SPRING 2014
AL SO IN THIS ISSUE: POWER TRADERS • READIN G BUDDIES • EMPOWERU • TEXAS’ L ARGES T SOL AR FARM
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Empowering Our Employees To Succeed “Don’t just sur vive, thrive” was the theme for CPS Energy’s second EmpowerU event emceed by Dr. Marian Suarez, senior manager of training and development for NuStar Energy. The approximately 200 CPS Energy employees in attendance had the oppor tunity to gain valuable insight on smar t grid technology, personal improvement, and on adapting and succeeding in a changing environment.
President & CEO Doyle Beneby (1) kicked off the event by urging CPS Energy employees to position themselves not just to sur vive the changes facing the energy industr y, but develop and thrive within it. Ed Whitacre (2), keynote speaker, shared similar sentiments as he encouraged those present to take risks. “If you don’t take risks, you lose,” he said. “If you’re always in defen-
sive mode, you lose.” Whitacre led AT&T for 17 years before coming out of retirement to successfully lead General Motors out of bankruptcy. Other featured speakers at this year’s EmpowerU were Scott Lang of Silver Spring Networks and Nancy Giordano (3) of Play Big Inc.
EDITOR Monika Maeckle MANAGER Yvonne Casanova WRITER/COORDINATOR Pam Maris
4 Smart Grid: Moving Our Energy Network Into the 21st Century by Pam Maris
CPS Energy is moving forward with its Smart Grid Initiative that will increase service reliability, reduce outage times, plus more.
8 Power Traders by Pam Maris
Get a glimpse into the activities carried out by Energy Market Operations staff.
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Scene Anniversaries Family Ties Fond Farewell
Cover: As outlined in our Smart Grid initiative, later this year we will begin installing smart meters similar to the ones set by Journeyman Meterman Jason McCartney and others in 2011 as part of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program.
ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Barbara Burris, Eduardo Flores Michael Freberg, Frank Jimenez PHOTOGRAPHY Vincent McDonald Pam Maris AREA REPORTERS Hermelinda Acevedo Rodney Anderson Sandra Alfaro Donna Bailey Becky Baring Leona Boswell Gloria Calderon Madalena DeHoyos Elizabeth Engel Emily Flores Paula Ford Erica Gabriel Andy Garcia Linda Gil Lalie Gomez Yvonne Gomez Katherine Hacker Patricia Hansen Patty Hight Kathy Jarzombek Eunice Lopez Veronica Martinez Robin McFarlane Christine Miller JoAnn Moreno Denae Myers Tressie Neill Cindy Nieto Ronda Reisdorph Maria Sandoval Juanita Terrazas Jeannie Trevino Michelle Trevino Rachel VanDerKnaap Bonnie Vines Patty Ware LINES is produced by the CPS Energy Integrated Communications Department– Monika Maeckle, director. Mail all correspondence to LINES, Mail Drop 11 02 01, P.O. Box 1771, San Antonio, Texas, 78296.
LINES Goes Quarterly Beginning with this issue, LINES magazine is being published and mailed on a quarterly basis. Employees may still read about the latest events and projects occurring at the utility, however, the number of issues produced annually will be reduced from six to four. If you have news or story ideas you’d like to share with magazine staff, email them to lines@cpsenergy.com.
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Mail-Order Pharmacy Offers Convenience and Saves You Dollars
New Team To Take Community Engagement to Next Level
Employees and their dependents enrolled in the CPS Energy Group Health Plan can have their long-term medications conveniently delivered to their home through a mail-order pharmacy. You’ll not only save time and trips to your participating retail pharmacy, but may pay significantly less for your 90-day supply of medicine. Simply ask your doctor for a written prescription for up to a 90-day supply of medication, plus refills, when a maintenance medication is prescribed. Then, complete the CVS Caremark Service Order Form online at www.caremark.com by clicking on “New Prescriptions.” If you’re not able to complete the form online, you can stop by the CPS Energy Benefits Department (Main Office, 8th Floor) to pick one up, or call CVS Caremark at 1-800-966-5772 to request a form.
