The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities is pleased to offer our Transformer School for line workers. The Transformer School will focus on single-phase and three-phase transformer connections and theory.

Participants will be challenged by the course instruction and hands-on station work that can benefit any utility. The various stations are designed to simulate “real world” scenarios, without the real-world dangers. Working individually and in small groups, participants will benefit by understanding, building, examining, and collaborating to further develop troubleshooting methods that can help maintain your utility’s reliability. A certificate of achievement will be provided showing the hours of attendance acquired. Certificates will be emailed after the course.
 
The School will take place Tuesday, Dec. 18 through Thursday, Dec. 20 at the IAMU Training & Office Complex in Ankeny.
 
To register for the School, click here.
 
For more information, contact Dan Llewellyn, Electric Services Coordinator at [email protected] or by phone at 515.289.1999.

The FEMA Student ID is what officials use to keep track of your records for all FEMA-Sponsored trainings. Getting a FEMA Student ID is free. You can register for one at https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid. There is also a link to the registration on the IAMU Security & Preparedness Resource Site: www.iamu.org/security.

If you have any questions, you can contact Russ Saffell, Director of Member Security & Critical Infrastructure Protection, at 515.289.1999 or by email at [email protected].

The latest edition of IAMU's Toolbox Talks - Fire's Impact is now available.  Click here to download it.

Other Toolbox Talk articles are available here.

If you have a Toolbox Talk idea, please send it to Margret Meade.

IAMU will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 22nd and 23rd.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This one-day course, scheduled for January 10, 2019 in Storm Lake, will introduce participants to the key terms, policy, guidance, and preparedness efforts required to safeguard the nation's critical infrastructure. Primary focus will be placed on local preparedness efforts as they relate to the national approach to critical infrastructure security and resilience.

This course is designed for critical infrastructure owners, operators and managers, government officials and managers, sector-specific agency managers or other organizations and managers with critical infrastructure responsibilities. To learn more or to register, click here.

Set to become effective on January 14, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission’s new wireless preemption Order has states, localities, and publicly-owned utilities rightly alarmed about encroachment on local authority and about forced federal requirements that put at risk the primary purpose of many public assets. In short, the FCC has preempted state and local authority and mandated that wireless companies shall have low-cost, streamlined access to state- and locally-owned public property to mount small cell facilities. To learn more some strategies and tactics that you may want to consider to protect your assets and their critical missions, subject to the guidance of your legal counsel, click here.

IAMU’s nominating committee is currently looking for interested parties to fill current and potential vacant positions on the IAMU board of directors starting immediately.
 
All director positions on the IAMU Board are “at large”, but we do consider a variety of criteria when evaluating potential candidates in an effort to maintain a balance of perspectives. In doing so we will consider many criteria including but not limited to: educational background, work experience, gender, race, utility location, type of utility represented, and size of community represented. Terms are three years. The preferred candidate would be willing to consider multiple terms, as well as executive committee assignments. The current vacancy is for a term that ends in February 2020. We anticipate additional openings in early 2019 as well.
 
While directors can leave at any time we are particularly interested in candidates that, after some time on the board, are willing to consider serving on the executive board, ultimately culminating in being president.
 
The board typically meets the second Thursday of the odd numbered months in Ankeny from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. There are eleven members of the board. While in person attendance is encouraged and preferred, some electronic attendance is permissible. 
 
If interested please contact Executive Director Troy DeJoode by email at [email protected].

The latest edition of IAMU's Toolbox Talks - Am I a "Qualified" or "Unqualified" Person Under OSHA's Electrical Regulations? is now available.  Click here to download it.

Other Toolbox Talk articles are available here.

If you have a Toolbox Talk idea, please send it to Margret Meade.

The upcoming Transformer School workshop is open to electrical workers in transmission, distribution, substation, and Power plants.  The material is applicable to workers ranging from new apprentice as an in-depth look at the transformer material to journey level as a refresher for those that haven’t had the work type needed to keep their memory sharp.  I will be covering material from beginning to end while receiving supplemental assistance from Dave Link, Bob Hiatt, and Jim Thompson.  Information will be delivered via printed diagrams, verbal explanations, and by building indoor models on the training poles.  Below is what the course agenda will look like.

