POWERLINE - Riggs Distler

The
POWER LINE
March, 2010
Blizzard Blast
Scott Zemaitatis, Project Manager, Over Head Utilities Group
Many of us may remember the
“Blizzard of ‘96” when the Philadelphia area received it’s all-time
largest snowfall from one storm - a
record 30.4 inches that fell during the
course of 2 days and contributed to
that winter’s record breaking snowfall
total of 65.4 inches. The storms of this
February have shattered that all-time
high mark (by over a foot) contributing to a multitude of power outages
throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region.
Especially hard hit were the coastal
areas of New Jersey, which kept our
overhead utility group working hard
to get the lights (and heat) back on.
Sixteen hour days for over a week is
what our crews did, block by block,
street by street, until power had been
restored to the thousands of homes
and businesses affected. The work
was completed safely and without
incident.
This February’s
snowstorms have
given new meaning to “Footprints
in the Sand” at
the Jersey Shore.
Pictured at right
are foot prints on
the snow-covered
beaches of Cape
May, NJ.
Left: Riggs’ crews
arrive along the promenade in Cape May
and survey the damage. Approximately 16
crews and utility vehicles
worked “Beach Front”
for over a week to assist in power restoration
for a major New Jersey
Utility.
Gold Medal Safety Performance
Paul Bizon, VP Electrical Group
Above: One brave coastal resident makes the
most of the bizarre conditions at the Jersey
Shore- breaking out the skis and doing a little
“cross country” over the foot-deep snow on the
beach at Cape May.
Riggs Distler recently received recognition for exceeding their established safety
goals for 2009 from a major
refinery in the Philadelphia
region. This is the fourth consecutive year we have received
this commendation.
Overall, our safety performance in 2009 is nothing short
of deserving of a gold medal.
We have reduced our number
of injuries and lost time incidents by half, recordables by
two thirds and reduced our
overall EMR. These are the
lowest numbers we have seen
in the last 5 years. This is not
an individual event, but a team
effort. Everyone should stand
on the podium to receive their
gold medal and be proud of
your accomplishment. Congratulations to all and keep up
the good work!
Vision and Values
Our vision is to be our customer’s preferred provider for mechanical, electrical and utility services. Throughout the
performance of the work, we intend to demonstrate best-in-class project delivery, value for money and performance. As a
result, we will become the benchmark for excellence and the standard by which success will be judged.
This will be achieved through the consistent application of our core values:
• We ensure that high standards of health and safety are the primary objective in all our activities.
• We respect the environment, the community and the principles of environmental sustainability.
• We conduct ourselves according to high standards for business conduct, ethics and integrity.
• We listen to our clients and do our best to deliver to their needs.
• We develop our employee skills by utilizing our existing processes and by striving for continual improvement.
• We develop strong relationships with our team members and stakeholders by listening to their needs and by fostering trust
within an environment of open communication.
• We make commitments and stand by them. When we say we will deliver, we will do it. We work in the best interest of
our clients, even when it is not the easy thing to do.
• We stand together as a team, whether we are recognizing our accomplishments or experiencing the learning curve associated with the journey to success. We resolve issues together, being open to feedback and without blaming each other.
• We empower employees at every level to be accountable for their work, to have a sense of ownership and responsibility
and to be proud of the quality delivered.
• We take responsibility for issues and we work to resolve concerns in a timely and collaborative manner. We collect and
apply the lessons learned to drive continual improvement.
• We provide stimulating, challenging and varied opportunities to our team members enabling them to experience personal
growth and development.
• We respect and value every team member, from the most senior to the most junior, as an important part of the team. We
recognize that success belongs to everyone who contributes and celebrate that success as a team.
safety charter
This charter is intended to support the continuous improvement of healthy and safe workplaces. It is founded on the
principle that safety is our first priority, and the belief that effective management of health, safety and wellness is essential
to the operation of a successful business. This charter represents the commitment from our organization:
• To value safety as an ongoing process.
• To strive for excellent safety performance by integrating safety principles in all aspects of our business.
• To integrate health and safety management into our team, strategies, processes and performance measures, recognizing
that good health and safety performance supports good business results.
• To recognize that nothing is more important than the health, safety and well-being of employees, contractors, clients and
the surrounding community.
• To provide the leadership and resources for continuous health and safety improvement.
• To participate in the learning process as we develop recognized and effective Best Practices for Safety.
• To provide the environment that enables all employees to participate and work collaboratively in developing, promoting
and improving health and safety at work.
• To effectively manage health and safety risk by eliminating and controlling hazards.
• To extend health and safety beyond the work place, recognizing and supporting related initiatives within our communities.
_Leo Sniger
Leo Sniger, President & CEO
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The Power Line
March, 2010
www.riggsdistler.com
Making Headlines
As Published in the Burlington County Times March 4, 2010
Seeing the Light
By: DAVID MACCAR
As part of its “Solar 4 All” program, PSE&G has begun installing
power-generating solar energy units
on utility poles in Burlington City
and Burlington Township.
Over the next few weeks, contractors from Riggs Distler in
Cherry Hill will install panels on
utility poles and streetlights along
main streets, near area businesses
and in residential neighborhoods.
About 600 will be installed in the
city and about 175 in the township,
with more to come throughout Burlington County as work progresses.
The work is part of a $515 million project that ultimately will
install 200,000 pole-attached solar
units in PSE&G’s service area over
the next four years.
