4th Quarter EnerCom - Western Farmers Electric Cooperative

Winter Quarter
2010
Ener
Com
A Publication of Western Farmers Electric Cooperative
1
Ener
Com
Winter Quarter, 2010
Volume XIII, No. 4
Western Farmers Electric Cooperative
P. O. Box 429
Anadarko, OK 73005
(405) 247-3351
www.wfec.com
Gary R. Roulet..........................................Chief Executive Officer
Brian Hobbs................................VP, Legal & Corporate Services
Mark Faulkenberry...............................Manager, Mktg. & Comm.
Sondra Boykin, CCC...........................................................Editor
Mark Daugherty, CCC..................................Writer, Photographer
Maria Crowder..............................................Writer, Photographer
Northwestern
Kay
Alfalfa
Cimarron
Kiwash
Northfork
Farmers’
Roosevelt
County
Central
Valley
2
Lea
County
Caddo
Harmon
Oklahoma
Canadian
Valley
Rural
Southwest
Rural
East Central
Oklahoma
Kiamichi
People’s
Cotton
Red River
Valley Rural
Southeastern
WFEC System Service Area
Oklahoma & New Mexico
Choctaw
Growing Leaders Program
To Help Prepare for Future
T
Story, Photos by Sondra Boykin
he first of the “baby boomer” generation
will turn age 65 in 2011, leaving many
workforce who will be eligible for retirement over
to take advantage of a new phase in life
the next three years. By expanding the qualified
through their retirement dreams. The nationwide
internal candidate pool, Growing Leaders will
impact of this milestone will likely leave
help build WFEC’s internal strength to meet the
vacancies at all levels of a company’s hierarchy,
challenges ahead, as longtime employees retire.
with the vast experience of this aging workforce
WFEC has always emphasized consideration
leaving as well.
and promotion of employees from within the
Western Farmers Electric Cooperative
organization, explained Ken McElhaney,
(WFEC) is working to minimize the impact of this
potential dilemma with the
implementation of a new
comprehensive leadership
program designed to
internally train interested
employees. Through the
Growing Leaders program,
selected employees will
embark on a two-year
developmental training
experience that will help
to possibly prepare them
for future leadership roles
within the company.
In order to be
considered for Growing
Leaders, employees
WFEC Senior Management Team members (from left) Gary Gilleland, vice
president, Generation; Ron Cunningham, vice president, Power Delivery;
fill out an application, obtain
and Jane Lafferty, vice president and chief financial officer, look over
recommendation from their
applicants for the Growing Leaders Program. These three will make up the
supervisor and go through
Administrative Team that will provide continual support throughout the
two-year program.
an interview process. Five
participants will be chosen for
employee development director. “Increased
this program. Some 25 employees applied
turnover in key roles due to our aging workforce
for this new program, with interviews and the
has shown the need to establish a leadership
selection process to be conducted during
development plan to formally prepare a pool of
December and into January. Training will then
potential candidates in advance of leadership
begin early in 2011.
WFEC is facing an average of 54 percent of its
(Continued on Page 4)
3
Growing Leaders
(Continued from Page 3)
which an applicant has previously prepared
vacancies,” McElhaney pointed out.
themselves for a leadership role will also be
Supervisory, technical, professional and
reviewed, along with the knowledge and skills
skilled crafts employees often have little extra
that the employee hopes to develop.
time to spend in formal leadership training.
During the two-year program, McElhaney
Program participants will be allowed some time
explained, participants will complete both
during work for training and Growing Leaders
core training topics, in addition to specialized
activities. However, some of the required training
training based on assessed needs. Hands-on
and activities will also have to be done on the
training in WFEC processes and issues are
employee’s own time, McElhaney noted.
