Ubits July / August 2022
Tacoma Water’s new EV chargers
$220 million secured for downstream fish passage at Howard Hanson Dam The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers will receive $220 million to complete the design and begin construction of its downstream fish passage at the Howard Hanson Dam on the Green River, our community’s primary source of drinking water. Howard Hanson Dam is a multi-purpose project operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. The funding for the downstream fish passage project represents one of the largest allocations to an Army Corps of Engineers project under the federal bipartisan infrastructure law. Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) was the local sponsor of the funding effort.
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TPU appreciates the broad bipartisan and regional support for a critical water supply and salmon restoration project that directly benefits our customers,” said Director Jackie Flowers. “We are grateful for the support of the delegation and our tribal partners in helping us reach this important milestone. Downstream fish passage at Howard Hanson Dam is one of the most immediate and effective ways to positively impact salmon and orca populations in our region, and we look forward to working with our congressional delegation and the Army Corps on its construction.”
The downstream fish passage at the Howard Hanson Dam will help ensure additional drinking water storage to meet future regional needs while reopening tens of miles of important salmon and steelhead habitat that will increase salmon production, which is critical for the recovery of Southern Resident orca whales. The State of Washington’s Lead Entity for salmon recovery in the Green and Duwamish rivers believes that completing the downstream fish passage will approximately double the available habitat for endangered salmon and steelhead in the Green-Duwamish watershed and could be the largest single opportunity to increase salmon production in the Puget Sound. In addition to the positive impacts on regional salmon populations, the funding will increase municipal and industrial drinking water supply for TPU and maintain dam performance to support the primary drinking water needs for Tacoma Water customers.
In this issue
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Tacoma Water installs new EV chargers
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2021 Service Awards honorees
Page 8
Tacoma Power joins Western Energy Imbalance Market
Tacoma Water transforms its distribution dock with EV chargers and hybrid vans Electrifying transportation is a good investment for the utility, customers, employees, and the environment. Tacoma Water recently installed new electric vehicle charging stations at the Water Distribution building dock and added hybrid vans. The conversion of a significant portion of our fleet to include EV components helps meet our 2022 Resource Conservation and Climate Plan goal to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. Despite the everyday challenges when coordinating with various teams and work dependent on weather conditions, the new charging stations were installed ahead of schedule before delivering the vehicles. The first five vans were in service by the end of 2021, and 15 vans total by 2022. Jason Scott, the project manager, was impressed with the collaboration. “This type of work requires a lot of focused communication between work groups, which can come with challenges, but we accomplished the tasks without any snags that could have delayed progress,” Scott said. “I believe we were successful because we maintained lines of communication throughout the project and a mutual respect among the various groups.” The new vans replace older models that didn’t perform well. The team developed a business case and studied environmental concerns, operational needs, and various functions of different hybrids. Don Ashmore of Fleet Services collaborated with them on the case study. He provided data to show how the project would pay for itself over time, save the utility money, and work towards a greener future. They pulled the research together and chose a model that uses a drive train system, making the vans operationally more effective and safer.
“Working as a team, we found a solution that was safe, reliable, and fit the environmental commitment of sustainability,” said Fleet Services Supervisor Don Ashmore. “This was a 100% team effort. Everyone involved contributed towards the end goal.” The introduction of hybrid vans required the build-out of a charging network at the loading dock so the vans could charge overnight. Electrical engineers from Water and Tacoma Power worked together to support the upgrades and design a 400-amp electrical service. The new electrical distribution system includes yard lighting, generator maintenance hookups, convenience outlets, and more. They considered future needs and safety concerns by adding a built-in portable generator, backup power to the charging stations to increase the reliability of the new vehicles, and additional lighting for night operations. Once work began, they took care to limit field and warehouse staff disruption. They temporarily relocated their current fleet and dock tools to facilitate trenching. The Power electrical team coordinated with multiple groups within the division to trench 1,000 feet and place almost 5,000 feet of conduit in the ground. Then they built and positioned a new electrical service pedestal and dock electrical distribution pedestal. Once they restored the dock concrete, they installed 16 charger pedestals and 32 EV chargers.
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Jason gave the team a shout-out for a job well done, “A huge thanks goes out to everyone involved in the project and the patience of those affected during construction. This project involved multiple groups across Tacoma Water and Tacoma Power and is a testament to the teamwork and camaraderie of TPU.”
When designing the new electrical service layout, they also considered future growth to efficiently use trenching efforts, including correcting issues at the dock while it was open for the conduit. A new project to add lighting under the Union Street Bridge is underway to take full advantage of this new infrastructure.
