monday, april 4, 2016 - nwppa
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4/11/2016 eBulletin Online | Northwest Public Power Association
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Northwest Public Power Association eBulletin
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Monday, April 4, 2016
Legislative Announcements
EPA defends Clean Power Plan in brief to the D.C. Circuit; DOE to aid in Clean
Line project; Cantwell floats drought framework; House panel holds hearing
on cyber insurance; Bond coalition defends tax exemption of municipal
bonds; FAA raises altitude for drone operators; 200 House members sign
letter to appropriators for LWCF; and House, Senate members send LIHEAP
funding letters.
Read more…
Public Power Industry Announcements
Douglas PUD’s Schriver reaches 20year milestone; Umatilla Electric
completes solar project; “Major outages” increase, total outages drop in 2015
for Grays Harbor; EWEB to drain Leaburg Canal, close Leaburg Lake for
maintenance; and Columbia Generating Station reconnects to power grid.
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Read more…
Upcoming Educational Opportunities
Looking to plan your training for 2016 or view a catalog of training events?
Click on the button
below.
2016 eCatalog PDF
Check out these upcoming training events:
Substation Series: Substation Overview & InspectionsMay 3 – 4, 2016
Pathways to Leadership Session 5, Series 3: Lead Your Organization, SustainExcellence, and Manage Change
May 4 – 5, 2016
Substation Series: Print ReadingMay 5, 2016
Lineman Skills Series: AC Transformer Theory and Application; and Regulatorsand Capacitors
May 10 – 12, 2016
Distributed Generation for Engineering Personnel
May 10 – 11, 2016
Writing E攀欀ective Job Descriptions
May 11 – 12, 2016
Situational Self-Leadership
May 12, 2016
Optimal Motivation
May 13, 2016
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Register for our Annual Golf Tournament
Cohosted by Platinum/Diamond Sponsor EES Consulting and NWPPA
Are you coming to this year’s Annual Conference & Membership Meeting in
Tulalip, Wash.? If so, come early and network with fellow members while
playing some golf on Sunday, May 15, at the beautiful Kayak Point Golf
Course. Selected as one of America’s Top 50 Public Courses to Play by Golf
Digest, Kayak Point offers players of every skill level a unique golfing
experience. Kayak Point’s serene setting, beautiful sloping fairways, and
magnificent views of the Olympic Mountains offer an unrivaled combination of
beauty and challenge.
The modified shotgun start is at 8 a.m. on Sunday and the awards will be
handed out around 2:15 p.m. Cost is $75 per person and you can register to
play when you register to attend the conference. Golf registrations are due
by May 1.
Please be sure to let us know if you need to rent clubs so that we can make
arrangements to have them ready upon your arrival to the course. Also,
please let us know if you will be driving yourself to the course so that we can
make appropriate bus arrangements. Kayak Point Golf Course is located at
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15711 Marine Drive NE, Stanwood, WA 98292.
Read more…
Industry Calendar of Events
Mark your calendars for these upcoming public power meetings.
Read more…
RFP/RFQs
Utilities: NWPPA offers its utility members the opportunity (at no cost) to
post RFPs and RFQs on our website at no charge. Reach out to NWPPA’s
almost 4,000 associate member contacts that supply goods and services to
the utility industry and might be interested in responding to your utility
RFP/RFQ. To post your RFP/RFQ, visit our RFP/RFQ page. For more
information, contact Debbie K. at [email protected].
Associate Members: Make sure to check out NWPPA’s RFP/RFQ Web page
to view utility RFP listings. Listings are posted as they are received by
NWPPA.
New RFPs posted March 30th, 31st and April 4th, 2016!
Read more…
Recent Industry Job Openings
View the job opportunities posted to NWPPA’s website in the past week.
Read more…
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On This Day in History
NATO established; Dr. King is assassinated; Microsoft founded; and
Legendary movie critic Roger Ebert dies.
Read more…
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Legislative Announcements
EPA defends Clean Power Plan in brief to the D.C.