The pole units are expected to
generate about 40 megawatts of
power, which will connect directly
into PSE&G’s electric distribution
system.
More than 9,500 pole-attached
panels have been installed since
mid-October, mostly in the central
and southern parts of the state, according to PSE&G spokeswoman
Deann Muzikar.
“The solar panels bring the
benefit of clean, renewable energy
to all our customers, and the electricity generated from them helps
us combat climate change,” said
Alfredo Matos, vice president for
renewables and energy solutions for
PSE&G, in a statement.
The project received regulatory approval from the New Jersey
Board of Public Utilities in July.
www.riggsdistler.com
The “Solar 4 All” program,
which will double the size of the
state’s solar capacity, has been
called a good investment by PSE&G
officials that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions and help meet New
Jersey’s renewable energy goals.
The utility announced in January that it had selected four sites
and developers for ground-mounted
solar farms in Edison, Hamilton,
Linden and Trenton to be installed
this spring.
In addition to those sites,
PSE&G is interested in building
smaller solar power systems on
schools and government buildings
in economically distressed urban
enterprise zone communities within
its coverage area. Pemberton Township and Mount Holly are the only
two enterprise zones in the county,
with all of Mount Holly and part of
Pemberton located in the utility’s
coverage area.
PSE&G plans to pay for the installation of solar panels on selected
schools and government buildings.
It would own and operate the systems, but would pay rent to or credit
the municipality or school district
for the power the panels generate.
Once everything is in place, the 80
megawatt-generating solar system
- enough to power about 64,000
homes - will provide New Jersey
with more solar capacity than any
state but California. It also will create the largest pole-attached solar
installation in the world, according
to the utility.
PSE&G will receive federal tax
credits and solar renewable energy
credits, with the benefits returned
The Power Line
Above: The winter weather hasn’t
stopped our utility crews from
installing nearly 10,000 solar units
throughout NJ. By 2011, our crews
are anticipating having 65,000 of
these units installed throughout the
Garden State.
The story was also aired on local
Philadelphia Television Station, 6
ABC News.
to all ratepayers, although customers initially will pay about 10 cents
more a month to fund the project.
That cost will increase to a maximum of 35 cents a month by 2028,
according to the utility.
March, 2010
We Support
Our Troops
Page 3
Project News
On the Mechanical Side
-Steve Haller, Regional Mgr. Mechanical Group
We are currently servicing three power
generating plants in the Mid Atlantic
region for two of our Alliance clients.
We are providing plant support services
at two of the facilities, utilizing seven
different crafts and employing in excess
of 100 craftsmen. In addition to ongoing
plant support, we are replacing a reheater
during a planned outage.
Our third power plant operation
consists of replacing an Economiser and
Water Walls during a scheduled
outage. To date all outage work
is on schedule, below budget and
has zero safety incidents.
Top right: Millwright Turbine work- rebuilding and
alignment.
Bottom right: Recently replaced feedwater heaters
Keeping Busy during a Slow Economy
-Paul Bizon, Vice President, Electrical Group
Despite the lagging economy,
Riggs Distler is currently the largest electrical contractor working
in the Chester electrical local’s
territory. Our group is providing
electrical and instrumentation services at a Philadelphia area refinery for several on-going projects,
including the 10 Plant Precipitator
Turnaround which is underway.
We will clean, inspect and perform maintenance on electrical
switchgear, grounding and lighting
throughout the Unit. We are also
involved in new cooling towers, as
well as power cable installations
on other units within their facility.
The Electrical Group has been
awarded a contract to replace and
upgrade a Distributed Control System for a chemical manufacturer
in Croydon. Although we have
seen a reduction in our operations
due to the impact the economy has
had on our clients, we continue
to perform I & E installations for
these clients throughout the tristate area and continue to redirect
our efforts to meet these current
www.riggsdistler.com
economic challenges.
Riggs Distler was recently
presented with an award for being
a NECA (National Electrical Contractors Association) member for
75 years. We are a founding member of the Penn/Del/Jersey chapter
as well as the Baltimore chapter.
Employee News
WELCOME
Christopher Miller, a third year apprentice pipe fitter, has joined the Mechanical
Group as a scheduler. Chris will also be
involved in a variety of areas, such as
QA/QC, Piping take-offs, field work and
eventually field supervision. We are looking forward to having Christopher on our
team.
HAPPy RETiREMENT!
Bill Berger recently retired after a long
and storied career with Riggs Distler. Bill
has worked for us since 1980 and will continue supporting Riggs on a part time basis
in non field related activities.
SAFETy TRAiNiNG GiVES LiFE
Tragedy struck during a December
The Power Line
March, 2010
hunting trip for some of our Dominion
crew members. A woman who had accompanied a group of hunters was struck in the
temple by a stray bullet. Crew member,
Albert LaBossiere, Sr “AJ” was able to
reach the woman in time and because of
the CPR training he had received from
Riggs Distler, he and two other retired
marines performed CPR on the woman
and were able to bring her back and keep
her alive until Life Flight medics arrived
to transport her to the hospital. Due to the
nature of the woman’s injuries, she passed
away, but because of their life saving efforts, the woman’s organs were able to be
donated - giving the gift of life to others.
We commend our Dominion employees
for their life saving efforts. Our heart-felt
sympathy goes out to the woman’s family.
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