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t New EV charging stations and hybrid van at the Water Distribution building dock.
p Renovated historic caboose at entrance of Tacoma Rail headquarters
Converted caboose on track to train employees and welcome visitors A beautifully, renovated historic caboose now welcomes guests as they enter the Tacoma Rail headquarters near the Port of Tacoma. It’s not just a rail car; employees converted it into a mobile training facility in 2012 and relocated it to the front of the Rail headquarters in 2019. The facility also houses a locomotive simulator as a training environment for its engineer certification program. The division’s office space had reached capacity by 2010, and they needed more room for training, office space, and a platform for the newly purchased locomotive simulator. Usually, Rail would buy a single-wide modular building to accommodate these needs at over $100,000. Rail Superintendent Dale King raised the idea of rehabilitating an old caboose sitting in storage, and the wheels started moving. The 1967 caboose had fallen into disrepair from lack of use. Asset Manager Dan Knouff led the project and had considerable experience spearheading Rebuild Tacoma home renovation projects for TPU. At the time, they had five employees who had been placed on light duty and could not perform daily railroad operations work. Two were general handypersons, two were finish carpenters, and one was a professional painter in their off-duty hours. Dan put them and their skills to work converting the old caboose into the refurbished Mobile Training Facility at $90,000. They save thousands per year in diesel fuel and, importantly, reduce emissions using the locomotive simulator rather than training in the field with actual running locomotives. The additional classroom space also serves as a training environment for their conductor certification program. By repurposing an old piece of equipment, they saved the City of Tacoma and Rail’s ratepayers thousands of dollars and have a brand-new stateof-the-art training facility.
In 2019, the team realized they needed to relocate the updated caboose, to make room for a more modern locomotive service facility and eliminate the hazards of active adjacent tracks. They tapped Roadmaster Kyle Kellem to lead the move to a green space in front of their headquarters. First, their Maintenance of Way group cleared, grubbed, and built a short track in about two weeks. Kyle coordinated with Power employees Renee Thompson and Jen Foster to run electrical service from the existing building to the new location. Ground Maintenance Supervisor Jack Johnson and grounds staff designed a beautiful landscape with the caboose as the focal point. Water even played a minor role and fixed a broken water pipe. The new location also boasts examples of railroad track infrastructure and interactive railroad signals used as teaching aids for our employees, and outdoor seating space.
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TPU staff across all divisions performed almost 100% of rehabilitating the caboose and redesigning and constructing its new home,” Kyle noted of the project. “This is a great example of how we can work as a team to meet the needs of the project and provide access to a piece of history the public can interact with.”
The elegant caboose is an excellent landmark for locating Rail’s often hard-to-find offices while showing off the division’s 100 plus years of railroading heritage in Tacoma.
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Business Customer Energy Programs team achieves virtual success Business Customer Energy Programs (BCEP) is a small group of energy-efficiency experts whose primary focus is helping Tacoma Power commercial and industrial customers save energy. They are a field service-oriented workgroup often meeting customers at their place of business to provide information and collect data related to the processing of energy efficiency improvement projects. The Governor’s COVID-19 Emergency Directive brought a troubling new twist as they needed to quickly adjust standard business practices and find alternative ways to collect project information to continue to meet the needs of customers and business partners. The team was well-positioned to turn to virtual tools to capture project information and details for processing energy efficiency incentives and keep customer services intact. The required information varies for business conservation projects, depending on the type of business, energy efficiency project, and the specific improvements. While verification of residential and small commercial energy efficiency projects may only require a review of documentation or a brief video inspection, verification of projects at larger commercial and industrial facilities often requires a different and more in-depth approach. For example, some businesses have specific safety or cybersecurity policies where the use of virtual communications or video inspections may not be a viable option. In addition, many large custom projects can require more detailed data analysis or documentation to verify that equipment is operating efficiently. In short, business project verification can be more involved than simply viewing a camera to see whether specific equipment was installed. BCEP achieved great success despite these new restrictions pivoting to a new virtual way of working with businesses. Together they made schedule changes that would limit face-to-face contact and adhere to social distancing guidance by using electronic devices to supplant on-site
contact and adopting new electronic tools to process projects and collect data. For instance, DocuSign, which was supported extensively by Information team members within BCEP, dramatically reduced the time required to gather signatures and route documents. Office 365 and Zoom video communication tools allowed staff, customers, and business partners to communicate, exchange information, and keep business moving. One example of successful virtual inspections involved projects completed by Forever Green Indoors, a supplier of LED agricultural (grow) lights. The company qualified as an essential workplace and continued to offer energy-efficient products and strategies to commercial growers. Upon installing of their lighting at some sites, the supplier produced pre-and post-installation videos of the site lighting configurations to verify installation so customers would qualify for Power conservation incentives. This type of no-contact inspection method reduced the possibility of COVID-19 transmission with fewer workers and parties visiting on-site. It also kept Forever Green and the Power BCEP staff efficient and moving forward serving mutual customers.
