Ubits January/February 2018
Lifting leadership at TPU
March 24 Bowl-a-Thon Support the Boys & Girls Club of Pierce County
In this issue
TPU embracing a leadership renaissance “As a leader, it’s a major responsibility on your shoulders to practice the behavior you want others to follow.” –Himanshu Bhatia, founder and CEO of Rose International Inc. That quote captures the future direction of leadership at TPU. Although our organization has a lot to be proud of – providing reliable utility service, high customer satisfaction, and excellent pay and benefits for employees – to name a few, there’s also room to grow. TPU’s executive team agrees that developing leaders throughout the organization is a room-for-growth area, and they have taken action as a result. “The executive team has talked for a number of years about the need to commit to an organization-wide leadership development program,” said Interim Director Linda McCrea. “A cross-divisional team reviewed a number of programs from various vendors last year. Nash
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Meet Tacoma Power’s Andre Pedeferri
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Consulting, based in Leavenworth, was selected as the best fit for our organization. They have developed and implemented similar programs at many utilities throughout the region, and we are very excited to have them here to help us become stronger, more effective leaders. At the end of January, Nash Consulting launched an intensive training series for TPU’s management. The multi-year leadership training series – L.E.A.D., which stands for Leadership Engagement and Development – will impact hundreds of employees, everyone from the director to managers, supervisors and leads. “We’ve needed a program that enables us to share consistent language and principles related to management,” Linda said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a comprehensive program across the organization with the potential to make an impact as big as this one does.”
Plan your Community Connection events
Continued on page 7
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Learn about Smart Water Heater research
Q&A with Andre Pedeferri Tacoma Power’s Smart Meter Program Manager
Andre is the new program manager at Tacoma Power in charge of TPU’s multi-year, $70 million power and water meter upgrade project (advanced meter infrastructure – AMI). He holds an MBA from the University of Washington, a BA in Construction Management from Central Washington University and has over 14 years’ experience in the utility industry. Just over three months into his new position, Andre’s already put together a new program management office within Utility Technology Services for managing the AMI project. Andre, his wife, Jaime, two daughters, Gabbie and Ellie, and son Enzo call Lake Tapps home.
Q A
Why did you to apply for this position?
It’s an opportunity to take the organization through a process it’s never been through before. I love the idea of helping an organization directly apply industry best practices, leverage technology, and implement the digital transformation customers now expect from a modern utility. I also like the culture of a public utility because it represents the community, and employees continually try to best use public dollars to deliver the operational benefits and customer experience that our customers deserve.
Q A
What excites you about the meter upgrade project?
The opportunity to lead an initiative that provides so much value, and will position TPU as a best-inclass utility. There’s an industry-wide acknowledgment that being a steady-state, public or private monopolistic utility doesn’t work anymore. Customers now demand more choice and control over their utility provider and, frankly, utilities are struggling to provide it. Consequently we’re starting to see disruption in a traditionally stable industry. Implementing AMI will enable TPU to radically transform the customer experience and position itself for sustainable success within the competitive landscape of the utility industry.
Q A
Why are smart meters beneficial?
Customers will get timely access to their billing data, which enables them to make better decisions about their water and energy use. Our utilities will have better, and more readily available information about system-wide problems like outages and leaks, which will improve response times and reliability. We’ll have the ability to remotely operate customers’ meters, thus alleviating the need to physically reconnect or disconnect the meters. We can offer better billing and efficiency programs, and integrate customer data with various operational systems like GIS and SAP. Customer Services will be able to preen out easy calls so it can dedicate more time to complex customer problems. With so many intricate layers, every aspect of the utility from policies to training will experience an impact.
Q A
Do you have a project implementation schedule from procurement to launch? The project will take about four years to implement. Procurement will occur this year. Later in 2018, we plan to install a sand box environment to test integration and system functionality, and create a training environment for employees.
Then, in 2019, we’ll primarily work on system integration and network deployment. Full launch should start around mid-2020 and finish toward the end of 2021.
Q A
What’s the best advice you’ve received as a manager?
When graduating from college, my dad told me if I truly wanted to become a good manager, I should learn a business from the ground up – to learn from and listen to those people actually doing the work. So I did. I started at the ground level at PSE as a helper in the substation department and then became a journeyman prior to making the leap into management. I’ve found his advice to be the most beneficial of my entire career. I learned that quite often managers come in with all the answers, and more often than not 100 people right in front of them have better ones. As a manager, I work hard to apply my father’s advice every day.
Q A
What do you do in your spare time?