While the
program direction
and goals have
already been
established
by senior
management,
an appointed
Administrative
Team will select
the participants
from those who
apply, monitor
participant
progress, help
with scheduling
issues, approve
development
plan and
updates, and solicit
Tina Adams, secretary, and Rodney Palesano, manager, Human Resources, help to review
participant feedback the criteria for the Growing Leaders Program that is set to begin in early 2011. This new
program, which is unique in the history of WFEC, is designed to help interested candidates
for program
to learn more about the company and it’s future roles within the industry.
improvement.
Ron Cunningham,
also included. Quarterly progress assessments
vice president, Power Delivery; Gary Gilleland,
and briefings will hold participants accountable
vice president, Generation; Jane Lafferty, vice
for understanding how each department works
president and chief financial officer, will make up
through interaction and project assistance.
this team with support from Human Resources.
Among the topics will be an “Introduction to
The Administrative Team will meet quarterly with
Electric Utility Systems for Non-Engineers” that
all five participants.
will provide an understanding of the electric
As for the application phase, employees must
utility business, challenges, regulation and
complete an application, as well as submit a
the operational environment. Participants will
letter of intent that explains why he or she feels
also take a Project Management for Utility
like they would be a good candidate. Ways in
4
Capital Projects course that will consist of
discussions on project initiation, planning and
execution and closeout. This instruction will also
include an understanding of the role of owner
representatives when dealing with outside
engineering firms and contractors.
Program participants will select an ongoing WFEC project in a functional area
to “shadow” from conception and planning
through approval and completion. This phase
will involve interviews with project leaders and
key personnel, attendance at project meetings,
review of project documents and observation
of the final implementation. The purpose of
the shadowing will be to learn how project
management works at WFEC.
With compliance issues becoming more
essential in daily operations, participants will
view a recorded web conference on a systematic
approach to documenting compliance to the
North America Electric Reliability Corporation
(NERC) reliability standards.
Business Analysis Fundamentals and Modeling
Business Processes courses will also be on the
course’s agenda. These courses will provide a
standard method for understanding, evaluating
and improving business processes. Participants
will choose a WFEC business process and apply
methods learned to map it.
Cross training will provide technical or
professional training in an area outside of their
current expertise. Participants will attend one
meeting involving the Southwest Power Pool and
one meeting involving ACES Power Marketing.
Attendance at two Board meetings each year
is also required, along with a written report to
the Administrative Team on their observations
and impressions and what was learned. In the
second year of the program, two presentations
must be made to a Board Committee and the
Board.
In order to keep this program on a manageable
level for both the size and budget of WFEC,
only five participants will be selected for the
program. Also, since much of the training will
be done during working hours, in addition to
current job duties, this small number will cause
less disruption to the workflow of the company,
McElhaney explained.
“Taking part in this program will not guarantee
a future leadership role. As management jobs
become vacant, anyone may apply, as always.
The point of the program is simply to encourage
the development of leadership skills as well
as provide a pool of internal candidates who
have received formalized training through this
program,” McElhaney pointed out.
It is likely that another course will be planned
after the conclusion of the first one to allow
for further participation among interested
employees. However, progress and success of
the program will be closely monitored to ensure
its continuation.
Through the implementation of this program,
WFEC staff hopes to successfully leverage the
capabilities of existing employees to be better
prepared for the future. WFEC is expecting
substantial returns on its investment in
employees.
wfec
We wish our members
a very Merry Christmas
and look forward
to serving your
financial needs
in 2011.
Cooperative Employees
Credit Union
5
Let There be (Better) Light
Innovative LED Project Targets Dairy,
Pork Businesses in Rural Oklahoma
F
or more than a century, some variation
on Thomas Edison’s electric light bulb
illuminated our indoor and night time
world. The creation and commercialization of
more efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFL’s)
marked a distinct evolution in the way our world
is lit. The even more recent development of
light emitting diode (LED) lights may hold even
greater promise for business and consumers.
Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC)
has teamed up with the Cooperative Research
Story by Mark Daugherty
Photos by Scott Williams
Network (CRN), Oklahoma State University
(OSU) and our local distribution cooperatives on
an initial project to discover what solutions LEDs
may produce for a rural Oklahoma dairy and
pork business. Successful results could impact
these types of businesses nationwide.