CPS Energy has always made it a priority to respond to customers’ needs quickly and efficiently. When storms roll into our service territory and cause outages, Energy Delivery Service employees and others work around-the-clock to restore power. When a residential customer suspects a natural gas leak, a gas troubleman rushes to the scene to investigate and troubleshoot the problem. And now, a team comprised of community outreach, community program development, and weatherization employees will work with the same level of urgency to provide customers with on-thespot service and education. The team will be hitting the streets to meet with customers at their homes and at outreach events all over the city. The idea is to better educate our customers about assistance programs, energy efficiency,
public safety information and more. The team will work directly with customers to address and resolve their requests and concerns. It is anticipated that one of the results of this new personal approach will be to reduce the time it takes qualifying customers to successfully apply for assistance programs. The new initiative is in direct response to requests made during our rate case presentation to the San Antonio City Council in November 2013. Stay tuned for more details about this effort in the next edition of LINES.
Have Lines Marked Before Tackling Excavation Projects Spring is the time of year when folks undertake landscaping projects, such as adding new trees or shrubs or installing new fences or decks. Before doing any type of excavation work, remember to call 811. It’s important to know the location of all natural gas and electric lines before beginning any type of project that involves excavating in your yard. Allow 48 hours (two working days) for locates to be completed.
Reading Buddies Ensure Second Graders’ Success
Northwest Center employees Russ Coons, Manuel Carranza and Eustaquia “Bebe” Bermudez donate a little of their time each week to reading with second graders at Arnold Elementary. In support of our educational initiatives, CPS Energy began participating in the San Antonio Youth Literacy Reading Buddy Program during the 2010-11 school year. At the time, 16 employee volunteers read with second graders at Sarah King Elementary. Over the past few years, that number has steadily grown, and today our employees make up the largest contingent of Reading Buddy participants. This school year, 62 employees, including volunteers from three service centers, are spending an hour each week to help San Antonio Independent School District second graders improve their reading skills. “Our students are always excited to see us. They make us feel like superheroes. It’s an incredible feeling to be able to bring happi-
ness and make a difference in a child’s life,” says John Lopez, an apprentice cable splicer who serves as a reading buddy at Graebner Elementary. It’s been shown that just one hour a week can help improve a child’s reading skills by a grade level or more. Students paired with CPS Energy volunteers have improved their reading abilities by an average of 1.5 grade levels. In addition to volunteer support, the Reading Buddy program is set to receive $100,000 over the next five years [$20,000 annually], through educational initiatives CPS Energy reached with its New Energy Economy partners. President & CEO Doyle Beneby will be chairing the 2014 fundraising campaign.
CPS Energy, with roots that date back to the 1880s, is now equipping electric and natural gas infrastructure with 21st century technology. How are we doing this? We are working closely with Silver Spring Networks to bring smart grid technology to the service territory. “The Smart Grid is transformational change for the electricity business, and we are investing in the enabling technologies to protect our future and enhance value to our customers,” says David Jungman, chairman of the smart grid initiative steering committee. The large-scale enhancements being made to support the smart grid initiative are destined to produce “win-win” results for both our customers and the company. “Among the numerous benefits we anticipate are improved communication with our customers, increased reliability, reduced outage times and operational costs, plus greater energy-use awareness by 4
customers who will have this type of information readily available to them,” says Martha Mitchell, the program sponsor. The Smart Grid Initiative is a multifaceted process affecting an entire electrical network. With guidance from Silver Spring Networks, we have fashioned the program into five major components: Distribution Automation (DA), Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Mesh Network, Meter-to-Cash and Customer Engagement. A program management team, led by Elizabeth Ackley, has been created to establish the processes that will make the program sustainable. Better Outage Detection and Restoration Distribution Automation is like taking an antiquated system and turning it into a world-class operation. It includes the addition or upgrade of software and hardware that will give us the ability to