Well, besides trying to keep up with my three kids and their activities, I really enjoy woodworking and working on cars. I’m also an avid water and snow skier. And somewhere in between all of that, I’m trying to learn how to play guitar.
“Customers will get timely access to their billing data, which enables them to make better decisions about their water and energy use.” Pg. 2
2018 COMMUNITY CONNECTION EVENTS
2017 Accomplishments in Giving
March
5 My Sister’s Pantry 10 Emergency Food Network Repack 24 Boys & Girls Club Bowl-a-Thon
April
2 My Sister’s Pantry 14 Emergency Food Network Repack 28 Rebuilding Together South Sound Home Remodel
May
7 My Sister’s Pantry 7-18 Children’s Book Drive
June
4 My Sister’s Pantry 4-15 Food & Basic Supplies Drive 9 Emergency Food Network Repack
July
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Total = $330,239 in donations and time
5 My Sister’s Pantry 10 Emergency Food Network Repack 14 Delectable Desserts
Cut and save the dates!
◗ A dopt-a-Family $31,600 donated gifts 158 people adopted ◗ Bowl-a-Thon $15,382 raised 205 participants ◗ Children’s Book Drive $3,760 in donation value 800 books collected ◗ Delectable Desserts $1,900 in donations ◗ Emergency Food Network $17,573 in donations 195 volunteers | 585 volunteer hours ◗ Habitat Build $4,626 in donated labor 22 volunteers | 154 volunteer hours ◗ H.U.G.S. Drive $8,365 in donations ◗ My Sister’s Pantry $23,570 in donations and hours 7,642 food items donated 165 volunteers | 495 volunteer hours ◗ Rebuilding Together $41,602 in donated labor/contributions 70 volunteers | 860 hours ◗ Salvation Army $13,362 in gifts and volunteer time 311 gifts given | 495 volunteer hours ◗ Senior Assistance Fund Dam Ride $2,049 raised 51 utility bill grants issued ◗ Taste of TPU $1,730 in donations ◗ United Way Campaign $164,720 in contributions 353 donors
February
2 My Sister’s Pantry 14 Emergency Food Network Repack 18 Taste of TPU
August
6 My Sister’s Pantry 11 Emergency Food Network Repack 6-17 School Supply Drive 18 Dam Ride
September
8 Emergency Food Network Repack 19 – Oct. 10 United Way Campaign 22 Habitat Build
October
1 My Sister’s Pantry 10 United Way Campaign Closing Ceremony and Swiss Celebrity Waiters Night 13 Emergency Food Network Repack 22 – Nov. 2 H.U.G.S. Drive TBD Adopt-a-Family
November
3 Emergency Food Network Repack 5 My Sister’s Pantry TBD Salvation Army Giving Tree
December
3 My Sister’s Pantry 8 Emergency Food Network Repack TBD Volunteer at Tacoma Mall Salvation Army Gift Wrapping Station Pg. 3
bits & pieces
PIERCE COUNTY
Career Day
Line Electrician Hai Nguyen (left) gives two teens a lift Tacoma Power style during the recent Pierce County Career Day at the Washington State Fair Events Center in Puyallup.
Employees from Tacoma Power, Tacoma Water and Tacoma Rail recently helped about 2,500 kids from 62 high schools learn about job and internship opportunities, and the skills they’ll need to work at Tacoma Public Utilities. During the 10th annual Pierce County Career Day, some brave teens had fun climbing power poles, riding in bucket trucks, riding a generator bike to create electricity, tapping a water main and conducting safety rescues!
Utilities’ flagship room re-opens after remodel
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Say hello to modernity. TPU’s old, but familiar, ground-level Auditorium is now in use after the relic’s recent renovation. What’s the best part? The room is free of unreliable equipment with technical challenges, and no longer elicits the feel of hospital hallways swaddled in its ‘80s mauve décor. The nearly 3,600 square foot space, which is home to the Public Utility Board and various employee events and meetings, has that sweet smell of new construction. Upgrades include new energy-efficient lighting, security, audio visual and communication systems, doors, a multi-level stage and platforms, lecterns and daises, wood walls, signage and carpet. The geometric upholstery covering over 200 plush new seats adds comfort and complements the room’s splash of bold blue paint. The Public Utility Board held its first meeting of 2018 in the updated venue in January.
After more than 30 years, the long-awaited TPU Auditorium upgrade has new equipment, and modern décor with better use of space for meetings and events.
