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20150728AVU to Staff 11 Attachment.pdf
Click the image above to view the Kettle Falls Safety video. July 8, 2015 Vol. 16, Issue 37 In this issue: •Video: The power of safety in our everyday lives •City of Spokane workers learn how to use the Compressed Natural Gas fueling station •Customer service excellence recognized •Unity in the Community – Call for volunteers •Thank you to our team members like you •July Service Anniversaries •Welcome New Hires •June Value Lines •Poll Results, What's Happening & Diversity Calendar Video: The power of safety in our everyday lives KETTLE FALLS GENERATING STATION EMPLOYEES HONOR MEMORY OF DEPARTED TRUCKER Two years ago on April 22, Carl Barnfield, an employee of DCT Chambers was involved in a fatal accident at the Kettle Falls Generating Station. Barnfield made regular visits to the biomass plant and the accident that caused his death struck a chord in the hearts and minds of Avista’s employees. “I’ll never forget getting the phone call about Carl’s accident at the plant,” said Greg Wiggins, plant manager. “I was at my son’s t-ball game when I found out that a Chambers driver had been accidentally run over by another Chambers driver. The phone call was a numbing experience and the weeks that followed were very challenging for me and my crew. To this day, I keep a photo of Carl near my phone to remind me about just how quickly things can change and how precious life is.” Even though Barnfield was not an employee of Avista, it was a person they saw daily and if you’ve ever had the opportunity to visit the plant, you’ll understand right away that they operate as a close-knit group; a family of sorts. “We all understand that without the truck drivers and haulers, we would not be able to do what we do and enjoy our careers,” Wiggins said. “I wanted to do something positive in memory of Carl so I pitched the idea of a dedicated safety day to the crew at the plant. The thought was met with complete support and the ideas came pouring in.” Page 1 of 7The Avista e.view July 8, 201 7 8 201http://avanet.avistacorp.com/news/company/eview/2015/0 -08-2015.as Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 1 of 9 City of Spokane crew members learning how to use Avista's Compressed Natural Gas fueling station at our Dollar Road facility. Pictured here are two of the Medallion recipients and their managers (left to right): Steve Plewman, Dave Clark, Gabe Sather, Mike Diedesch, Heather Rosentrater. Jim Sanchez also received a Customer Service Medallion but is not pictured. He was in the field working the Colville storm repairs. The video punctuates how important safety is and highlights what teams can do when they pull together. Check out the before and after photos of their safety improvements by clicking here. It is remarkable what a team can accomplish in just one day. (Back to top) City of Spokane workers learn how to use the Compressed Natural Gas fueling station On Thursday, July 2, Avista helped train City of Spokane employees on how to use the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling station near Avista’s Jimmy Dean facility. The City of Spokane is purchasing 20 CNG fleet vehicles in 2015 and will continue to grow their CNG fleet to 100 by 2023. The city is focusing on replacing older refuse trucks with dedicated CNG units. The fueling station, built by Avista, will serve as the City’s supplemental and backup fueling station for their CNG fleet. Kudos to Fleet Manager, Greg Loew, Strategic Initiatives Manager, Marc Schaffner and the rates team for working together to create a positive customer touch point for the City of Spokane. (Back to top) Customer service excellence recognized David Clark, Construction Project Coordinator, relayed a big "Thank you!" from a customer in Spokane. The customer was stunned that an Avista line crew and meterman were on site to install his 600amp commercial service less than 24 hours after his Labor and Industries (L&I) inspection. The customer’s new business is in an area where copper theft is an hourly occurrence. Line Foreman, Jim Sanchez’s willingness to shuffle his schedule and do the job the next day saved the customer from having to spend another night on-site, guarding his expensive wiring and