​We are coming up on the 5-year anniversary of our first NCCER mobile crane operator certification and now is the time to access your NCCER Registry and note the expiration date of your mobile crane license! Re-certification is required every 5 years. In order to re-certify you must retake and pass both the practical examination and the computerized test with an 80% score for each. There is no grace period after your certification expires.

We will be scheduling abbreviated operator re-certification classes for 2022. A schedule for these and the mobile crane certification classes will be posted on IAMU’s website. Attendance is not required but highly suggested as there have been significant updates in both the practical examination and the computerized test.
​
To access your NCCER Registry go to https://registry.nccer.org/, click the “sign in” button and enter your registry number, located on the front of your license. If you have forgotten your password, a ‘set new password’ link will be sent to the email account on your registry. Once you have accessed your registry account all of your profile information can be reviewed and updated if you choose. Iowa crane operators are now allowed to use their driver’s license number for their alternate ID. In your profile, find the alternate ID box, click the drop-down button, find Iowa Driver’s License and enter the number. Be sure to save any changes to your information so that the system will be updated. NCCER revised their entire system, including the testing system, and you must successfully logon to your registry account to remain active. Please email Margret Meade mmeade@imau.org or call 515.210.6617 with any questions that you may have. 

​Please welcome one of our newest Associate members - Voya Financial Advisors, Inc.

​Voya helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. We serve the financial needs of more than 14 million individual and institutional customers in the United States. Our vision is to be America’s Retirement Company® while being equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible. We are a Fortune 500 company (NYSE: VOYA) with a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time.

The purpose of this second stakeholder meeting is to provide an update on the work of the subcommittees, the direction they are moving related to these materials, and to receive feedback from the stakeholder group. SMM Phase I was completed in 2019 and gathered input from a broad set of stakeholders and produced a number of initial guidance documents (click here for additional information on Phase I). SMM Phase II will embrace the "Systems Thinking" approach established during Phase I by creating specific strategies to transform how Iowa manages waste and materials through integrating technology, infrastructure, policies, funding, and metrics. Phase II will promote a sense of collective responsibility to prevent environmental degradation through waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. Finally, Phase II will visualize and solidify a market-driven, closed-loop system for creating commodities from waste in Iowa.
 
Digital invitations with additional information will be sent out by the first week in September.
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Click here for more information.

The Gas “Boot Camp” Operator Qualification Training Workshop will take place October 4 - 8 at the IAMU Training & Office Complex.
 
Who Should Attend:

• This workshop is designed to give personnel new to the natural gas industry all of the basic fundamentals needed to aid in the day-to-day operations as well as the ability to perform certain “On-Call” tasks.
  
• In addition, any office personnel who may receive a report of a natural gas leak (Dispatch personnel) should attend to obtain all the qualifications that are needed to perform their duties.
  
• This workshop is also beneficial to natural gas operators who are looking to gain additional training, re-qualify on tasks offered, as well as providing a great opportunity to network with other operators from around the State addressing problems, concerns, techniques, etc.

Dispatch personnel should plan to attend October 4.
 
Qualifications will be offered for topics covered.
 
Registration is OPEN.  The workshop will be limited to 15 registrants.​

​REMINDER - OQ System – Username & Password
As a general reminder, if you have not received, or do not know, your Online OQ Testing username and password, please contact Nick Vandegriff for access.
 
For additional information, brochure, COVID-19 guidelines, and online registration, please click HERE.

If you have any questions, please contact Nick Vandegriff, IAMU Gas Services Compliance Specialist at nvandegriff@iamu.org, or (641) 919-8411.​

​Last weekend, the Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO) and its member cooperative Western Iowa Power Cooperative (WIPCO) fell victim to copper theft.
 
The theft occurred Friday, Aug. 20 between 10 and 11 p.m. Four distribution substations and one transmission switching station in Monona County were vandalized. In each case, vandals cut through locked gates and mesh fencing to gain access to the substation equipment where they stripped copper grounding wire attached to the electric componentry and system. This resulted in SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) alarms and calls from passersby who said they saw electrical arcing/fire and open gates and fencing. While electric power was able to be re-routed to prevent outages, all sites required extensive repair to restore normal operations. Two substation sites received major damage, which will require more time to assess and repair.
 