remotely detect and correct system outages, and to improve the electric distribution system’s efficiency. One application for improving electrical reliability is Fault Location, Isolation and Service Restoration. As the name suggests, this application enables an electric system to automatically detect a fault, isolate it and restore as much power to the system as possible. Another application, Volt/VAR optimization, can help us better control voltage and reduce voltage loss as well as energy demand. Hardware to support this project will include approximately 1,900 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) devices to be installed throughout our service territory, over the course of five to 10 years. These devices can detect current flow and line voltage, monitor reclosers and circuit breakers, and even bring sections of the power grid online or offline. Six hundred of the devices
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could possibly be installed by the end of 2014, doubling the number already in service. These electrical devices – reclosers, capacitor banks, voltage regulators and fault indicators – all have to be configured to ensure they are communicating properly with our SCADA software. “When a customer experiences a power outage, we’ll be better equipped to pinpoint the location of the outage, determine what caused it and be able to quickly get somebody out there to remedy the situation,” says Tommy Ross, sponsor of the Distribution Automation effort. More Smart Meters To Be Deployed The current focus of the Smart Grid Initiative is meter deployment readiness, which consists of installing approximately 750,000 electric meters and 340,000 natural gas meter smart modules. The installation will begin in the fall of this year and continue through 2018. A smart meter is a digital electric meter equipped with two-way wireless communications technology. The consumption data from the meter allows customers to proactively
manage their energy use, save money and reduce their impact on the environment. Furthermore, customers equipped with the smart meter can view their electricity use in 15-minute increments through a secure web portal. “Beyond these benefits, the smart meter will allow for greater customer privacy because our meter readers will not have to enter a customer’s property to obtain reads. And it will allow us to reduce estimated meter reads so we can give our customers more accurate and timely bills,” says AMI Electric project lead Dwain Duke. The infrastructure established on the electric side will also allow smart meter devices installed on gas meters to provide greater awareness of gas consumption. AMI Gas project sponsor Jacob de Leon and his team have constructed a test facility at Mission Road Construction Center to test the gas meter smart modules in anticipation of the upcoming deployment. Smart meters also provide us with greater information about how much electricity and gas is being used throughout the service territory. Additionally, they allow for improved
reliability, remote outage restoration notification, and even remote connect and disconnect capability. A Highway for Two-Way Communication A mesh network will allow for twoway communication between us and the AMI smart meters. “It is essentially the information highway that allows our smart grid programs – AMI and Distribution Automation – to work properly and seamlessly for the customer and CPS Energy,” explains Mark Lampe, the Network project’s lead. It is anticipated that the network will serve as the platform to help us develop quicker and moreisolated outage detection and voltage monitoring. “Ultimately,” says Lampe, “it will be the catalyst for clearly and effectively communicating with our customers about their energy use and costs.” The mesh network includes relays and access points situated on communication towers, as well as on utility-owned distribution poles and at our substations. These relays and access points help create a robust two-way network that enables us to gather data from and deliver information to the customer. Silver Spring Networks began installing the devices in December 2013 and expects to have all of them in place by the end of this year. Timelier Meter Reads and Bills “Through this process, we are streamlining how we collect revenue in an AMI-structured environment,” notes George Kassise, who is a co-sponsor of
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An access point installed as part of our Smart Grid Initiative
the Meter-To-Cash project. “It entails connecting both the automated natural gas and electric meter readings to billing.” To accomplish this, we are upgrading software applications, and planning and documenting business process changes that will result from having a smart meter system. Then, once the smart meters are installed and the associated systems are functional, meter reads and resulting bills will be automatically generated. It is anticipated that these automated processes will improve the timeliness and accuracy of both meter reads and bills.
Empowering the Customer With Information Because every customer, at some point, will be affected by the Smart Grid Initiative, communicating with them is going to be critical. “There’s an educational component that we have to consider. We want our customers to understand why we are investing in these upgrades and the benefits,” says Lisa Lewis, who is overseeing the Customer Engagement piece. “We have to continually touch base with our customers and educate them on what’s available to them and how best they can take advantage of having this smart technology at their fingertips.”
