In the latest episode of Public Power Now, Aaron Rasmussen, Principal Engineer, Grid Automation, at Omaha Public Power District, and Rick Stava, Manager of Protection and Automation Engineering, at OPPD, detail a new OPPD substation simulator. Among other things, the OPPD officials discuss the training that is available through the substation simulator for OPPD personnel and detail the advantages of training on a substation simulator as compared with training on a real substation.

In the latest episode of Public Power Now, Amy Zubaly, Executive Director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, discusses the upcoming hurricane season and details how FMEA and public power utilities in Florida are preparing for the 2024 hurricane season.

In the latest episode of Public Power Now, Denver DeWees, Electric Department Director for the City of Aztec, New Mexico, details how a 2-megawatt solar PV plus 4-megawatt-hour battery energy storage project will benefit the city’s utility and customers. Specifically, he said that energy produced by the solar farm will have a fixed cost with a lower rate. There are “literally millions of dollars of cost savings for the city and the residents.” The energy storage system will help shave peak energy prices and provide resiliency.

In the latest episode of Public Power Now, Brittany Davis, the General Manager and CEO Elect for Tennessee public power utility McMinnville Electric System, notes that included among her long-term goals is the development of a strategic plan for the utility. She also details the ways in which she has introduced herself to the McMinnville community and employees of MES.

Burbank Water and Power on April 5 is scheduled to hold a ribbon cutting for a new iron flow battery storage project.  Among the benefits of iron flow battery storage technology is the useful life of the battery, which is expected to be 25 years, as compared with 10 years for other types of storage technology, said Mandip Samra, Assistant General Manager for Power Supply at Burbank Water and Power, in the latest episode of Public Power Now.

Among the benefits that the Louisiana Energy and Power Authority offers to its full requirements members is to help put downward pressure on costs for LEPA full requirements members through economies of scale as a non-profit organization, Kevin Bihm, General Manager of LEPA, said in the latest episode of Public Power Now.  Another advantage that LEPA provides to member communities is the flexibility to make ongoing decisions to address energy market changes, he noted.

In the latest episode of Public Power Now, Kyle Holmberg, Communications and Energy Programs Analyst at Middleborough Gas and Electric Department, and Sonja Britland, Sustainability and Commercial Development Manager at Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant, detail the benefits that flow to utilities that receive APPA’s Smart Energy Provider designation. They also discuss the projects and activities that the two Massachusetts public power utilities have pursued to earn the Smart Energy Provider designation.

In the latest episode of Public Power Now, Emeka Anyanwu, who began his role as CEO of Nebraska public power utility Lincoln Electric System in January, said that he is focused on trying to understand and internalize “the culture and the spirit” of LES. He also provided an update on the utility’s efforts to meet a decarbonization goal that aims to eliminate or offset the utility’s carbon dioxide production from its generation portfolio by 2040.

In the latest episode of Public Power Now, Ursula Schryver, Senior Vice President of Education, Training, and Events at APPA, details the benefits of attending APPA’s national conference and highlights sessions scheduled to take place at the conference. The National Conference will be held from June 7 through June 12 in San Diego, California.

In the latest episode of Public Power Now, two officials from Washington State’s Snohomish County PUD: John Hieb, Principal Engineer, and Suzy Oversvee, Senior Program Manager for New Energy Initiatives, and Daniel Crawley, Supervisor for Strategic Research at Chattanooga, Tenn.-based EPB, discuss projects that Snohomish County PUD and EPB will pursue as a result of funding announced by the U.S. Department of Energy. They also detailed lessons learned from the application process for the DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program.