Copper theft isn’t just criminal; it can be deadly. Copper thefts can cause power surges, outages, fires, explosions, and injuries to workers or innocent people coming into contact with tampered equipment.
 
Fortunately, in this case, no personal injuries to any WIPCO or NIPCO crews occurred, and minimal power outages were reported. All power related to this vandalism has been restored.
 
Report any suspicious activities in or around substations or other equipment, such as transformers, power poles, or even a meter at a residence, farm, or business. 

​Want to have a blast and support a great cause? You are invited to the inaugural IAMU Shooting for Scholars event. The sporting clays competition, which will benefit the IAMU scholarship program, will be held Wednesday, Oct. 13 at the New Pioneer Gun Club (31454 312th Place) in Waukee.
 
The cost is $45 per person, which covers the shooting and lunch. You will need to bring your own gun and shells, although shells will also be available for purchase at the range. Eye and ear protection is required.
 
Check-in begins at 9 a.m., and shooting starts at 10 a.m. There will be awards and prizes.
 
The registration deadline is October 8. To register: go to the IAMU website events page. You can register online or download, print, and fill out a PDF form.
 
For IAMU associate members, two sponsorship levels are available if you’re interested in supporting this fundraiser.
 

• 12-Gauge: cost - $300, logo included on sponsorship banner displayed at lunch, 1 complimentary round of sporting clays, 4-week Informer ad, logo displayed at 1 shooting station
• 20-Gauge: cost - $200, 1 complimentary round of sporting clays, logo displayed at 1 shooting station

 
The sponsorship deadline is September 29. Submit your logo (300 DPI, high-res .jpeg, .png, or PDF format) to jsoenen@iamu.org.
 
For any questions, contact: Steve Marsh at smarsh@iamu.org or by phone at 515-289-1999.

On Thursday August 19th, 2021, IAMU appeared at the oral presentation for the Iowa Utility Board’s rulemaking regarding updates to natural gas safety standards and amendments to Iowa Administrative Code 199, Chapters 10 and 19 [199 IAC Chapters 10 and 19]. 
​
Read the transcript from the oral presentation here.

​Customer newsletters can be the foundation of your communication efforts. The question then becomes: What kind of footings are you building on?
 
Don’t simply put out newsletters for newsletter-sake. Make sure you’re approaching newsletters with the right perspective, goals, and strategy in mind.
 
Here are 10 tips in three areas to make sure your newsletter is structurally sound.
 
Perspective – Address customers as whole, real people.

1. Understand what customers want and need from your communications. If you don’t, customers likely won’t tune in to what you have to share. You can easily find out what customers want from a newsletter by simply asking them.
2. Look at customers holistically – taking into account their community and financial wellbeing needs.
3. Involve customers in content creation – feature customer testimonials, hold mini-focus groups to gather input, and use customers as topic experts, if applicable.

 
Goals – Empower customers to take charge of their utility usage.

1. Provide valuable, actionable information within stories so customers can put it into practice.
2. Include links to additional information, tools, and resources that customers can access if they want to find out and/or do more with the topics covered.

 
Strategy – Respect customers’ valuable time, while reinforcing that you care about customers personally.

1. Offer short articles, tips, and other content in easy-to-read formats. (Think packed with information but that don’t take too much time to get through.)
2. Appeal to both the head and the heart. Some people will engage with communication that appeals to logic and reason; others are influenced by emotion. Use a combination of numbers/statistics and personal stories.
3. Use relevant, engaging photos, illustrations, and infographics to help tell the story.
4. Customize content to reflect your organization’s own identity.
5. Vet your content with experts to ensure you’re providing sound information.

 
Don’t have the time or expertise to create your own newsletter? IAMU can help. We offer a customizable, quarterly newsletter that utilities can provide to their customers – either in print or electronic form. For more information, contact Jeff Gorrie at jgorrie@iamu.org.

On Tuesday August 17th, 2021, IAMU filed comments with the environmental protection commission on their rulemaking regarding the effect of certain criminal convictions upon water operator licensing requirements [571 IAC 81]. 
 
Read the comments here.