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Tacoma Power is an excellent advocate for energy conservation and has always done a great job looking out for all the stakeholders who require energy to run their businesses,” said Kevin Sullivan, CEO of Forever Green Indoors. “Mark Aalfs (a conservation program manager) in particular, has been fantastic for us to work with, especially during these changing times,” he added.
“Our Commercial Strategic Energy Management (CSEM) program is another excellent example of how team members pivoted quickly to remote engagements with large commercial customers,” said BCEP Manager Natasha Houldson. “The CSEM team successfully transitioned key program elements to a virtual delivery format, such as providing customers with virtual training workshops and reviewing commercial building controls systems remotely to identify energy savings opportunities.” Despite the sudden shift to virtual work processes and other challenges posed by COVID-19, BCEP continued serving customers throughout 2020 and 2021, exceeding their biennial energy conservation target of 5.3 average megawatts. In the new work norm, BCEP will continue to use virtual tools when appropriate, allowing flexibility when determining which projects require on-site visits and which projects they can efficiently accomplish verification tasks without making an in-person visit. Their ongoing efforts to improve processes, services, and delivery of conservation programs are a testament to their teamwork and ensure future success.
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t The former Wonder Bread bakery in Tacoma was originally built in 1913 and in 2020 was renovated with energy-efficient upgrades in partnership with Tacoma Power.
Tacoma Power Recognized as 2022 Tree Line USA Utility by the Arbor Day Foundation Tacoma Power received the Tree Line USA® award from the Arbor Day Foundation for the 18th year in a row in recognition of the utility’s commitment to proper tree pruning, planting, and care. Tree Line USA, a partnership between the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters, recognizes public and private utilities for pursuing practices that protect and enhance America’s urban trees. Tree Line USA promotes the dual goals of delivering safe and reliable electricity while maintaining healthy community forests. “The benefits of planting and preserving a city’s urban tree canopy have become more important. Communities around the globe are facing even more challenges with air quality, water resources, personal health and well-being, and energy use,” said Dan Lambe, CEO of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Tacoma Power is showing themselves to be a future-minded, dedicated member who cares about the well-being of their city. As a result of your commitment to valuable urban forest management, you are helping to provide a solution to these global challenges.”
p Mike Snider, Power Transmission and Distribution utility arborist
THE UTILITY ACHIEVED THE TREE LINE USA AWARD BY MEETING FIVE CRITERIA
standards for quality tree care.
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2. Provide annual worker training in best tree care practices.
3. Sponsor a tree planting and public education program.
4. Maintain a tree-based energy conservation program.
5. Sponsor or participate in an Arbor Day celebration.
Our commitment to proper tree care practices benefits our customers in numerous ways,” explained Mike Snider, transmission and distribution utility arborist, “including providing cleaner air and water, increasing property values, and improving quality of life.”
bits & pieces
1. Follow industry
Advanced meter installations hit a significant milestone Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) achieved a significant project milestone this spring, installing over 100,000 meters! That equals over 800 pallets of meters and more than one-third of our service area.
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The team has done a fantastic job managing meter supply chain issues to keep our installations progressing,” said Advanced Metering Program Manager André Pedeferri.
The Tacoma Water meter shop is on target to complete their installations by the end of 2022. The Tacoma Power meter shop is expected to complete their installations by mid 2023. TPU projects residential and small business installations will extend into 2024. Meter supply challenges are ongoing, but the team is working closely with with Tribus and Sensus, the utility’s meter installer and manufacturer, to keep the program moving forward. You can track progress at MyTPU.org/AdvancedMeters. t Commercial installation at Merrill Gardens. Tacoma Power Meter Tech Scott Fannin, Apprentice Meter Tech Garrett Richardson, Public Utility Board Member John O’Loughlin, and Transmission & Distribution Manager Joe Wilson.
