Ubits July/August 2015
Bed of Green River this spring
TACOMA WATER’S FISH TALE
School supply drive Aug. 3 - 14
In this issue
Drinking water and fish share the stage Tacoma Water’s most obvious job is to provide clean, reliable water to its residential and business customers, but there’s another group that’s just as dependent on the utility: fish. It’s not talked about much, but keeping fish healthy drives a lot of decisions and is a significant, challenging piece of what the utility does. In a drought year like this one, the work becomes even more challenging. While the water supply outlook is good – there’s enough to support people and fish until the fall rains come – vigilance is needed to keep fish moving and healthy. In the Green River, there are a number of fish species, including chinook, steelhead, coho, pink and chum. It’s the chinook and steelhead that has Water’s attention now, due to their “threatened” status under the Endangered Species Act.
With that status comes a federal requirement to recover those species, even in a drought. Anything done on the Green River – including taking water from it – that could result in harm to the fish or their habitat must first be permitted by the federal government. In response, a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) was developed in 2001. A major component of the HCP is to guarantee minimum streamflow levels to protect fish. If flows drop below those levels, the ability to take water from the river would be restricted. “This year, natural streamflows are continuing to decline,” said Tyler Patterson, Tacoma Water’s fisheries biologist. “In June, we were seeing flows that are normal for August.” Continued on page 2 Email us. ubits@cityoftacoma.org
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A Day in the Life Tacoma Rail conductor
Bits & Pieces
Click! Update
TRACKING PUZZLE PIECES
A day in the life of a train conductor South of Tacoma, a gravel lot with train tracks running through the center sits empty until a truck with flashing lights pulls in. A man with an orange vest hops out and looks far down the tracks at a locomotive heading toward him. That’s Scott Gordon, one of Tacoma Rail’s assistant conductors. He’s part of a three-person crew that assembles train cars from multiple sources and delivers their contents to businesses in Olympia, Lakewood and Frederickson.
radio Scott wears on his overalls crackles as a voice from 2,000 miles away tells Scott it’s safe to proceed.
Play it again, Scott
Line em’ up
The lot is soon filled with 40 train cars attached in one continuous line. As the train slows, another conductor jumps off. He unlatches a few metal pieces that connect the cars, while Scott pulls down a metal handle attached to the track. It forces the locomotive to switch tracks as it pulls forward. Over the next 20 minutes, the long train is separated into smaller ones on three tracks and then reassembled into one long train with the railcars in a different order that’s more efficient for delivery. “Think of it like a delivery truck,” Scott said. “They load items that will be delivered last in the back of their truck, and items for their first stops in the front so they can drop things off quickly. We want to do the same thing, but shuffling our cargo around is a little more work.” It’s much like putting together a puzzle – a theme that seems to run through railroading. Everything about the industry has a specific order, direction, spot and time that has to be pieced together.
Scott Gordon, Tacoma Rail assistant conductor
Pieces at play
Other factors that have to fit into the jigsaw are when and where Scott’s crew has permission to use the thoroughfare track – known as the mainline - that’s used by all railroads doing business between Tacoma and Portland. As the owner of the tracks, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) schedules and directs traffic through a dispatcher in Texas. Tacoma Rail uses the mainline to travel between Olympia and South Tacoma. To do that, requests are sent to BNSF each night. By morning, a schedule outlining the activity on the mainline for the day is provided to Scott and his team. To use the mainline to head north, Scott’s crew radios to the dispatcher. They’re told a long passenger train is fast approaching. Once the train approaches and then zooms out of sight, a traffic signal switches to green. The
Drought impacts on fish What’s the plan?
To help manage the flows, Water meets regularly with the Green River Flow Management Committee, a large stakeholder group that makes decisions about immediate needs for water flow, storage and release. Tacoma’s plan to get through the drought is to rely on groundwater more heavily than normal. The utility will reserve its portion of the water stored behind Howard Hanson Dam to
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For the love of the game
Regardless of what he’s delivering, Scott is simply happy to be doing what he loves. He started volunteering in the industry as a teen, which helped him get a job with Tacoma Rail 16 years ago. Scott has to be recertified every three years through a program approved by the Federal Railroad Administration. It includes three days of written exams that cover the contents of industry regulations. “There’s several hundred pages of rules that tell us what we can do, when, where, how and in what order, and we have to be familiar with all of them,” Scott said. “But it’s pretty easy to know a lot about something that is so much a part of you.”