Communication is one of the driving factors in how well we rate in customer satisfaction. It is anticipated that improved customer communication, as well as improved system reliability and service restoration times, will foster greater customer satisfaction. Mitchell says that in addition to the the Smart Grid Initiative’s five teams in place, a development team is being established to figure out how we can use the collected data to better run our business. “There is so much potential and so many capabilities with the smart grid,” she says. “We’re just beginning to scratch the surface.” 7
POWER TRADERS Employees Work to Lock In Best Deals By Pam Maris
Energy Controllers Gregg Brooks (standing) and Pete Anguiano rely on data available to them when making decisions such as purchasing and selling electricity. 8
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Buy low, sell high. While this may sound like a piece of advice offered from an investor or broker making transactions on the New York Stock Exchange, it’s also an objective of the Energy Market Operations staff. Similar to buying and selling shares on the stock market, we buy and sell electricity … but not on Wall Street. Rather, the transactions take place in a secured area on the fourth floor of the Main Office. That’s where the dozen employees of Real-Time Market Operations and three members of Day-Ahead Market Operations work jointly to make power transactions on behalf of our company. On this mild-weathered morning in February, Energy Controllers Roger Carrasco and Mike Rodriquez of Real-Time Market Operations have their eyes fixed on two large screens and more than a dozen smaller ones directly in front of them. The screens are filled with colorful charts and spreadsheets that more than likely would mean nothing to the average individual. “Our computer system is directly tied to ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas),” explains Carrasco. “We can receive instructions from them and provide them information like updates related to a power plant outage or a scheduling change.” ERCOT is the Independent System Operator that oversees the majority of Texas’ electrical grid, including our service territory. Incredibly, the automated computer system even allows ERCOT to increase or decrease output from each of the utility’s generating units. “Our first priority in Market Operations is to make sure we have enough power to meet our obligations,” says Carrasco. “This includes our native load – the electricity our own customers are using – and the power we’ve committed to our wholesale customers. We also have reserves for what are called ancillary services – excess power available to sell after we’ve met our obligations.”
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Looking over his shoulder to the pair of employees seated behind him, Carrasco adds with a chuckle, “If these guys have done a good job, then it makes things a lot easier for me.” Carrasco is referring to Energy Controllers Gregg Brooks and Pete Anguiano of Day-Ahead Market Operations. On this particular morning, Anguiano has sold 200 megawatts of power for the following day in bilateral sales, while Brooks has just electronically submitted tomorrow’s generation plans to ERCOT. “This has to be completed by 10 a.m. each morning,” Brooks says. “We have to let them [ERCOT] know how much power we expect to generate or buy.” One of Energy Market Operations’ greatest challenges, notes Senior Director Paul Barham, is the forecasting function – making plans around what we anticipate is going to happen: what units are going to be available, what loads will be, market prices, and activities happening around the nation or world that can affect local prices. Another challenge, he adds, is identifying and managing the risks associated with these things. “We’re constantly in touch with Power Generation. We coordinate with them on their plans to see which units are available and when.” Good planning protects us and our customers from volatile market prices, such as those seen in early January when blustery weather blanketed the state, and electric demand soared. We proved to be well-prepared to meet electric obligations during the extreme cold snap and even brought on a couple of smaller units normally reserved for the summer. But despite these local efforts, ERCOT neared the brink of implementing rolling outages as two North Texas power generating units tripped and the state’s electric reserve margin became alarmingly narrow. The price of electricity drastically jumped, reaching the market price cap of $5,000 per megawatt hour – an exorbitant rate considering that on most days the price per megawatt hour averages $30 to $40. We sold some excess power at the capped price, earning approximately $2 million in revenue for the utility and the community. This amount, though impressive, seems rather minute considering that more than $1.7 billion in transactions flowed through Energy Market Operations in 2013. “We’re always working on getting better and better at what we do – lessons learned,” says John Bonnin, director of Day-Ahead and Real-Time Operations. “We go over the sequence of events of what happened, reviewing what happened and what decisions were made.” Bonnin, like most of his staff members, recalls the rolling outages Texas experienced in February 2011, brought on by freezing temperatures and failing power plants. Though we already had procedures in place for weather events, he says, some changes or improvements were subsequently made. “When we know severe weather is coming, we now monitor it more closely,” says the 12-year veteran. “Also, we might start up power plants earlier – even before ERCOT calls for them – to make sure they’ll start when we need them. And because Market Operations is a 24-hour function, we’ll take steps to make sure we have sufficient personnel coverage: We may have employees report to work early or we may have them stay after their normal working hours if we know weather conditions could impede their travel.” In addition to successfully securing enough power for customers, the staff in Energy Market Operations recently secured long-term wholesale power contracts with Seguin, Boerne, Kerrville and Texas Co-Op. Along with Castroville, Floresville and Hondo, this now brings the number of our long-term wholesale customers to seven. “This is a significant deal because wholesale sales help our O&M (Operating & Maintenance) budget,” says Barham. “It’s revenue for us.”