Partnership with Tacoma Housing Authority puts smart water heaters in Salishan for research Tacoma Power is participating with the Bonneville Power Administration to test energy-efficient, Wi-Fi-enabled electric water heaters through a partnership with the Tacoma Housing Authority. The nine-month project, which began in December 2017, collects data from about 90 homes in the Salishan community. Testing will provide BPA with valuable insights about using smart water heaters as a place to store surplus electricity and help
WiFi enabled communication ports on water heaters installed in homes at the Salishan community in Tacoma allow BPA to collect data about use.
reduce demands on the electric grid. The water heaters are Wi-Fi enabled, and come with a communication port that allows BPA to control the water heater and collect data. Click! Network built a dedicated low-volume Wi-Fi network in the Salishan neighborhood that will receive data during the study. The research will allow BPA to assess the reliability and costeffectiveness of the ports. Data from Salishan, and other test locations in the
region, will help BPA build a case for water heater manufacturers to including the port in all new residential water heaters. The Tacoma Housing Authority will receive a discount on the smart water heaters from BPA, and an incentive at the start of the research for each home it enrolls. An additional incentive will be provided at the end of the study for each remaining participant.
DENIM ON DUTY
Stuck on stickers for a cause Customer Services has connected its heart for giving with the blues – blue jeans that is. Employees pay to wear them. Providing quality customer service involves a high volume of face-to-face contact with utility customers. Therefore, Customer Services observes a more-than-casual dress code every day of the week except on casual Fridays. Two exceptions exist; staff can: ◗ Wear blue jeans Monday through Thursday if they also wear an item of clothing with a utility logo. ◗ Donate dollars to a charitable cause in exchange for a redeemable sticker good for a logo-free jeans day. The team raised $930 last December by selling 744 jeans stickers during Customer Services’ Adopt-a Family holiday fundraiser. The money bought extra items for families not covered through volunteer sign-up. “It’s a quick and easy way to support various fundraisers, and something everyone in Customer Services can use or gift,” said Lead Customer Service Representative Gayleen Wederquist. “The Customer Services group as a whole is very generous. This allows us to help families by
picking up any other items the department didn’t buy through volunteer sign up.” Sales occur twice a year and the jeans stickers sell four for $5. Staff must wait until the next sale to stock up once the stickers sell out. Different people create the jeans stickers, therefore designs vary from sale to sale. “People bank their jeans stickers all year, or for years, so there’s no consistency to which sticker people use day-to-day,” said Customer Services Manager John Hoffman. “For example, the sticker I recently exchanged for a free denim day was from 2016!”
Customer Services can wear jeans on duty by buying stickers to support a charitable cause.
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First solar energy project grant goes to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium A $50,000 grant through Tacoma Power’s Evergreen Options program will help fund a solar energy project on the roof of a building in the Asia Forest Sanctuary where Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium exhibits tigers, tapirs, gibbons, and other exotic animals. The grant will help the zoo purchase and install 86 solar energy panels on the building’s roof. Projections show the panels, made in Washington, will produce more than 26,000 kilowatt hours of electricity in the first year and save more than $200,000 over their 30-year lifetime. “Tacoma Power wanted to find a way to further support the development of renewable resources in our community,” said Tacoma Power Superintendent Chris Robinson. “With money collected through Evergreen Options, our renewable energy choice program, we can offer grants to nonprofit and government organizations to build their own renewable energy projects.”
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Evergreen Options participants voted and selected the 2017 grant winner out of two finalists – University of Washington Tacoma and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Chris said both were worthy of the grant, but the utility could only pick one. “We are elated that Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s solar panels project was chosen by Tacoma Public Utilities customers for this grant,” said Metro Parks Tacoma Board of Commissioners President Andrea Smith. “It highlights and strengthens the longtime partnership between the zoo and Tacoma Public Utilities to seek technologies and efficiencies that both conserve our Earth’s precious resources and cut operational costs,” she added. Andrea notes that the project aligns well with Metro Parks Tacoma’s Environmental Sustainability Plan which works to improve community livability with minimal impact to the environment.
