IAMU will be hosting a solar Conversation on March 15th, 2018 at IAMU.  There is a lot of misinformation about solar and you may have questions.  This will not be a formal presentation, it is more of a conversational discussion to help you determine if solar might be a good fit for your utility. 
There is NO CHARGE for this meeting.  Our presenters and sponsor for the event will be Eric Bleckinger and Steve Steenhoek from Ziegler Power Systems.

Click here to register (IAMU Utility members only).

Date: Thursday, March 15, 2018
Where: IAMU boardroom
Check-in Time: 9:30 - 10:00 – Coffee and donuts, sponsored by Ziegler Power Systems
Meeting Time: 10:00 – Noon. Agenda below.  Lunch at noon, sponsored by Ziegler Power Systems
Cost: Free
Limited to first 20 registrants.

Who should attend? Anyone considering solar - community, or otherwise - could benefit from this discussion.

Why should I attend? Gain a better understanding of the driving factors of Renewable Energy development and finance – and how they might affect your specific municipal group.  We will go beyond CAT specific product, and highlight how we can assist as a true development partner and systems integrator.

What will we talk about?

• Financial decision points for Municipal Utilities considering solar.
• Application strategies
• Solar site selection and development
• Site and layout optimization for LCOE

There is still time to register for the IAMU Legislative Forum & Annual Business Meeting next week.

• Get up-to-date on issues and regulations impacting municipal utilities.
• Let lawmakers know what you think about potential legislation that could affect your utility.
• Help to shape IAMU for the next year.

The Legislative Forum is Wednesday, Feb. 7 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Iowa Hall of Pride in Downtown Des Moines. The forum is immediately followed by a Legislative Reception, and many legislators from around the state plan to attend. If you want to know if your legislators have RSVPed for the event, contact Jen Cronin at jcronin@iamu.org.

Then, on Thursday morning, Feb. 8, don’t miss out on the “Harassment & Discrimination – What Managers Need to Know” training at the IAMU office at 8:30 a.m., followed immediately by the Annual Business Meeting, which goes from 10:45 – 11:30 a.m.

To learn more about the event or to register, click here.

The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities Safety Services is pleased to offer our members a Silica Safety webinar at no cost. We believe that understanding the hazards of silica and safe works practices are vitally important to the well-being of our members. IAMU partners with EMC and Jester Insurance to sponsor the Safety Group Insurance Program and our focus is employee health and safety.

OSHA’s new Silica standard went into effect on June 23, 2017. The standard requires employers to use engineering controls (such as water or ventilation) to limit worker exposure, provide respirators where engineering controls cannot adequately limit exposure, develop a written exposure control plan, train workers on silica hazards and how to limit exposure, and offer medical exams to employees who must wear respirators more than 30 days a year.

Materials include:

• The slide deck from the webinar -- http://members.iamu.org/resource/resmgr/Webinar_Materials/Silica_1_hr_webinar.pdf
• An Exposure Control Plan template – http://members.iamu.org/resource/resmgr/Webinar_Materials/Silica_Exposure_Control_Pla.docx
• Table 1 from the construction standard. The following are the links for the materials --  http://members.iamu.org/resource/resmgr/Webinar_Materials/Silica_tables_1926.pdf

The webinar may be viewed at https://youtu.be/DparrP9UkFA.

Please contact Margret Meade at mmeade@iamu.org or 515.289.6617 if you have any questions about the Silica standard.

Did you know that active shooter situations are often over within 3 minutes – before First Responders can arrive on scene? Do you know what to do in an active shooter situation? While no one wants to ever be involved in an active shooter situation, it’s critical to know what to do in one. knowing what you should and shouldn’t do if you find yourself in one can mean the difference between life and death for you and others.

The Department of Homeland Security is offering a FREE Active Shooter Preparedness Workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 13, from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.  The deadline to register is 12 p.m., Feb. 11. Each organization is limited to two registrations. For more information and to register for the event, click here.

The City of Bloomfield's journey to energy independence has taken a big step forward, after years of research, evaluation, and planning by many of the top energy professionals around the Midwest, and beyond. Bloomfield, with a population of less than 3,000 people, has installed a massive 1.86-megawatt solar field to generate their own power.

The solar field completed construction at the end of December, and will produce 10% of Bloomfield’s annual energy. This project is the largest tracking solar array in Iowa to date. A tracking solar array, compared to a traditional fixed array, rotates on an axis to follow the sun as it moves during the day. This gathers significantly more solar power.

Bloomfield’s solar project, is part of what city officials have hailed as, “a community effort to become energy independent by 2030.”

The project was a long time coming, after the Bloomfield City Council decided to pursue energy independence in the Fall of 2014, following a study conducted by the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities. The study revealed that small towns could “save big” with efficiency renewables.
 
To learn more about Bloomfield’s story, be sure to check out the next issue of IAMU Connection magazine, due out in March.  

Keep on top of utility-related news coverage in Iowa. Sign up to subscribe to IAMU’s weekly news digest email. The email will contain news articles from media outlets from across the state, as well as regional and national coverage when Iowa utilities are mentioned. If you’re interested in being added to the news digest email list, email Jen Cronin at jcronin@iamu.org. You need only put “News Digest” in the subject line of the email, and Jen will get you added to the list.

IAMU Safety Group Insurance participants, be sure to check out the latest Jester Insurance newsletter to learn more about cyber liability insurance coverage. The issue also includes a member spotlight on the City of Pocahontas and an agency spotlight on Powers Insurance Agency, Inc. Click here to read the newsletter.