Whether they’re buying or selling electricity, or working to land long-term wholesale contracts, the employees of Energy Market Operations are always looking to improve the bottom line for our customers.
MORE THAN $1.7 BILLION IN TRANSACTIONS FLOWED THROUGH ENERGY MARKET OPERATIONS IN 2013.
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Here’s a look at some of the activities happening around CPS Energy. Rochelle, Lee Honored With Renamings
CPS Energy recently honored former CEOs Jamie Rochelle and Milton Lee (pictured with current President & CEO Doyle Beneby) by dedicating and renaming critical infrastructures that each helped develop. The Jamie A. Rochelle Energy Management &Training Center recognizes Rochelle’s commitment to preparedness, technological innovation and continuing education. Rochelle started her career as a computer programmer in 1969, and rose to general manager and CEO in 1999. She remained at the helm through 2002, navigating the company through the early stages of elec12
tric deregulation and the addition of our first renewable generation source. The Milton B. Lee Peaking Units at the Leon Creek and Braunig power stations are products of Lee’s strategic leadership to meet the community’s growing electricity demand and minimize emissions. Lee joined the company in 2000 as senior vice president of electric transmission and distribution, then followed Rochelle as general manager and CEO in 2002. He led the company through massive changes to move the company to competitive readiness until his departure in 2010. (1)
DistribuTECH Conference Draws Record Crowd
CPS Energy Hosts Veteran Symposium & Expo
Garza Named Among Top 10 Latinos
More than 200 local veteran business owners recently had the opportunity to visit with 40-plus governmental and private business exhibitors during the second annual CPS Energy Veteran Symposium and Expo. Among other topics, the attendees were provided with helpful information and tips on growing their business, creating jobs and increasing profits. Texas Representative José Menéndez, who serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Defense and Veterans Affairs, delivered the keynote address. (2, 3)
More than 10,000 people from a record 66 countries attended the 2014 DistribuTECH Conference and Exhibition held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The event featured 475 exhibitors and 300 speakers, including President & CEO Doyle Beneby. DistribuTECH focuses on smart grid technology that encompasses automated and control systems, advanced metering, renewable energy integration, system operations and reliability, plus much more. (4)
Rudy Garza, vice president of external relations, was recently featured in Latino Leaders magazine as one of the 10 most influential and powerful Latinos in the energy industry. Garza’s role includes working with elected officials at the local, state, and federal level as well as stakeholders throughout the community. He joined us in 2012. Pictured with Garza (at right) are Robert Nathan of External Relations and State Rep. Philip Cortez. (5)
Congr atulations to these employees who have reached milestones in their year s of ser vice .