meter equipment from additional vandalism (he’d already had to repair vandalism damage prior to receiving his L&I inspection). Thank you also to Gabe Sather in the meter shop for putting the install at the top of his list. In this particular example of outstanding service, Avista demonstrated that we listen and genuinely care about our customers and this customer will never forget it. (Back to top) Unity in the Community – Call for volunteers The 21st Annual Unity in the Community event is taking place on Saturday, August 15, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Riverfront Park. This is the largest multicultural celebration in the Inland Northwest. The event features a Cultural Page 2 of 7The Avista e.view July 8, 201 7 8 201http://avanet.avistacorp.com/news/company/eview/2015/0 -08-2015.as Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 2 of 9 Click the photo above to view a larger version of the poster for this fun cultural event. Village and a stage consisting of a diverse group of performers and acts to keep you entertained all day. Additionally, there are four key vendor areas: Youth Fair, Career and Education Fair, Health Fair and General Vendors. This is a great family event because whatever your age, you will find something to do at Unity in the Community. As we do annually, Avista is hosting a Career Fair booth featuring information about career opportunities at Avista. We need at least six more volunteers to manage the booth for the day. This is a great opportunity to earn some volunteer hours while listening to good music and spending a couple of hours in the park. Shifts Available 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. We would really appreciate your help with this event. The shifts listed below are available and we need two people per shift. Please check your calendar and consider signing up for one of these shifts. Contact Jen Boettcher at 509- 495-2440 and let her know which shift will work best for you. There will be a short one hour orientation to get you ready for the day. Don’t worry it isn’t hard – mostly handing out candy to kids. (Back to top) Thank you to our team members like you Customers across our service territory (Lewiston, Liberty Lake, Spokane Valley, Colville) experienced outages last week as a result of the weather. Power outages due to extreme heat, windstorms and thunderstorms seem commonplace this time of year. While we are unable to prevent them, we do our best to be prepared. Through internal communications, our Avista team is kept informed about current outages and steps we are taking to restore power to our customers. Regardless of the cause, these outages inconvenience our customers and can be exhausting for our frontline employees including field crews and customer service. As a testament to how well our teams handle these outages, we’d like to share the following customer compliment: “We had a power outage in our area for approximately 24 hours yesterday, but I just wanted to write in to say Page 3 of 7The Avista e.view July 8, 201 7 8 201http://avanet.avistacorp.com/news/company/eview/2015/0 -08-2015.as Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 3 of 9 that everyone we talked with during this time was extremely helpful and understanding. My wife and I called in several times to get status updates, and we even talked with some of the crew working in our neighborhood and each individual gave us all the information they knew and they were very apologetic and understanding of the situation. In this scenario they easily could have provided us with sub-par customer service, but the Avista teams did an outstanding job. Kudos to you all. Thank you very much.” The customer compliment above came from one of our customers in Liberty Lake. Thank you to our AskAvista.com team for sharing. Another customer compliment came in last week, addressed to Scott Morris, regarding one of our tree removal crews’ work in Spokane: “On Friday, June 5, an Asplundh Crew of Tree experts came to my home and removed trees that were getting into the power lines. I wanted to thank Avista and Asplundh for a very professional crew that were pleasant and did a wonderful and expert job.” It isn’t often that someone takes the time to express appreciation so we like to share these stories