WFEC’s C&I Marketing Manager & Legislative
Coordinator Scott Williams is one of the leaders
on the LED project. “The T-Bar M Dairy
Ranch in Achille and Robinson Brothers
Pork near Holdenville were eager to
participate. They are served by two
of our local distribution cooperatives.
One of our primary goals is to see
if changing to LED’s might provide
another solution for our co-op’s end
use customer,” Williams stated. “We
wanted to know if LED’s would save
on their energy bill. Would they provide
improved lighting? And, would they
cause no adverse affects on the
animals? These were some of our
starter questions.”
At one of the dairy barn facilities,
half of the conventional 250 watt
metal halide lights were replaced with
equivalent 120 watt LED lighting.
The lighting quality and intensity
from both sources of illumination was
professionally measured. Southeastern
Electric Cooperative (SEC) hooked
WFEC C & I Marketing Manager & Legislative Coordinator
up meters to measure use of the split
Scott Williams (left) and C&I Marketing Manager Kalun Kelley
sources of lighting. An immediate
are shown with a Lektron LED light fixture similar to those
result was the LED lighting sources
installed for the T Bar M Ranch dairy project.
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Dairy Light (above)
120 watt LED lights replaced 250 watt metal halide lights on one half of
the dairy barn shown here. OSU will be monitoring weight gain and milk
production of each cow to determine if LEDs produce any behavioral changes in
the animals.
Farrow Lighting (below)
Each 15 watt Agrishift LED light installed at Robinson Family Farms produced
comparable light levels to 26 watt CFL already in use at the facility.
provided a noticeably
brighter illumination of
the cattle’s indoor feeding
areas. Measurements
revealed a 25 to 40 percent
improvement in directed,
uniform lighting along
the feeding alley. Just as
significantly, monitoring
of initial electric usage
indicated a projected
energy savings of 52
percent.
How is an LED light
able to outperform the old
filament light bulb? LEDs
have a circuit board with
a semi-conductor chip
that creates light. There
is practically no heat
passed onto the LED bulb.
However, anyone who has
tried to unscrew a burning
incandescent bulb knows
how hot they can be. That
heat spells inefficiency and
a much shorter life than
an LED. So, LEDs should
last a lot longer. And,
unlike CFLs, they have
no mercury content and
are more environmentally
friendly. They don’t break as
easily either.
“As promising as LED
lights are, they are still
relatively new,” Williams
noted. “The technology is
constantly evolving and
improving. We surveyed
several manufacturers
before deciding on a Tulsa(Continued on Page 8)
7
LED Project
based company, Lektron, to manufacture our
dairy project lighting. A different set of lighting
criteria were required for selecting an LED
provider for the Robinson Brothers’ pork facility.
There is a lot more humidity in pork facilities,”
Williams explained.
They are continuously washing and cleaning
stalls. Cleanliness is important, and all workers
and visitors are required to shower on site
before entering their facilities. Any inside light
has to be able to withstand levels of humidity
that can reach 65 percent. “We found Agrishift
(trademark) manufactured LED lighting for
comparable environments in the poultry industry,
and that’s what we used for this project.”
At the swine site, 26 watt CFLs were
replaced with Agrishift 15 watt LEDs. People’s
Electric Cooperative (PEC) installed metering
to measure energy use and to measure for
harmonics that could adversely affect the power
quality. Initial measurements showed the LEDs
created comparable light levels and the lights
(Continued from Page 7)
were capable of better direction. Even more
significantly, they indicated an energy savings of
50 percent.
With savings and longevity in their favor, why
isn’t there a rush to convert to more efficient
LEDs? “The initial cost of LEDs is significantly
higher than conventional lighting,” Williams
remarked. “So, people often perceive them as
expensive. Like all modern technology, though,
you can expect the price to come down as the
product develops. However, when you consider
all the factors over the life cycle of a light, LEDs
have already proved they save money.”