James Richter Navarro Building
35 Lars Allen Salvage
Richard A. Rodriguez Main Office
Robert Barba Southwest Center
Tony Valdez Navarro Building
Alfredo Carmona Southwest Center
Johnny Franklin Mission Road Construction Center
30 Josephine Aguilar Northwest Center
James Jung Mission Road Construction Center
William ‘Brad’ Carr Mission Road Construction Center
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Cheryl Jonas Navarro Building
Victor Robledo Northside Customer Service Center
25 Stephen Ballard Eastside Center
Saul Juarez Southwest Center
Eric Rosemond Main Office
D. Gregg Brooks Main Office David LaRocque Substation Construction & Maintenance
Dolores Sanchez Southwest Center
Gilbert Hernandez Eastside Center Jeanine LaRocque Northeast Center
Donald Schlough Mission Road Construction Center
Lisa Riley Jones Avenue Center Annie Ledesma Northside Customer Service Center
Susan Smith Mission Road Construction Center
Grace Robledo Navarro Building John Northam Eastside Center
Kathy Yates Main Office
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Jeffrey Toscano Eastside Center
Wayne Callender Main Office
15 Margaret Arredondo Northside Customer Service Center
John Cardenas Navarro Building Gloria Calderon Northside Customer Service Center
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Kelly Collins Main Office Rogelio De La Cruz Transformer Shop
Duane Anderson Mission Road Construction Center
Garrett Kempf Mission Road Construction Center Gerardo Escamilla Jr. Energy Management Center
Eustaquia Bermudez Northwest Center
Faustino Sanchez Southwest Center
John Buske Northwest Center
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Arthur Garcia Northwest Center
Michael Garza Main Office
Juan Mendez Northeast Center
Shirley Gonzalez Main Office
Wesley Moore Calaveras Power Station
Harold Lambert Southwest Center
Jeffrey Ng Main Office
Francesco Lamourt Navarro Building
Daniel Renteria Calaveras Power Station
Aaron Lindsey Mission Road Construction Center
Shane Scott Calaveras Power Station
Henry Martinez Mission Road Construction Center
Valerie Vidaurri Northside Customer Service Center
Terrance Williams Meter Reading
10 Raul Flores Northside Customer Service Center
Melanie Green Main Office
Jaclyn Gutierrez Main Office
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Jose Jacobo Southwest Center
Randy Cardon Main Office
Tom Sanchez Calaveras Power Station
Juan Garcia Main Office Leopoldo Moncada Navarro Building Cyndi Smith Main Office
Heath Osborn Substation Construction & Maintenance
Desiree Gonzalez Main Office
Christopher Wilson Navarro Building
James Grimshaw Salado Street Center
Veronica Wycoff Northside Customer Service Center
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Justin Johnson Northside Customer Service Center
Tommy Yanez Energy Management Center Russell Anderson Main Office Jessica Rivera Northwest Center
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Energy Delivery & Customer Services Kory Peterson, cable splicer trainee; Caleb Friant, Edward Jarzombek and Ahmad Morris, utility workers; and Carolyn Dougherty,
Matthew Kirk, Cynthia Mermea and Patricia Molina, customer service representatives 1.
Generation & Strategy Robert West, NDE specialist 1.
LINES staff joins other CPS Energy employees in expressing deepest sympathy to: The family and friends of Cline Arnold, a 2007 retired employee of Maintenance Services. The family and friends of Gene E. Cross, a 1984 retired employee of the Production Department. The family and friends of Lauro Cruz Jr., a 1987 retired employee of Materials and Transportation. The family and friends of Milton Drumm Jr., a 1997 retired employee of the Claims Division. Geraldine “Gelina� Flores, Field Services, on the death of her mother, Lucia Molina. The family and friends of Ed Kvapil, a 34-year employee who worked as a manager of customer construction.
Energy Delivery & Customer Services
Audrey James, customer solutions specialist; Holly Atkinson, CSR-lead; Melinda Figueroa, commercial customer services representative; and Curt Alexander, program/ project manager.
Financial Services
Ernestina Salinas, financial services specialist.
The family and friends of Henry Martinez Jr., a 2013 retired employee of Power Generation.
Generation & Strategy
Sharon Pogue, Energy Market Fuel Analysis, on the death of her husband, Donald Pogue.
planning; Gregory Schwierking, manager of
The family and friends of John Pressler, a 1993 retired employee of the Customer Services Department. Bertram Williams, Fleet Operations, on the death of his mother, Rosa Mae Williams.
John Kosub, director of integrated resource real-time operations; Glenn Kosub Jr., senior program/project manager; Jose Trevino, manager of water lab & emissions; and Jason Judge, program/system analyst 4.