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Congratulations to our 2021 Service Awards honorees. Thank you for your dedication and service to Tacoma Public Utilities. Your commitment to TPU is a valuable contribution to our mission to provide services that are vital to quality of life in the communities we serve. Thanks to your efforts and achievements, TPU remains 129 years strong. Congratulations on your career milestones! 45
Years
Carolyn F Solitaire, Customer Service
2021 service honorees
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Michael C Allen, Power
Kody J Ague, Power
Matthew Bleich, Power
Justin D Angove, Power
Dallas W Backus, Power
James J Baek, Water
Steven J Belvin, Power
Heidi Lee Booth, Customer Service
Robert L Bennett, Power
Mark D. Brons, Water
Mark Brady, Power
Kenneth D Clark, Management Services
Janice L Bernard, Customer Service
Jennifer Butler, Power
Sharon Diane Brophy, Power
Johnathon F. Castro, Water
Shantel Broussard, Water
Rosalyn Crawford, Rail
David R Boehm, Water
Mark C Percy, Power
Andrew J Clark, Power
Arthur L Bunger, Rail
Joan E Thornhill, Power
Benjamin T Collins, Power
Terri Gee Evans, Customer Service
Timothy R Burleigh, Water
David M Collins, Power
Victoria A. Chatman Mahoney, Power
Heather Dewey, Water
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Years
Vivian M DeZwager, Power
Marco Antonio Gonzales, Power John C Green, Power Michael Grohoski, Power
Michael S Carlstrom, Water
Yong-Kil Choe, Power
Jason M Carroll, Rail
Dawn M Cross, Power
Thad A Glassy, Power Lawrence C Jones, Power
Shellie L Darneille, Customer Service
Carolyn J Kors, Public Affairs & Communication
Louis A Delicino, Customer Service
David E Palmer, Power
Michael J Duffy, Water
Timothy Flood, Rail
Robert J Walker, Water
Kristina K Fejarang, Customer Service
James Flynn, Power
Jay A Fox, Power
Ruben Garcia Jr., Power
Gary D Gates, Water
Jolene A Gibson, Water
Heather Joanne Metcalf Power
Steven W Hatcher, Customer Service
Steven M Gonzales, Power
Thomas Moonan, Power
Edward Keith Greer, Power
Viet Quoc Ong, Power
Kendall R Funk, Water
David B Haydon, Customer Service
Gabriel C. Hernandez, Water
Tavis Owens, Power
Ellaine A Hoff, Power
Roger T Jones, Water
Christopher Patten, Power
Christopher K Mattson, Power
Denise Marie Hottel, Customer Service
Randi D Kartes, Power
James Hoye, Power
Hong S Kim, Power
Kimberly Ann Jackson, Rail
Rebecca Edith Richards, Management Services
Elton A Kleindl Jr., Power
Ronald Jones, Power
Mary Savage, Power
Jason J Mann, Water
Lyell K Kinimaka, Power
Gareth D Tomlinson, Power
Curt V Osborne, Power
Teresa McCord, Power
Marcenya Louise Trent, Water
Chris Robinson, Power
Jeffrey H McCormick, Power
David G Wagner, Power
William R Thompson, Water
Adam Moll, Power
Craig E West, Water
Teresa A Nelson, Power
Candice Marie Weaver, Customer Service
James W Winkowski, Rail
Hai V Nguyen, Power
Anthony W Wofford, Water
Sarah M Nystrom, Power
Terry R Wolff, Water
Brandon Parlacoski, Power
Charles E Williams Jr., Power Steve C Winden, Power
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Terri L Broggin, Power
Robert L Murphy, Power Lane R Peckham, Power Joseph Rempe, Power David G Smith, Power
Seth Frazier Doull, Power Theresa Marie Dupea, Customer Service
Tenzin Gyaltsen, Power Karen Hedlund, Power Twila Hofer, Power
Richard Eddy, Power
Brian Richard Johns, Power
Jonathon Fields, Power
Dean Edward Johnson, Customer Service
Mack Foster, Rail
Ronald E. Sears, Power LaTosha A Siebert, Water Robert Vasquez, Power Natalya A Vlasenko, Power Andrew Vormestrand, Rail Wanda Walloe, Customer Service Patrick W Yomes, Power
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Jacob Kinsman, Power Timothy Harry Medina, Power ,
Matthew Peter, Power
A fond farewell to our recent retirees RETIREES FOR JANUARY-MARCH 2022 JANUARY 2022 Doug Blanchard | a Tacoma Water senior environmental specialist, retired after 18 years Ralph Eaton | a Tacoma Water engineer technician IV, retired after 27 years Bonnie Meyer | a Tacoma Power management analyst II, retired after 3 years Bob Nugent | a Tacoma Power Electrician, retired after 3 years FEBRUARY 2022 Mark Halsey | a Tacoma Water heavy equipment operator, retired after 27 years
Welcome new employees THE FOLLOWING NEW EMPLOYEES JOINED TACOMA PUBLIC UTILITIES BETWEEN JANUARY AND MARCH 2022.