Tuesday, December 18

• 12:00-1:00 Registration
  • IAMU office

• 1:00-4:00 Classroom Training:
  • Theory and basics of transformers
  • Transformer parts and operation
  • Nameplates
  • Windings, ratios, and polarity
  • Making connections
  • Fusing
  • Parallel Transformers

Wednesday, December 19

• 8:30-12:00 Classroom and Hands-On Training:
  • Review from day 1
  • Building and removing parallel transformers
  • 3 phase banks and applications
  • Open vs closed bank
  • Wye vs delta bank
  • Pole mount vs pad mounted
  • 3 tub bank vs pad mount
  • Connecting and Parallel operation

• 12:00-1:00 Lunch Served at Training Center
  • Lunch provided by RESCO sponsorship

• 1:00-4:00 Classroom and Hands-On Training:
  • Connecting and banking practice on models

Thursday, December 20

• 8:30-12:00 Classroom and Hands-On Training:
  • Guest speaker Jim Thompson, Chairperson for IEEE transformer committee discussing topics including:
    • Power transformers
    • Sampling and oil testing
    • Protecting your assets and understanding oil tests
    • Troubleshooting
    • Practicing banks

• 12:00 Conference Dismissed - attendees are welcome to stay and cover any questions or areas where additional help is needed
  

Questions? Please contact:
Dan Llewellyn
Electric Services Coordinator, IAMU
515.289.1999 | Cell - 515-971-8481

To help raise awareness of public power in your community, the American Public Power Association (APPA) encourages public power utilities to join the APPA and other public power utilities across the country in sharing public education resources in November. APPA has listed some helpful resources below that you can use in your social media posts, newsletters, and other customer communications. Use the hashtags listed below the resources as well as #PublicPower. You can also simply repost/retweet/share every day from the APPA’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

New Resources: The APPA has developed a robust suite of templates and suggested content by topics and months http://publicpower.org/raisingawareness/. Bookmark this page, as the APPA adds content to it regularly as new pieces are developed.

#CommunityPowered Campaign social media contest for customers  
Through Nov. 30, encourage your followers to use their public Instagram or Twitter account to share a photo or video about why they think it's great to be #CommunityPowered (don't forget the hashtag!). Weekly prizes include a toaster oven, an ionic hair dryer, an LED snowman, a Wi-Fi Smart Color Programmable Thermostat, and more! For sample social media messages, contest details and rules, visit https://wearecommunitypowered.com/contest-rules/.

Veterans Day (Nov 11) 
Resources #VeteransDay #PublicPower
 
Utilities United Against Scams Week / Day (Nov 11-17 / Nov 14)
Resources Guide and Resources #StopScams #PublicPower
 
Thanksgiving (Nov 23)
Resources #ThanksGiving #PublicPower 
 
Rule your Attic 
Resources #RuleYourAttic #PublicPower 
 
Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month 
Resources #Infrastructure #PublicPower
 
You can always find other days of the year that you can adapt to your utility here and here. If you have any questions or need any assistance please contact Jen Cronin at [email protected].  

IAMU is always looking to keep our members informed on what others are doing at their utilities and in their communities. If you have some news to share, please consider sending it to IAMU so that we can include it in our social media, the Informer, and our IAMU Connection magazine. IAMU is also always looking for ideas to include in our publications, so if you have anything that you would like to know more about, let IAMU know so we can check into it. You can send any news items or suggestions to Jen Cronin at [email protected].

The 24th Annual Water and Wastewater Operator’s Training Workshop will be held November 13 – 15, 2018, at Holiday Inn Northwest, Des Moines. To register, click here.

This yearly training is a must for any water and wastewater professionals wanting practical information to help them do their jobs. The three-day workshop includes basic and advanced topics on water treatment, water distribution, and wastewater. Attendees can earn up to 1.2 CEUs toward certification, plus get a chance to connect with other municipal water professionals from around the state as well as check out products and services from water-related vendors.

Still time to register!

The 30-Hour course establishes a foundation for the utility / company safety program. It will help locate and apply OSHA safety & health standards, policies, and procedures; utilize OSHA standards & regulations to implement an on-going safety & health program; identify common violations of OSHA standards and propose abatement actions; describe appropriate abatement procedures for selected safety hazards and conduct internal training on OSHA regulations. Hands-on activities will be included.

Who should attend?
This advanced course is recommended for supervisors and managers. If you previously attended a 10-Hour course you may be particularly interested in attending because of the depth & application of the subject matter.

In depth coverage to be offered on these topics:

• Introduction to OSHA; Inspections, Citations & Penalties; OSHA Act; General Duty Clause; Recordkeeping
• Personal Protective Equipment
• Subpart V, 1910.269
• Competent Person Requirements
• Permit Required Confined Space
• Bloodborne Pathogens
• Crane & Hoist and Below the Hook
• Fall Protection
• Scaffolding
• Fire Protection & Life Safety
• Trenching
• Basic Electrical Requirements
• Hazard Communication & GHS
• Lockout-Tagout / Machine Guarding

For more information, and to register, click here.