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Mission Road Construction Center Alyssa Meagan Romero, grand-
daughter of Gloria Siller, graduated with honors from UTSA where she earned a Bachelor of Arts de-
Here’s a look at some of the big events taking place in the lives of our CPS Energy family.
gree in interdisciplinary studies – early childhood education. (3)
Northside Customer Service Center Gilbert and Tina Cruz (Energy
Management Center, NSCSC) were recently united in marriage during a wedding ceremony officiated by Anthony “Bubba” Dixon.
Main Office, 4th Floor
Pete Anguiano’s daughter, Andrea, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Texas Health Science Center. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. Andrea, who is now working as a pediatric nurse at a local children’s hospital, belonged to Sigma Theta Tau as well as the National and Hispanic student nurses associations. (1) Environmental staff continued their annual holiday cookie swap tradition. Shown are Kim Stoker, Inez Gutierrez, Jenna Anguiano, Juan Sandoval, Lalie Gomez and Louisa Eclarinal. Joe Fulton (retired) and Mike Hellums also participated but shied away from the camera. (2) 20
Leroy Sance served as best man, while Mary Garza was the bride’s maid of honor. The wedding
Substation Construction and Maintenance
party also included Rosie Mata, Lupe
Five-year-old Trey Saenz, son of Lee Saenz
Rivera and Gracie Alderete. (4)
and Becky Baring, grinned from ear to ear
Salado Street Center
Leonard Ruiz’s wife, Rose Mary, is driving around with a big smile on her face – behind the steering wheel of the complimentary car given to her by Mary
when he landed his first fish during an outing with his dad. (7)
Railcar Maintenance
Congrats to Veronica Martinez on earning her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice
Kay Cosmetics. (5)
from UTSA. Shown with her are her hus-
Southwest Center
and Gili. (8)
Seventh-grader Antonio Gonzalez, son of David and Christine Miller, is excelling at Floresville Middle School and did especially well on the Tigers football team. (6)
band Gilibaldo and children Chloe, Carley
News From Retirees
Aida Camarillo is pleased to report that her son, Jeremy, graduated from UTSA with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree
in management. Jeremy maintained a 3.0 GPA and is now studying toward a master’s degree. (9)
Calaveras Power Station Jose Garcia and his family
did some chillin’ while visiting Mesa Verde National Park, Colo. Pictured are Tina, Anthony and Sandra Garcia. (10) Jim and Teresa Beasley enjoyed some time away while vacationing in Key West, Fla.
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Thomas A. Gawlik Energy Delivery Services Eastside Center 35 Years of Service
Best wishes to these employees who have retired after many dedicated years.
Present Position: Electric service foreman
12 Years of Service
Previous Positions: Lineman helper, apprentice lineman, journeyman serviceman
Previous Position: Utility worker
Present Position: Warehouseman
Billy R. Icke Energy Delivery Services Substation Construction & Maintenance
Christopher Lansford Energy Delivery Services Southwest Center
40 Years of Service
Present Position: Supervisor of customer engineering
Present Position: Manager of substation operations Previous Positions: Electric helper, apprentice and journeyman electrician, assistant general foreman, electric transmission superintendent
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Terry Joiner Corporate Support Services Northwest Center
32 Years of Service
Previous Positions: Meter reader, field contact representative, sales and planning representative, planner, unit supervisor of sales and planning, manager of customer coordination and administration
Larry D. Lindner Gas Delivery Mission Road Construction Center
George Ortiz Power Generation Calaveras Power Station
James Richter Jr. Human Resources Navarro Building
26 Years of Service
35 Years of Service
Rick White Energy Delivery Services Eastside Center
35 Years of Service
Present Position: Control room operator
Present Position: HRIS analyst 4
36 Years of Service
Present Position: Manager of leak survey & corrosion control Previous Positions: Gas helper, leak survey journeyman, service crew foreman, general foreman, superintendent of leak survey & corrosion control
Previous Positions: Utility worker, journeyman turbine tender
Previous Positions: Programmer/ analyst, systems analyst, project leader, principal analyst
Present Position: Manager of substation maintenance & testing Previous Positions: Line helper, tester, supervisor of system testing
Robert Pesina Power Generation Calaveras Power Station 32 Years of Service Present Position: Manager of plant operations
