues ‘98 generally were supportive of BPA’s intentions and actions to reduce costs and remain competitive, although concern was expressed that BPA continue to meet its public responsibilities. BPA has decided to adopt the cost review recommendations in full, as the agency proposed at the beginning of Issues ’98. This decision presents significant challenges and risks to BPA and to its major power suppliers, the Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Washington Public Power Supply System. Some of the cost savings require new statutory authority, and BPA has limited influence over some of these costs. BPA has no control at all over other uncertainties, such as variability of streamflows, power markets, fish and wildlife costs and regulatory change, that can affect its costs and revenues. Actual implementation of the cost review recommendations will occur in the power rate case scheduled to begin in January 1999. BPA’s initial proposal revenue requirement will reflect the cost levels adopted as a result of Issues ’98. The initial proposal also will present risk management strategies for dealing with the uncertainties BPA will face during the rate period. Parties will have an opportunity during the rate case to comment on implementation of the recommendations in the context of rate case issues. |
Previous reports from the front lines have described BPA’s aerial assault on invading noxious weeds. BPA helicopters have dropped bug bombs containing biological control agents where scotch broom and gorse have invaded coastal areas in Oregon and Washington.
A new front is being fought, this time on the ground. The entrenched invader is an alien known as knapweed. The theater is the environs of Wasco County surrounding Hood River, Ore. The weapon of choice is once again biological warfare.
Working with entomologist Bill Reynolds, who is under contract to BPA, the agency is funding the use of two insects to control the rapid spread of nonnative knapweed. One insect is a flower weevil (Larinus minutus) that eats the seed head and the other is a yellow-winged root moth (Agapeta zoegana) whose larvae mine the roots of the plant. When used in combination, they can be an effective tool in BPA’s arsenal.
Knapweed has become one of the most troublesome rangeland weeds in the western United States. Infestations of the plant have caused soil erosion, decreased biodiversity and reduced forage for wildlife and livestock. The weed comes in five varieties, two of which, spotted and diffuse, are the targets of BPA’s efforts. Knapweed probably entered the United States at the turn of the century as a contaminant of alfalfa seed. Spotted knapweed came from central Europe and diffuse knapweed from the eastern Mediterranean.
The approach taken by scientists seeking control agents has been to go back to the weed’s country of origin and look for natural enemies that feed on the plant. However, before any natural enemies are released to the plant’s new environment, extensive studies are performed to ensure that they won’t feed on other, nontarget, plants and themselves become a problem.
According to Libby Johnson, BPA natural resource specialist for the Redmond region, even though these biological controls may be effective, they will never completely eliminate dependence on herbicides.
BPA continues to support biological control programs because, as a public agency, BPA has an obligation to work with the counties and states to control noxious weeds. Because knapweed is regarded as a “roadrunner” that follows highways and rights-of-way access roads, Johnson adds, “We want to be sure our transmission lines don’t serve as a vector in the spread of these weeds.” The extent to which BPA supports these efforts goes beyond its land management responsibilities and is more a reflection of its public benefits philosophy.
Picture this: the Power Business Line account executive has no power; the Transmission Business Line account executive has no transmission available; and five full requirements customers are there to catch the irony. After the last meeting of the Pierce County Cooperative Power Association, PBL account executive George Reich returned to his car to find his battery dead and no jumper cables in the trunk. As Reich turned to a fellow BPA employee, TBL account executive Tom Noguchi, to ask for a jump start, Ohop Mutual Light General Manager Bill Culliton reminded Reich what the BPA account executives had been telling him and the other customers: “PBL will receive no advantage from TBL… there is a wall between the business lines… TBL cannot talk to PBL.”
The humor was not lost on the other customers as they gradually came out of the meeting and lingered in the parking lot. It turns out that Noguchi didn’t have jumper cables either — he couldn’t get the power to Reich! So here are the power account executive trying to find power rather than sell it, the transmission account executive without any transmission to get the power where it needs to go and BPA depending on the customer’s system to fix the problem. The problem was solved with TBL providing the power and Parkland Light and Power manager Jim Sherrill providing the transmission.
Culliton laughed all the way home and told his family about the ironic picture he’d just witnessed, which prompted his son Bret to draw the illustration below. Still chuckling, Culliton explains, “At first we thought the separation of the business lines seemed unreasonable and ridiculous, even though we are now doing it ourselves. This was a perfect picture.” Adds Reich, “The role reversal solved the problem, in spite of who provides the power and who provides the transmission, and shows that we all can still work together to find solutions.”