Throughout the duration of the test project,
OSU’s agriculture science group will also be
studying the behavioral effects of LED lighting
on the animals at both facilities. Will LED lighting
improve production among the animals at the
respective facilities? Are there any adverse
affects associated with the LED light source?
Williams estimates OSU and CRN should have
some good research figures and conclusions to
these and additional questions within the next six
months.
By bringing together the rural businesses,
educational institutions and distribution
cooperatives with this LED lighting project,
WFEC’s Marketing team is creating a possible
technological solution that could improve the
quality and competiveness of rural Oklahoma. If
the application of this promising emerging LED
technology takes off, its impact could reach rural
areas far beyond the borders of our state.
wfec
Metering installed by distribution cooperatives
participating in the LED project will monitor not only
energy usage of the LED bulbs, but also any disturbance
produced by the LED bulbs.
8
Safety, Reliability Essential
For Anadarko Plant Staff
M
Story, Photos by Maria Crowder
eeting WFEC members’ increasing
demand for energy requires diligence,
planning and teamwork. These traits
Plant: Three major overhauls have been
are evident in all WFEC generating facilities,
completed in the past three years. In addition,
including the Anadarko Plant.
the completion of the Bob Orme units, consisting
Tommy Sparkman, manager of the Anadarko
of three new combustion turbines, was
Plant, has been with WFEC for more than 35
completed and a new water treatment facility
years. Sparkman works closely with the plant
was installed.
staff running the day-to-day operations. The
Anadarko Plant Challenges: Maintaining units
Anadarko Plant employees 47.
and equipment, some of which are more than
A primary goal for plant employees is to work
50 years old, takes ingenuity and proactive
safely to ensure that the reliability and availability
planning. In 2001, Ovation DCS controls were
of the plant’s resources are in place to meet
installed on Unit 3. Since then, nine of the
member’s needs, explained Sparkman. This
11 units at the plant have been converted to
must be done while maintaining machinery and
the Ovation system. Since installing the new
equipment in a safe and productive working
equipment, noted Sparkman, WFEC has
environment.
(Continued on Page 10)
Anadarko Plant History: The Anadarko Plant
was built in 1953. On July 2,
1953, the first natural gas unit,
known as Unit 1, with a 15,000
kilowatt (kW) capacity, was
completed. At that time, the
first power from the Anadarko
Plant went out over new
transmission lines.
During the 1970’s, the
300,000 kW Combined Cycle
Plant was built. This plant
was 10 times the size of the
original system. It was praised
as the most thermal efficient
concept in the world.
All together, with the GenCo
units and the new Bob Orme
units, the Anadarko Plant’s
generating capacity is more
Journeyman Mechanic Dustin Oswald works on the GenCo compressors.
than 600 megawatts (MW).
Maintaining machinery and equipment in a safe and productive working
What’s New at the Anadarko environment is a key responsibility of Anadarko Plant personnel.
9
Anadarko Plant
reduced time and material costs. The Ovation
system is less expensive to operate and parts
are readily available and much easier to locate
than the obsolete parts for the old control
systems.
Another challenge lies in the retiring workforce
and the training of new personnel, which is a
continuous effort at the plant. Plant maintenance
and operations personnel must be trained on 11
different units with five different control systems,
which often creates some challenges.
In May of 2009, an EF 3 tornado struck the
plant causing more than $6.5 million in damages.
January, 2010 brought more bad weather,
when a major ice storm struck across portions
of the service territory, isolating the plant from
the grid for a short time. Fortunately, plant staff
responded quickly to both of these situations and
followed emergency action procedures to return
service as quickly as possible. Logistics: Four departments work together in
the Anadarko Plant to provide the highest level
of performance and reliability. The Operations
staff is comprised of 23 employees. Their duties
(Continued from Page 9)
Mechanic David Mathias and other members of the
Maintenance Department routinely perform welding
and fabricating on parts and equipment necessary
to maintain the availability and reliability of the
Anadarko facility.