whenever possible. If you receive kudos from a customer, please share it with us at employee.engagement@avistacorp.com. Keep up the great work! (Back to top) July Service Anniversaries The following individuals will be celebrating a milestone work anniversary this month: Diane Kaufman, Real Time Scheduler Assistant, 35 Tim Bradeen, Lead Fuel Equipment Operator PE, 30 Jenny Bushnell, Tech Compliance, 30 Peggy George, Customer Project Coordinator, 30 Clint Hodgson, Control Operator (Kettle Falls), 30 Douglas Kelley, Account Executive, 30 Pete Richardson, General Foreman, 30 Nancy Carroll, Permit Coordinator, 25 Hassel Dotson, Line Foreman, 25 Jim Kane, Operations Manager (Sandpoint), 25 Mark Magers, Journeyman Meterman, 25 Monte Slinkard, Foreman Gas, 25 Eric Harris, Journeyman Meterman, 25 Greg Mattison, Foreman Gas, 25 Randy Shillam, Journeyman Garage, 20 Catherine Cooper, Accounting Analyst, 15 Page 4 of 7The Avista e.view July 8, 201 7 8 201http://avanet.avistacorp.com/news/company/eview/2015/0 -08-2015.as Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 4 of 9 Jeff Smit , Strategy Analyst, 15 Doran Garber, Journeyman Operator, 5 (Back to top) Welcome New Hires The following individuals were hired in the later part of June. Please take a moment to welcome them to Avista. Sherry Bentley, Operations Technician Matthew Brown, System Engineer Greg Hesler, Counsel Bob Marshall, Manager IS IT Vendor Contract (Back to top) June Value Lines Each month, a random drawing takes place with all of the month’s value line recipients. Congratulations to Kenny Dillon and Tony Klutz for being the June Value Line Winners. The chosen winners receive a gift from External Communications. Listed below are all the employees who received "Thank You's" from fellow employees during the month of June: Candace Baker Yelena Goloborodko Wendy Krasselt Greg Sarber Randy Bareither Missy Gores (2) Karissa Lehn Gary Schmitz Debbie Berger Jen Hansen (2) Catherine Mair Raymond Schumacher Barbara Bouma Doug Hawkins Judy Mason Cassandra Seubert (2) Nancy Carroll Adela Henninger Lamont Miles Sarah Sutherland Bill Choma Katie Hess Emily Morrow Erin Taft Jason Dalton Susan Hess Karla Muniz (2) AnnaMarie Tomlinson Kenny Dillon Nicola Hostetler Linda Myers Kimberly Vollan Jeri Di Gregorio Trevin Irby Lance ODell Samantha Waddell (2) David Eckhardt Shannon Jones Bill Ozminkowski Jessie Wuerst Chris Elam Brandon Kafflen Jessica Paul Kenneth Wuesthoff Cindy Foulk Tony Klutz Natalie Romano Rosalynd Wurmlinger Amanda Ghering Rich Koker Anna Roop Liaj Xiong Paul Good Jillene Kolbet Stephanie Sanders Charlie Zumwalt (Back to top) AVAnet Poll and Calendars We asked . . . You answered Page 5 of 7The Avista e.view July 8, 201 7 8 201http://avanet.avistacorp.com/news/company/eview/2015/0 -08-2015.as Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 5 of 9 Answer: Legend says that John Hancock signed his name large and legibly so that King George could read it clearly without his glasses. For more information on John Hancock and this legend, see the following websites: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/hancock.htm http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/john-hancock Have a poll question idea? Email your ideas to e.view editors Brandi Smith and April Roesler at employee.engagement@avistacorp.com. What's Happening at Avista? July 10: Tech Talk – The future of city streets. Mission Campus Auditorium from 12 to 1 p.m. Every day we hear about smart cities, smart cars, smart grids, and even smart people; what about smart streets? Please welcome City of Spokane utility planners Katherine Miller and Brandon Blankenagel. They’ll provide a glimpse into the future of our City Streets. 