Sabrina Clifford
Jay Donnaway
Reggie Gomez
Colton Hunzeker
Chase Jangula
Customer Service Representative Customer Service
Safety Manager Tacoma Power
Management Analyst II Tacoma Power
Fabrication Welder Tacoma Power
Systems Dispatcher Candidate Tacoma Power
Line Electrician Tacoma Power
Daniel Johnston Public Disclosure Specialist Management Services
Jay Kesinger
Paul Lennemann
Darlene Lewis
Joy Liechty
Jing Liu
Utility Worker Tacoma Water
Supervisory III Tacoma Power
Graphic Arts Specialist Public Affairs & Communication
Assistant Section Manager I Tacoma Power
Senior Utilities Economist Tacoma Power
Bonnie Martin
Garrett McCauley
Chase McGlauflin
Marcus Pearson
Mesfin Taye
Senior Environmental Specialist Tacoma Power
Real-time Energy Trader Tacoma Power
Electrician Tacoma Power
Systems Dispatcher Candidate Tacoma Power
Power Engineer III Tacoma Power
Nicole Welander
Jake Werner
Management Analyst I Tacoma Power
Survey Technician III Tacoma Power
hellos & goodbyes
Shannon Bennett
Glen Van Valkenburg Management Analyst III Tacoma Power
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Tacoma Public Utilities PO Box 11007 • Tacoma WA 98411
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Ubits is a publication for Tacoma Public Utilities employees and provided as a courtesy to retirees. • Communications@CityofTacoma.org • 253-254-9739
Tacoma Power joins the Western Energy Imbalance Market On March 2, Tacoma Power joined the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) alongside Avista Corporation becoming one of 17 participating utilities across the Western Interconnection. BPA and Tucson joined the market in May, and by 2023, the market will serve 79% of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council’s total load. For nearly three years, our teams have been driving towards this date and finally, Go-Live came to reality. This new market offers Tacoma Power opportunities to buy and sell generation across the Western region to solve for imbalances in real-time, at market-clearing prices.
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This is the culmination of nearly three years of incredible cross-sectional effort involving more than 100 Tacoma Power staff, consultants, and vendors. I am inspired by your dedication and teamwork. This is truly an example of living our values – I think particularly of relying on and respecting each other,” stated Chris Robinson, Power Superintendent.
The EIM is a voluntary, real-time energy wholesale supply market operated by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). It automatically balances energy demand
every 15 minutes and dispatches power plants to meet demand every five minutes with the lowest cost energy. The CAISO, having west-wide visibility of generation and transmission, can access the broader market to solve realtime imbalances at the lowest cost. It provides participants a large market to offer excess generation capacity or buy lower-cost wholesale electricity for reliability purposes close to real-time. “Preparing for and entering an organized energy market, such as the CAISO Western EIM, takes a strong multidisciplinary team that is well organized, highly engaged, and coordinates well with each other,” said T&D Section Manager Joe Wilson. “Our success in entering this new market, along with all the required new tools and processes, ahead of schedule, on budget, and with no reliability gaps is a testament to the professionalism and skill of every member of the EIM team at Power, CAISO and our Utilicast and Toba partners.” “By taking a proactive approach, the Power EIM team stayed ahead of the CAISO schedule and resolved issues with minimal disruption. Overall Tacoma Power opened the fewest issue tickets with CAISO of the twenty entities that have joined EIM, and experienced one of the smoothest cutovers yet,” stated Jim Barber, Utilicast Consultant & EIM Utilicast Project Manager.
WHY DID TACOMA POWER JOIN THE EIM? Tacoma Power buys and sells energy from Northwest utility trading partners and entities throughout the western United States. As the EIM expands over the region, many of Power’s trading partners choose to participate in the EIM. As such, had Power not joined, the utility’s opportunities to trade directly with our local counterparts would have significantly reduced. While the market expands our profile of trading partners, it also offers an attractive market for our valuable, quick-ramping hydro resources. The utility’s flexible hydroelectric resources are a tremendous carbon-free tool for integrating other renewable resources. The EIM will provide an additional way for Power to get compensated for such services. Power Section manager Clay Norris noted, “When I think that we did almost the entire program while working remotely, I am blown away at the professionalism and dedication of this team. It is an amazing accomplishment!” 5168 0622