Maintaining units and equipment is a top priority. Staff has worked
through three major overhauls in the past three years to ensure
continued reliability.
10
include monitoring operating
units, cycling units on and off as
demand for power changes and
communicating switching and
unit cycling through Control Area
Services.
The Electrical/Instrumentation
team maintains the controls
and instrumentation systems.
The nine employees in this
department evaluate and
analyze modifications for process
improvement, facilitate the repair
on electrical systems, maintain
the Continuous Emission
Monitoring System (CEMS)
and perform preventative
and corrective maintenance on the
electrical and electronic equipment
throughout the plant.
The 12 members of the Mechanical
Maintenance Department perform
maintenance on the combined cycle
plant, steam plant, GenCo and the
Bob Orme units and related auxiliary
equipment. Among their many
duties, they perform preventive and
corrective maintenance tasks, welding,
machining and fabricating on parts
and equipment necessary to maintain
the availability and reliability of the
The Anadarko Plant was built in 1953. All together, including the
GenCo units and the new Bob Orme units, the Anadarko Plant’s
plant.
generating capacity is more than 600 MW.
The Administration staff is
comprised of three employees
who provide support to all plant employees
Anadarko Plant personnel are committed to
by facilitating and monitoring the plant safety
meeting all challenges and work to provide
program, preparing and maintaining the budget,
efficient, safe operations, which in turn ensures
planning and scheduling outages and providing
WFEC will continue to be a reliable power
necessary tools and training opportunities for all
provider for years to come.
plant employees.
wfec
Check Out Revamped WFEC Website
A new WFEC website was recently launched, complete with a new look and interactive
sections. This new site is being designed as a primary communications tool for the future, with
additional phases to be included in the overall project. The second phase, a member’s only
section, is now under way.
Photo and video galleries, along with WFEC news and information, are available on this
website. A particularly unique feature involves virtual tours of plant facilities and Blue Canyon
Wind Farm. Audio clips that will be played during the virtual tours will be available soon. The Employment Section, expected to be one of the most heavily utilized areas of the
site, has been completely revamped to improve recruitment efforts. Portions of this area are
interactive, with future plans for additional interaction.
One important element added to the site is a banner that will be featured on the home page
during emergency situations. This banner will keep both the public and employees advised
of an emergency situation and will be update as necessary. A future goal is to also utilize this
section for media updates during major outage situations. We invite you to visit www.wfec.com today for a first look at a communication tool in
progress. wfec
11
Over 800 Athletes Participate
During CoachesAid Media Day
R
epresentatives of 140 high
school basketball teams from
across the state converged
on downtown Oklahoma City Saturday,
Nov.13 for the CoachesAid First Look
Media Day. This event was hosted at
the Cox Center, with the Touchstone
Energy Cooperatives of Oklahoma
teaming up with CoachesAid.com and
OKBlitz.com in making this successful
event possible.
Over 800 players and coaches
were on hand for the second annual
event, representing their respective
schools.This event marked the second
such gathering co-hosted by the
Annie Whitfield, member services coordinator at the Oklahoma
Touchstone Energy Cooperatives of
Association of Electric Cooperatives, registers a basketball team
during the recent CoachesAid First Look Media Day. Assisting is
Oklahoma, as a football media day
Billie Been of East Central Electric Cooperative. WFEC Marketing
was hosted in August.
and Communications staff and several distribution cooperative
This new beneficial partnership was representatives were also on hand to offer assistance during the day.
recently established to help reach
more Oklahoma schools. Since the rural electric
http://basketballmediaday.coachesaid.com/
cooperatives serve many area schools, the
The teams at Media Day were also interviewed
already-established relationship between these
by CoachesAid staffers regarding the upcoming
two entities will provide an essential link.
season. The videos of those interviews can be
Camaraderie was evident among the team
seen on www.coachesaid.com.
members from each school, as they posed for
This day-long event also featured drawings
photos at a booth manned by employees of the
for prizes, vendor booths and interviews with
Touchstone Energy Cooperatives of Oklahoma.