15: Healthy Directions Wednesday Walk. Meet the group in the Mission Campus lobby at 11:30 a.m. Walks occur from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. every other Wednesday through August 12. There will be a drawing for a prize, so plan on joining us for each walk. 17: Deadline to order tickets for the Company Picnic. A total of five tickets are available to each employee or retiree with additional tickets to the game (no picnic) for $5 each. This event is for Avista employees, retirees and their families only. To order your tickets, click here, or to view the poster, click here. 17: Deadline for enrollment to the Community Solar Program. Remember to email Rachelle Page 6 of 7The Avista e.view July 8, 201 7 8 201http://avanet.avistacorp.com/news/company/eview/2015/0 -08-2015.as Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 6 of 9 Humphre your referrals by July 24 to be entered into the drawing for the iPad mini. 21: Sky Talk – Courage in the face of adversity. Mission Campus Auditorium from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Back by popular demand - Join your peers in learning about Troy Dehnel's climbing experiences including his recent summit of Mount McKinley (a.k.a. Denali) in Alaska. 27: Register your team for the Avista 7th Annual Charity Golf Scramble and Silent Auction. For registration instructions, click here. Register by this date to receive a complimentary commemorative t-shirt. The tournament will be held on Saturday, August 15. For more information, please click here for the poster. 29: Healthy Directions Wednesday Walk. Meet the group in the Mission Campus lobby at 11:30 a.m. Walks occur from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. every other Wednesday through August 12. There will be a drawing for a prize, so plan on joining us for each walk. If you have an event that you would like to add to the "What's Happening at Avista" calendar, contact editors Brandi Smith or April Roesler. Diversity Calendar Provided by the Avista Diversity Ambassadors The United States is rich with diversity, which is reflected in the observances celebrated by its various cultures and populations. Knowledge of the following diversity holidays and celebrations can enhance Avista's workplace diversity and inclusion effort. If you are interested in being a Diversity Ambassador at Avista, please contact HR Recruiter, Jen Boettcher. January February March April May June July August September October November December Local Diversity Events Corrections Section We are indeed a human powered company. Thank you for calling the following error(s) to our attention. While it is always our aim to have a publication free from factual, spelling or grammatical errors, they sometimes happen. Thanks for your eagle eyes. You can report any corrections you happen upon to e.view editors Brandi Smith or April Roesler. (Back to top) e.view and e.view EXTRA Click here for other e.view archives (If you have difficulty viewing graphics or attachments, go to Archives and click on the issue date.) You are encouraged to submit items of interest to Avista employees for publication in The Avista e.view. Send your news to Brandi Smith or April Roesler, editors, or call extension 2611 or 4923. © Avista Corp. 2015 All rights reserved Page 7 of 7The Avista e.view July 8, 201 7 8 201http://avanet.avistacorp.com/news/company/eview/2015/0 -08-2015.as Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 7 of 9 VIEW Avista Employee News and Info Avista Safety Improvement Project in Electric Operations makes it all about ‘A Call to Action’ Safety Team meeting with Coeur d’Alene Dock 5 years of electric operations accident reports categorized by cause Safety is a part of Avista’s core operations and it is integral to every activity we undertake at the company. In the fall of 2014, the Electric Operations Department set out to find ways to improve safety in their area of the company. “Safety is about our people and what they need to do their work, help our customers and return home safely to the people that depend on them and care about them,” said Director of Operations West, Bryan Cox. A team of employees representing different areas of electric operations have been assigned to evaluate and identify areas for improvement and then inspire action. According to the team’s goal statement, our safety system is a comprehensive structure, that outlines and defines the tools available for our employees to remain focused, engaged and intense about safety for ourselves, our peers and the communities we serve. Although we have a continued focus on safety, Avista ranks in the lower 25 percent of our peer utilities when it comes to safety performance – with a higher rate of accidents within line operations. Additionally according to the National Sisterhood United for Journeyman Lineman (N.S.U.J.L.), in the