Nancy Moreno Corporate Communications & Media Relations Main Office 39 Years of Service Present Position: Administrative assistant 2 Previous Positions: Stenographer 2, data control clerk 2, secretary, senior secretary
Kenneth Pollok Power Generation Calaveras Power Station 34 Years of Service Present Position: Supervisor of production operations Previous Positions: Coal operator, turbine tender, control room operator
Rodolfo Serna Jr. Energy Delivery Services Transformer Shop
Previous Positions: Coal operator, turbine tender, control room operator, shift supervisor, supervisor of production operations, supervisor of chief operations
35 Years of Service Present Position: Foreman of transformer shop Previous Positions: Utility worker; electric helper, trainee and journeyman
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FRED JAMES Concludes 32-Year Career by Pam Maris
Legendary coach Vince Lombardi once said, “… any man’s finest hours – his greatest fulfillment of all that he holds
ment System. • Leading the efforts to design and
of both distribution engineering and operations; senior director of engineering and technical services; vice president
dear – is that moment when he has
implement the utility’s first Distribu-
of operations; and vice president of
worked his heart out in good cause and
tion Automation equipment – the
engineering & technical services. In 2011,
lies exhausted on the field of battle –
foundation for the current Smart
he was named senior vice president of
victorious.”
Grid Initiative.
energy delivery services.
Fred James found fulfillment in serving
With James at the helm of Energy De-
“I had the opportunity to build friend-
our company and the citizens of Greater
livery Services, customers for the past
ships and work with so many different
San Antonio for the past 32 years. He
three years have experienced the best
people throughout the years,” said
retired Jan. 31 as senior vice president
reliability in the history of the utility –
James, who also served as Executive
of energy delivery services.
another big victory for the leader and his
Sponsor for the annual United Way
During his distinguished career, James’
team.
campaign. “I was fortunate to work in
extensive knowledge and competent
James graduated from the University of
several different areas and to always
leadership helped the utility score many
Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Sci-
victories. He was instrumental in:
ence degree in electrical engineering. He
people in those areas.”
joined the company in 1982 and through
Now that he’s headed into retirement,
the years held positions of increasing
James’ game plan has certainly changed.
responsibility: junior engineer, project
His play list now includes traveling with
engineer and senior engineer; super-
his wife and improving his golf scores.
• Planning the outermost loop of our transmission system. • Spearheading the design and construction of the Energy Management 24
• Implementing the Outage Manage-
Center.
intendent of system planning; director
receive support and mentoring from the
450-Acre Sea of Solar by Pam Maris
San Antonio is our nation’s seventh largest city, and now it has become home to Texas’ largest solar farm. With more than 167,000 solar panels planted on 450 acres in South San Antonio, the Alamo 1 solar farm is capable of producing 41-megawatts (MW) of electricity – enough to power 6,600 homes. Alamo 1 is the first of several solar arrays to be completed as part of a landmark deal struck with OCI Solar Power. As part of that agreement, OCI Solar Power will provide us with 400 MW of solar energy. Along with Alamo 1, the 4.4 MW Alamo 2 solar installation situated east of San Antonio was completed in recent weeks as well, and brings the total amount of electricity received from OCI to just over 45 MW. The 5-MW Alamo 3 and 40-MW Alamo 4 are already being planned, as are Alamo 5, 6 and 7. The latter three are likely to be constructed in West and North Texas and each will likely produce 100 MW or more. It is anticipated that all of these solar farms will be operational within the next three years. “By 2020, 65 percent of our electricity will come from resources that are low or no-carbon emitting, reducing emissions in an amount that’s equal to removing more than a million cars from local roads,” says President & CEO Doyle Beneby. The agreement reached in 2012 with OCI Solar Power and its consortium of partners is expected to bring 800 good-paying, permanent jobs to the area and generate an annual economic impact of $700 million.
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More than 3,500 students from across the United States and Canada took part in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Alamo Region robotics competition held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Utility Worker Elroy Helmke served as a judge at this year’s event, which was cosponsored by CPS Energy.