In 2018, the utility plans to offer two grants annually as long as funding allows. Nonprofits, schools and government organizations in the utilities’ service area who already participate in Evergreen Options (those who voluntarily pay a little more on their electric bill to support local renewable energy) can apply. Evergreen Options customers will vote to select the winners. Evergreen Options is available to all Tacoma Power customers. If you’re a customer took, you can pay an additional monthly charge on your electric bill to support local renewable energy projects. You can choose a specific amount (minimum $3 per month) or a percentage of your electric use, up to 100 percent. Visit MyTPU.org/Evergreen for more information about Evergreen Options.
evergreen options
Who’s new around here Who’s ready to relax
The following employees retired recently:
Melissa Anderson Administrative Assistant Tacoma Water
Brandon Cassidy Utility Worker Tacoma Water
Joseph Geehan Survey Technician Tacoma Power
Eric McClure Electrician Tacoma Power
Zellynda Perkins Administrative Assistant Tacoma Power
Joseph Sholl Engineer Tacoma Water
◗ D ebbie Bertram, lead water service worker with Tacoma Water, retired after 21 years of service. ◗ D avid Burgmeier, wire electrician with Tacoma Power, retired after 24 years of service. ◗ W illiam (Bill) Gaines, director of TPU, retired after 11 years of service. ◗ J ohn Knutson, meter and relay technician for Tacoma Power, retired after 15 years of service.
Christina Olson Denise Oster Customer Service Representative Management Analyst Tacoma Public Utilities Tacoma Power
◗ T eresa Larson, administrative assistant for Tacoma Power, retired after 17 years of service. ◗ D ale Loveland, supervisor III for Tacoma Power, retired after 24 years of service.
Jessa Shuckhart Utility Worker Tacoma Water
Ji Sun Engineer Tacoma Power
William Zevenbergen Industrial Painter Tacoma Power
Leadership continued from page 1 Over the next year, more than 300 managers, supervisors and leads will participate in cohorts in once-a-week, full day sessions. Each cohort lasts five weeks, which means each participant will receive 40 hours of leadership training. “This is not a ‘flavor-of-the-month,’ where a consultant comes in and leaves,” Linda said. “We agreed to a three-year commitment with Nash so they could be embedded in the organization and truly help us improve the leadership culture.” The leadership training will center around five main components: the leadership mindset, behavior styles, performance management, creating a
professional and positive workplace culture, and sustainability. Some of the concepts participants will learn include: ◗ Why morale matters, and what do about it ◗ Developing great leadership skills ◗ Important questions regarding strengths, biases, and challenges ◗ How to give effective feedback ◗ Coaching preparation ◗ Engaging employees in decision making ◗ Motivating through recognition and appreciation ◗ Effective and enjoyable meetings
“This training in 2018 will set expectations for our current leaders; our focus in 2019 and 2020 will be on measuring our progress. Additionally, we will train emerging leaders in the organization as they prepare to step into supervisory roles,” Linda said. “As the quote at the beginning of the article says, as leaders we can’t expect employees to behave in a way that we are not behaving ourselves. I believe if we embrace the opportunity this training provides and actively incorporate the skills, approaches and techniques into how we behave and manage, this will be a place everyone wants to work, with supervisors everyone wants to work for.”
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Tacoma Public Utilities PO Box 11007 • Tacoma WA 98411
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TPU’S FIRST LADY
Former superintendent leads as interim utility director
Ubits is a publication for Tacoma Public Utilities employees and is provided as a courtesy to retirees. Sonja Bert, editor cms@cityoftacoma.org • (253) 502-8754
The Public Utility Board selected, and the City Council confirmed, former Tacoma Water Superintendent Linda McCrea as Tacoma Public Utilities’ interim director late last year. Linda, who retired April 1, 2017, is TPU’s first female director. “My goal as interim director is to keep things stable until the new leader steps in,” Linda said. “There are so many great, talented people at TPU who need to be supported.” The utility has key deadlines for budget, rates, the legislative session, AMI and other projects ahead. Linda says she intends to help staff keep moving them forward in a timely manner, and board members unanimously agreed she would do just that. “Linda had the ability to hit the ground running. She knows all the players and the programs,” said Board Vice President Woody Jones. Other board members also shared similar sentiments when selecting her to lead the organization. Board Secretary Karen Larkin said she supported Linda because, as a recent retiree, she’s familiar with many initiatives underway such as management improvement, strategic plans, and the Integrated Resource Plan.
A familiar face for many, former Tacoma Water Superintendent Linda McCrea takes the interim role as TPU’s first female director. Similarly, Board Member Bryan Flint said he felt Linda’s record as Tacoma Water’s former superintendent paved the way with successful past projects such as the filtration plant, asset management program, and the lead health scare, noting those and many others show her skill to lead TPU in the interim. “Linda cares about the organization itself as well as the people in the organization,” said Board Member Mark Patterson. “She’ll provide that stabilizing influence during this difficult time of change.” Mycoff, Fry & Prouse continues the executive search for the new director. The target date for recruitment and hiring is March 31. In the meantime, Linda forges ahead.