last 15 months within our industry there were 20 union and 26 non- union apprentice/journeymen linemen fatalities across the United States. Anniversaries Congratulations to these Avista employees who are celebrating this month’s service anniversaries: Tom Stewart 35 Senior System Operations Reliability Don Wells 35 Ch Operator Clint Poling 30 Journeyman Lineserviceman Don Schrader 30 Lead Foreman Cableman Rosalynd Wurmlinger 30 Team Leader Julie Herro 25 Customer Service Representative Tami Judge 25Manager Revenue Requirements John McClain 25 Manager District Engineer Marc Schaffner 25 Strategic Initiatives Manager John Schmidt 25 Local Rep Electric Tom Jenkins 15 Risk Analyst Randel Mann Jr. 15 Journeyman Lineman Kristine Meyer 15 Community Investment & Foundation Manager Chris Prumers 15 Specialist GIS II Ryan Weltz 15 Journeyman Operator Robert Cloward 10 Senior GIS Analyst Shawn Bonfield 5 Customer Service Manager Stephen Carrozzo 5 Operations Analyst II David Goodwin 5 Assistant Design Drafter Ken Humphries 5 Applications Operations Analyst Eva Hunt 5 Trans Services Specialist Linda Kiefer 5 Environmental Resources Coordinator Jennifer Smith 5 Senior Regulatory Analyst Floyd Taylor Jr. 5 Journeyman Electric Jason Yoha 5 Senior System Operator Editors: Brandi Smith & Dan Kolbet Contact Us/Comments 509.495.2874 or 509.495.2611 MSC-39 Brandi.Smith@avistacorp.com Dan.Kolbet@avistacorp.com Inside this Issue s .ATIONAL %NGINEERING 7EEK CELEBRATIONS COMING TO -ISSION #AMPUS IN &EBRUARY s 4RAILBLAZER "ANQUET DATE ANNOUNCED s 0ROJECT #OMPASS CUTOVER TO THE SYSTEMS HAS BEGUN *ANUARY 6OLUME )SSUE 0%/0,% Performance ...Continues on page 4. Safety Improvement Project – cont’d from pg 1 Currently, Avista craft accidents average 12.5 percent per year coupled with a lost time rate of 5.5 percent using OSHA reporting metrics. Many of these injuries are due to slips, trips, falls and lifting strain. Another unfortunate statistic to note is that “one in five line operations workers has a recordable injury every year and there is only a 38 percent chance of line operations workers not being injured over a five year period”. As an answer to these looming statistics, an Avista Safety Improvement Project is currently underway to increase safety awareness and practices within our line operations and is geared towards minimizing serious close calls. On the week of December 15, the team traveled to our electric docks with the purpose of increasing awareness and to gather input. The input, coupled with the team’s research and findings will be translated into real world safety solutions at Avista. The team continues to seek input from our front line employees who know and face these safety issues every day. Line operations personnel are urged to contact the team leader, Jim Kane, Sandpoint’s Operations Manager, with their ideas, concerns and suggestions. The team is committed and open to all ideas and making a difference for our employees who risk their lives day in and day out to keep the power on for our customers. Team members include: Chris Schlothauer – Manager Operations Coeur d’Alene, Kermit Olson – Manager Colville Operations, Kelly Hendry – General Foreman, Kingsley Steinbruecker – Line Foreman, Hassel Dotson – Line Foreman, Jim Sanchez – Line Foreman and Dan Hyde – Line Foreman and Alicia Gibbs, Manager Process Improvement. The project sponsors are Bryan Cox, Director of Operations West and Greg Gfeller, Director of Operations East. Avista’s Mission Campus displays 12th Man flag - Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday ! TH -AN FLAG IS HOW YOU DISPLAY YOUR PRIDE IN AND SUPPORT OF THE 3EATTLE 3EAHAWKS WHO WILL BE PLAYING THE .EW %NGLAND 0ATRIOTS IN THE 3UPER "OWL THIS 3UNDAY 4HANKS TO !VISTAS &ACILITIES $EPARTMENT FOR THINKING OF A FUN WAY TO SHOW OUR SUPPORT FOR 7ASHINGTONS .ATIONAL &OOTBALL ,EAGUE TEAM 3EAHAWKS PRIDE HAS BEEN POPPING UP ALL OVER 3POKANE INCLUDING GREEN AND BLUE LIGHTS ON THE 3TEAM 0LANT STACKS AND A TH -AN SYMBOL PROJECTED ON THE 2IVERFRONT 0ARK #LOCK 4OWER %XPECT PLENTY OF !VISTA EMPLOYEES TO BE DECKED OUT IN THEIR APPROPRIATE 3EAHAWKS GEAR THIS &RIDAY BEFORE THE BIG GAME 'O (AWKS Go Hawks! Avista participates in annual Unity March in Spokane %MPLOYEES FROM ACROSS THE COMPANY GATHERED WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO SUPPORT EQUAL RIGHTS IN THE ANNUAL 5NITY -ARCH IN DOWNTOWN 3POKANE ON -,+ $AY *AN Avista reaches settlement in Oregon natural gas rate request if approved, rate adjustments would be effective March 1 On Jan. 21, Avista announced that a full settlement agreement has been reached in Oregon in our general rate case. You may recall we filed a general rate request in Oregon on Sept. 2, 2014 to increase natural gas base rates in Oregon to recover costs related to replacing certain natural gas service pipe and updated technology that is the backbone of Avista’s customer information system. This settlement agreement would conclude the rate case if approved by the Public Utility Commission of Oregon (PUC). This agreement has the full support of all parties involved in the rate case and is the result of these parties working together to agree on regulatory %FFECTIVE OUTCOMES ...Continues on page 3. Vitality COMMUNITY Staff_PR_011 Attachment A Page 8 of 9 2015 Trailblazer Banquet date announced Event will be held on Friday, April 17, 2015 The 77th Annual Trailblazer Banquet will be held on Friday, April 17, 2015 starting at 5:00 p.m. at the Davenport Hotel in the Pennington Ballroom. The Trailblazer banquet is held to honor employees, both active and retired, that have at least 20 years of service with the Company. New 20-year Trailblazers and 50- year Trailblazers will be honored at the banquet. The attendees are determined based on anniversary dates from April 1, 2014 through March 31, 2015. Invitations will be mailed around March 13. The Davenport Hotel is offering a group rate if you are interested in spending the night (expenses are on your own). Be sure to mention that you are attending the Avista Trailblazers Banquet. Discount rates are $129. Contact the reservation line at (509) 455-8888. Questions regarding Trailblazers can be directed to Sue Fleming on extension 4140 or Linda Williams on extension 4340. Acts of safety excellence recognized at Avista’s Central Safety Committee meeting The road to a safer workplace is paved by the employees of Avista. Recently, nine employees were recognized for going above and beyond to ensure Avista is a safe place to work. .ETWORK /PERATIONS -ANAGER -IKE "USBY PRESENTED 0AUL 4OMAYKO WITH A 3AFETY -EDALLION FOR HIS EFFORTS IN ORGANIZING ESSENTIAL SAFETY TRAINING FOR HIS GROUP FROM LEFT TO RIGHT 6ICE 0RESIDENT OF %NERGY $ELIVERY $ON +OPCZYNSKI PRESENTED MEDALLIONS TO 3POKANE /PERATIONS -ANAGER %RIC 2OSENTRATER &LEET -ANAGER 'REG ,OEW AND *OURNEYMAN 'ARAGE 2USS 3TEPHENSON FOR THEIR WORK ON CREATING A SAFER WAY TO HAUL POLES 4HE IMPROVEMENTS WILL HELP REDUCE RISK OF STRAIN INJURIES -ARCIAL ,AUDE MIDDLE WAS PRESENTED WITH A 3AFETY -EDALLION FOR ASSISTING ANOTHER EMPLOYEE WHO COULD HAVE BEEN HURT LIFTING A HEAVY OBJECT WITHOUT A PARTNER $IRECTOR OF #USTOMER AND 3HARED 3ERVICES -IKE "ROEMELING AND -ETER 2EADING -ANAGER *ACKIE &OSS PRESENTED /UTSIDE 3ERVICEMAN 3HANE -ONROY WITH A 3AFETY -EDALLION FOR HIS EFFORTS TO ASSIST A FELLOW EMPLOYEE IN NEED OF HELP $IRECTOR OF /PERATIONS 7EST -IKE +OPPENSTEIN LEFT PRESENTED "RYAN #OX AND 3HAQ +ATZER NOT SHOWN IN PHOTO WITH 3AFETY -EDALLIONS FOR SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS THEY MADE TO A POPULAR TRAILER THAT HAD BEEN THE CAUSE OF SOME SAFETY CONCERNS AND INCIDENTS IN ELECTRIC OPERATIONS 4HE NEW LAYOUT OF THE TRAILER IS MORE ORGANIZED AND WILL HELP REDUCE BACK INJURIES AND OTHER STRAINS Project Compass cutover to the systems has begun On Friday, January 23, the official sign- off took place to begin Go Live activities for the February 2, 2015 Project Compass software system implementation. Over 1,800 individual tasks will be completed this week as part of the cutover process to the new Customer Care and Billing (CC&B) and Enterprise Asset Management (Maximo) systems. Final training is being completed, and customer and employee communications are in full swing. Just like the Dress Rehearsals, the Command Center for all Go Live activities will be at the Mission Campus, and over the weekend other departments like Customer Service and Operations will be entering manual transactions into the new systems. A few key things to note: s #UTOVER ACTIVITIES BEGAN *ANUARY 23, with the start of the Maximo Data Conversion. s ##"