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provide drinking water to Second Supply partners and meet instream flow requirements. “It’s all a balance,” said Greg Volkhardt, who oversees Tacoma Water’s environmental programs. “As a utility, we have to be responsible for providing safe drinking water and protecting natural resources.”
Home improvement
The Tacoma Rail train is headed to its first delivery of the day. Using the mainline, the train arrives at the site before Scott, who follows in the truck. When he arrives, the other conductor and engineer have already dropped off two train cars to the customer, split the train into pieces on multiple tracks and reordered it again with three additional empty cars that the customer needs them to haul away. Scott switches the tracks farther down the line, allowing the train to proceed to the remaining customers, where an average of 15 to 20 cars of steel, lumber, cement, corn syrup and wheat are delivered each day.
To care for fish year round, Water has done a lot of habitat improvement projects, including
creating engineered log jams with over 1,000 logs. Those log jams collect gravel to create spawning areas and provide hiding and resting spots for fish. Late spring, though, can be a particularly harrowing time for fish, and drought heightens that. The juvenile chinook and coho are moving from fresh to salt water. As the stream shrinks, there’s less real estate for them. “Already on the river, we’re seeing significant stranding of
juveniles,” Tyler said. “With low flows, they don’t have as much space to move, which increases predation. When habitats get too warm, fish die. We’re seeing that now, which is unusual. These shrinking water conditions usually occur later in the summer, when they’ve already left the river.” As for adults, chinook return from the ocean in late summer and start spawning in September.
CALLING ALL BIKERS! HOME SWEET HOME
Making an impact through Rebuilding In April, more than 90 TPU employees renovated, landscaped and cleaned to improve a Tacoma home in partnership with Rebuilding Together South Sound. The changes allow the home’s disabled owner to be safe, warm, dry and healthy in her home for years to come. Employees dug deep for this project, donating $3,500 worth of products and supplies. They procured another $3,700 in contributions from local businesses for a ductless heat pump, a new bed, table and chairs, tree removal service and a new dog house. Only greater in value than those items was the volunteers’ time. They put in more than 710 hours of work over two Saturdays – an effort worth $19,000! “Rebuilding days are the longest days of the year for Community Connection volunteers, but we love every minute of it,” said program manager Erika Tucci. “The TPU family and its giving spirit really comes alive when we come together to transform someone’s life and home.”
Lower flows and warmer stream temperatures impact their success. They’re all fighting for space, and the more they move around, the less energy they have to mate. The Flow Management Committee will talk about when and how to use stored water to reduce water temperature, help provide better cover for the fish and protection for their eggs. It’s important for the utility
to plan for more frequent occurrences of conditions like what we’re seeing now, Greg said. “Tacoma Water believes it can meet its minimum instream flows this year, but the future requires partnering with others on solutions such as storing earlier in Hanson, providing passage above the dam so fish can access colder water, and providing more shade on the lower river.”
Mark your calendar for Dam Ride Hit the highway with Community Connection for the annual Dam Ride to Mossyrock Park from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 22. Your registration fee ($30 single rider, $40 for riders with passengers) gets you morning refreshments, lunch at the park, a tour of Mossyrock Dam and tons of fun with your biker buddies. The money raised goes to TPU’s
Senior Assistance Fund to provide one-time, $100 utility bill grants to senior customers in need. The fund is supported entirely by contributions from employees, friends and retirees. So fire up your hog and help rev up the senior fund! Contact Erika Tucci at 502-8225 to sign up. Registration forms and payments are due by Friday, Aug. 14.
Mossyrock Park 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat., Aug. 22
GIVE AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE
TPU awarded United Way’s Campaign of the Year award The United Way of Pierce County recently recognized TPU with the Public Sector Campaign of the Year award. This annual award is given to the public sector agency with the most impressive campaign, and TPU’s employee donations of more than $175,000 truly impressed! The employee volunteers who ran TPU’s campaign were recognized for their time and commitment, their creative work to help employees understand the importance of the United Way’s efforts and the number of employees they were able to involve in giving.