News9.
These photos are available for download at
wfec
Season’s Greetings
12
Spirit of Giving Alive at WFEC
W
FEC employees have
always been known for their
generosity during the holiday
season. Whether it’s the involvement
in a food drive to support local families,
the “adoption” of a child for Christmas
or an offer of encouragement to soldiers
fighting overseas, employees have
always offered their assistance.
This year is no exception, as baskets
were filled with food items for both
Thanksgiving and Christmas, and
children were quickly adopted to
WFEC’s Hugo Plant employees recently prepared gift boxes to make
the Thanksgiving holidays a little brighter for an employee’s son and
receive special gifts. Also, for the past
his unit, currently serving overseas. Among the Hugo Plant employees
several years, the Anadarko-based
helping with this effort included (from left) Joe Cheatham, warehouse
ladies group has selected a charity to
worker; Shay Earthman, administrative assistant; Wendy Knight,
warehouse worker; Bobby and Debbie Cody (parents of Tyler Cody),
donate money or other items.
and Hugo Plant Manager Charles Collier.
Due to the generosity of the
Anadarko employees, six families
in conjunction with DHS, Salvation Army and
received baskets complete with everything
Santa’s Workshop to ensure needs are met
needed for traditional Thanksgiving dinners. This
and no duplications are made within Caddo and
project benefits families through the Department
Grady counties.
of Human Services (DHS). Employees have
WFEC’s Hugo Plant employees recently
participated in this food drive for the past several
prepared gift boxes in hopes of making the
years, with overwhelming support.
Thanksgiving holidays a little brighter for an
With Christmas arriving soon, WFEC’s
employee’s son and his unit, currently serving
Anadarko employees are once again teaming
overseas.
up with DHS, to offer assistance to five families,
Journeyman Mechanic Bobby Cody’s son,
so they can have a Merry Christmas. Included
Tyler, is serving in the Marines, currently
in these five families are a total of 20 children,
stationed in Afghanistan. Many of the items sent
ranging in age from seven months to age 17.
were donated, in addition to cash being raised
WFEC employees, individually, as a group,
to support this effort. Each box contained food
or even as a department, can “adopt” a family
items, Gatorade, hot chocolate, T-shirts, ear
or a child and shop for specific gifts. Clothing
plugs, toiletries, notepads, pens, socks, movies
sizes and interests are given for each child.
and footballs. A thank you letter was also sent in
Or, employees can donate cash and project
each box. In all, 31gift boxes were sent.
organizers will make the purchases.In addition,
Hugo Plant employees plan to send more
food baskets will be provided for each family.
surprises to the soldiers before the Christmas
In lieu of bringing a gift for the Ladies luncheon
holidays.
this year, attendees gave money to be donated
to help the Southwest Youth and Family Services
with their Angel Project. This program works
wfec
13
Christmas Season Changes with Time
Christmas has expanded into a fairly extensive event for many WFEC
families. As our children have grown up, they now have families and children
of their own, resulting in extended gatherings during the holiday season.
Instead of having a celebration on Dec. 25, our family's celebration now falls
on the last Saturday in December, and rotates between my wife, Gail, and
her two sisters. What once included a dozen people has now grown to almost
30. With the way Christmas Day falls this year, our family will actually
celebrate on the 25th.
WFEC's member family has also become larger and more extended during
2010, with the addition of four eastern New Mexico cooperatives. Just
before Thanksgiving, marketing and other staff began meeting with
cooperative representatives to help them gain familiarity with our operations
and programs. That familiarity will soon expand to other WFEC groups and
continue into 2011.
Whether you have young, older, small or large families, Christmas is a special
time of the year for everyone. How you celebrate the holidays may change
over time as your families grow, but each holiday season will be a very
special event of its own.
Enjoy the holidays. Enjoy your families. Have fun. But mostly, be safe.
Christmas only comes around once a year so make the most of it.
Merry Christmas and have a wonderful 2011.
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