Some of the rock star employees who helped lead TPU’s United Way campaign in 2014. Pictured from left to right: Tracey Messana, Jon Fields and Jessie Wells of T&D, Lyndsey Michels and Janna Lindsey of Water, and Erika Tucci of CMS.
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bits & pieces
Tacoma Power wins national award for fish passage project For the fourth straight year, Tacoma Power won the Outstanding Stewards of America’s Waters Award from the National Hydropower Association. This award honors our pioneering fish passage project at Little Falls in Mason County, about two miles downstream of Cushman Dam No. 2 on the North Fork Skokomish River. Power collaborated with the Skokomish Indian Tribe and regulatory agencies to carve fish ladders into existing bedrock, making it easier for fish to make their way up the river. The project also preserves the natural beauty of the site and helps secure salmon populations. Because the work site was 200 feet down a canyon trail, equipment had to be carried in by hand or flown in by helicopter. Still, it was well-worth the effort; we
“I admire and respect how our employees tackle tough challenges and cultivate creative solutions,” Pat said. “It’s gratifying to see their efforts recognized nationally for four years in a row. Congratulations!”
“ I admire and respect how our employees tackle tough challenges and cultivate creative solutions.” are focused on helping restore fish populations, and this project is an important step in that process. Generation Manager Pat McCarty and Natural Resources Manager Keith Underwood accepted the award on behalf of the utility at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Water’s filtration facility brings home engineering and other awa The newly completed Green River Filtration Facility is a project well worth recognition, and Tacoma Water has the awards to prove it. Most recently, the project won a Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers Seattle Section in the “water resources engineering” category. And, while celebrating the facility’s completion in May, the Washington
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State Secretary of Health presented a “Commitment to Excellence” award to Tacoma Water for providing exceptional drinking water using state-of-the-art treatment methods. Add to that the American Water Works Association’s “Heart and Soul” award for Hilary Lorenz, the facility’s manager until he retired in early July. The group’s Pacific Northwest Section president had to say this about him: “Under Hilary’s guidance,
the 168-million-gallon-per-day surface water plant made the very challenging transition from unfiltered to filtered, as he put in place one of the best operations and maintenance teams. He is most simply and importantly a man who knows how to instill a culture of hard work, strong support, and deep care for the people who work for and around him.” Water Deputy Superintendent Chris McMeen said, “These awards are a
Utility discount offered to veterans TPU and Environmental Services offer a 30% discount to veterans who qualify for payment assistance. The program is well-used as more veterans from Joint Base LewisMcChord choose the Tacoma area as their home. To promote the program, TPU recently joined other local organizations at the second annual Veterans Resource Fair at the Tacoma Dome – an event to create awareness about resources and opportunities available for veterans. For Al Martinez and Cathy Molino, the Customer Solutions representatives that worked at the event, it turned into something more. The two felt their presence made an impact on both the veterans and themselves. “It wasn’t so much that they appreciated our discounts,” Al said.
“They appreciated our outreach.” Cathy added, “I was shocked by how many people didn’t know about our programs. I feel grateful that we can help.” TPU’s efforts to help veterans doesn’t stop with payment assistance or when the resource fair is over. Customer Solutions regularly connects with local groups to gain insight into the struggles of veterans and learn what programs they can refer veterans to when they come to TPU. “We are a part of the community, and we should be a resource for veterans whether we’re at a special event or in our own building,” said Customer Solutions Supervisor Francine Artis. “This is just another way to honor them for their service.”
The American Public Power Association (APPA) appointed Director Bill Gaines to the Executive Committee of its Board of Directors in June. Bill was elected to the APPA Board last year as one of two representatives of Pacific Northwest public power utilities. He is also serving a two-year term as chairman of the Large Public Power Council (LPPC). Both APPA and LPPC are instrumental in helping shape national energy policy and in sharing best practices among member utilities. “Active participation in the leadership of these organizations pays many dividends to TPU,” Bill said. “We gain an early awareness of energy, financial and environmental policy trends, and we are positioned to help shape legislation and regulation that affect the industry in ways that are beneficial to our utility. We also have a very direct opportunity to learn from our peer utilities and to share our knowledge and experiences with others.”
ards meaningful way to be recognized for the work we do to protect the health of our customers by providing clean, safe drinking water. We are proud to do that and happy to accept these awards.”
Director Bill Gaines selected for national electric industry leadership role
Tacoma Water engineer Jason Moline (third from the left) accepted the latest award on behalf of the utility, along with representatives from the project’s design and construction partners.
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Preparing for Click!’s future The future holds big decisions about Click! Network. When Tacoma Power built Click! Network in 1997, most homes in Tacoma subscribed to cable TV. Utility customers eagerly anticipated a new cable company that would provide much-needed competition in the market. A telecommunications study predicted that at least 25%, if not half, of Tacoma Power customers would sign up for Click! Cable TV. At the same time, the utility needed a high-speed network to connect its electrical system, and envisioned wired smart meters on every home. Neither of those projections became reality – for reasons out of the control of Click! employees and TPU management.
Customer counts
On the cable side, Click! built its customer base, peaking at 25,000 in 2010. (Original estimates showed Click! attaining a cable customer base of about 45,000.) Market changes, mainly due to the rise of the Internet and product bundling made selling cable tougher than ever. Customers could, and still can, get Internet through Click!’s three ISP partners, but can’t get a real bundle, and the savings that go with it. Adding to the challenge is people who no longer want cable television; people who consume their entertainment over the
“It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at marketing. You’re selling a product people don’t want.” Internet. Technology like Netflix and Hulu, paired with streaming devices, smart TVs, and other smart devices makes it easy for people to watch what they want when they want without cable. Despite spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing each year, Click!’s customer base continues to decline. “It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at marketing,” said Doug Dawson of CCG Consulting, who has worked on Click! strategic planning since 2009. “You’re selling a product people don’t want.”
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Need for the network
For Tacoma Power, the vision of connecting its electrical system over Click! Network came true. The utility can get real-time information about its system down to the substation and feeder level and can control the system remotely because of the network. The idea of wired smart meters on every home will not happen. In 2004, when Tacoma Power put 18,000 smart meters on Tacoma Power homes, envisioned a hardwired smart meter technology. The utility worked with a company to custom develop the meters. As Tacoma Power worked on wired smart meters, the rest of the industry began to pursue wireless technology. Now, Tacoma Power’s wired coax cable meters are akin to VHS players. For the most part, they still work – but the utility can no longer purchase new ones, or find parts to fix the ones that are still on customers’ homes.
Business model changes
These challenges lead to the premise that Click!’s business model, established in the late 1990’s, cannot continue. As revenues have dropped and costs have increased, TPU management has known for years that it should change the business model. In 2012, the utility recommended a new business model in which Click! would continue to offer cable television, but also offer Internet service directly to customers and compete against the three current ISPs. The Public Utility Board and City Council directed management to pursue another option – grow ISP customer counts to increase revenue. “We did as policymakers asked, and Internet customer growth has increased – surpassing cable customer counts,” said TPU Director Bill Gaines. “Unfortunately, it is not enough. Click! costs are projected to exceed revenues by up to $7.6 million each year and Tacoma Power electric customers are making up the difference.”
Past and present proposals
Analysis of many options led to a proposal in late March to lease Click! Network to Kirkland-based Wave Broadband. Policymakers asked for more information and more analysis about some of the options not recommended by TPU. “The Board and Council asked us to further analyze what we proposed in 2012:
offering both cable and Internet service. We looked at competing against and buying out the three ISPs, and neither penciled out well financially,” Bill said. “Click! has some disadvantages when it comes to competing in a competitive market,” said CCG Consulting owner Doug Dawson. “Click! is not nimble, it can’t adjust rates or strategy as needed without a major public process, and it doesn’t have much flexibility to adjust its labor costs. Financially, it’s never been able to fully support itself.”
Subsidized service
When considering options for Click!, TPU management has a goal: eliminate subsidization by Tacoma Power electric customers and provide improved service to Click! customers. “We operate as a cost-of-service organization, which means we charge people only for the services they receive,” said Tacoma Power Superintendent Chris Robinson. “As it stands right now, all electric customers are paying for Click! Cable TV whether they are cable customers or not – and whether or not they even have access to Click!.” A survey conducted in May by Elway Research, a nationally recognized polling firm, indicates that more than 70% of Tacoma Power customers believe Click! should pay for itself through subscriber fees. About 60% of customers like the idea of Click! offering Internet service, but don’t support it if it would require subsidization by electric customers. Further analysis hasn’t changed TPU’s recommendation for Click!. Leasing the network would provide job opportunities for many of Click!’s 93 employees. It would eliminate subsidization while also bringing in revenue. It would maintain competition and improve service in the cable market.
Decisions to come
“The decision from here is up to the Public Utility Board and City Council,” Bill said. “We have explained the problem, shown them how Click! got to where it is and have presented a solution. Now it’s up to them to decide what direction they want to go.” TPU managers will provide more information to the Board and Council in July. At this time, there is no defined timeline for direction or a decision by policymakers.
Who’s new around here
James Andrews Railway Conductor Tacoma Rail
Don Ashmore Power Supervisor Tacoma Power
Tracy Boyd Grounds Maintenance Worker Tacoma Power
Rudy Eckert Associate Engineer Tacoma Power
William Eisinger Systems Power Dispatcher Tacoma Power
Michael Gorenson Associate Engineer Tacoma Water
Scott Grubert Locomotive Mechanic Tacoma Rail
Samuel Guthro Systems Power Dispatcher Tacoma Power
Jason Hill Railway Conductor Tacoma Rail
Stewart Isom Locomotive Mechanic Tacoma Rail
Victor Lacsina Vehicle Parts Assistant Tacoma Power
Celine Mina Associate Engineer Tacoma Water
• Who’s ready to relax • • • • • • • •
Richard Ogle UTS Help Desk Specialist Tacoma Power
Brandon Reeves Electrical Inspector Tacoma Power
Jimmy Smith Engineer Tacoma Power
David Hammond, Power Supervisor with Tacoma Power, retired June 1 after 29 years of service. Gary Johnson, Senior Principle Engineer with Tacoma Power, retired June 1 after 25 years of service. Michael Kelley, Construction Inspector with Tacoma Water, retired May 1 after 33 years of service. Jayne McCartney, Management Analyst with Tacoma Power, retired May 1 after 13 years of service. Keith Morisette, Power Analyst with Tacoma Power, retired May 1 after 22 years of service. Shelley Roberts, Management Analyst with Tacoma Power, retired May 1 after 14 years of service. William Wooldridge, Assistant Chief Surveyor with Tacoma Power, retired May 1 after 33 years of service. Dwayne Young, Electrical Meter and Relay Technician with Tacoma Power, retired May 1 after 37 years of service.
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Tacoma Public Utilities PO Box 11007 • Tacoma WA 98411
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Tacoma Water property provides space for a new public trail
Ubits is a publication for Tacoma Public Utilities employees and is provided as a courtesy to retirees. Jenae Elliott, editor ubits@cityoftacoma.org • (253) 502-8754
People looking for a new place to jog, take a relaxing walk or ride a bike are in luck. Using Tacoma Water’s pipeline rights of way, Tacoma Water and the City of Tacoma added 1.8 miles of public access to the existing two miles of the Historic Water Flume Line Trail in South Tacoma, linking Oak Tree Park to South Park. While the trail provides a safe, paved path with landscaping, benches and interpretive signs, the benefit isn’t to trail users alone. “Tacoma Water benefits by regular use of the area, which discourages vandalism and dumping trash,” said Environmental Programs Manager Greg Volkhardt. “The public presence helps us care for and preserve this important public asset.” The land used for the new trail has been a critical piece of Tacoma Water’s infrastructure for nearly 130 years, although in different forms. What began as an above-ground flume
delivering water from Spanaway Lake to Tacoma has developed into an underground pipeline collecting water from a dozen of the utility’s wells. In the past, the route was also a trail system that connected Tacoma residents to neighboring communities, parks and recreation. With the completion of this segment, the public access project is on its way to doing that again. In the works is a plan to extend the new trail to link South Tacoma with the downtown area, Tacoma Dome and Thea Foss Waterway. Later, the trail will link M Street to C Street. “We’ve established a good working relationship with Public Works for the construction and long-term maintenance of the new trail, and we’ll continue to participate when utility property and infrastructure is considered in future plans for the City’s trail system,” Greg said.