Circuit
Update provided by Morgan Meguire
On March 28, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted
its opening brief in the case challenging the Clean Power Plan to the
D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief defends the rule substantively
and procedurally against many of the challenges that have been
launched since its publication in August 2015.
The EPA asserts that the Best System of Emissions Reduction may
include greater use of cleaner forms of generation under the statutory
text and best fulfills Congress’s intent. “Indeed, even if EPA had
premised the Best System on technological measures such as co
firing and carbon sequestration, few plants would likely elect to
comply with their standards by actually using these technologies;
rather, they would rely on lowercost generationshifting,” said the
EPA. The brief also supports EPA’s statebystate emissions
guidelines, saying they were set with “extensive data and analyses.”
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The brief dismisses ideas that the Clean Power Plan is precluded by
conflicting versions of the statute and that it violates the Tenth
Amendment. The EPA also denies that it deviated from established
administrative procedure in promulgating the rule.
Oral arguments are set for June 2.
DOE to aid in Clean Line project
Update provided by Morgan Meguire
On March 25, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will
partner with Houstonbased Clean Line Energy Partners in a 700mile,
$2.5billion transmission project using Section 1222 of the Energy
Policy Act.
Sec. 1222 allows the federal government to participate in
transmission projects for the purpose of providing a private developer
with federal eminent domain authority in the construction of the
transmission line. The Southwestern Power Marketing Authority
(SWPA) would be the federal conduit for such activity.
The Plains & Eastern directcurrent line would provide a pathway for
4,000 megawatts of wind energy from the Oklahoma and Texas
Panhandle area to the Southeast, where there is currently little wind
energy available. Clean Line plans to deliver 500 megawatts in
Arkansas and the rest to a substation near Memphis, Tenn. The
Tennessee Valley Authority, which serves that region, has said it is not
interested in purchasing the wind.
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Federal power marketing administration (PMA) customers have long
been concerned that Sec. 1222 could require public power utilities to
pay for transmission lines that they do not need and that are outside
the mission of the PMAs. A Summary of Findings released by the
DOE, however, stated that SWPA’s involvement must not interfere
with its power marketing function or adversely affect the rates for
federal hydropower.
In a statement, the American Public Power Association (APPA) said it
is encouraged by the language in the summary, but it will continue to
support legislative efforts to amend or repeal Section 1222. Prior to
the announcement, APPA supported an amendment (#3311) from
Sen. John Boozman (R–Ark.) to S. 2012, the Energy Policy and
Modernization Act, to impose additional reporting requirements on
any thirdparty financed transmission project. That amendment is
slated for a vote should the bill return to the Senate floor.
Cantwell 嘀oats drought framework
Update provided by Morgan Meguire
On March 22, in honor of the 23rd annual World Water Day, Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D–
Wash.) released a white paper that advances a national framework for
addressing drought and water security in the United States.
The purpose of the paper is to foster a public dialogue and to develop
a comprehensive policy agenda to address national drought and water
security needs, as called for by states, tribes, local governments,
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utilities, agricultural producers, and conservation groups. “Severe and
sustained drought will stress water supplies that are already over
subscribed in many areas, increasing competition for water among
communities, industrial and energy producers, farmers, and
ecosystems,” the white paper said.
Cantwell’s paper focuses on the modernization of federal programs to
support and finance sustainable, watershedscale solutions;
advancing science and technology; and promoting partnerships with
communities.
The paper makes few references to hydropower production and the
important role water plays in producing clean energy. NWPPA and
other users of federally produced hydropower – while supportive of
creating national policy to address drought and water security –
believe it is important that any policy created fully recognize the
importance of hydropower production for the communities served. It
is also important that any costs related to these policies should be
equally shared among the various stakeholders.
The framework document is built on Cantwell’s S. 1694, the Yakima
River Basin Water Enhancement Project Phase III Act, in which
collaboration has led to a watershed planning effort that has become
a national model. The legislation, which was marked up and passed
by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, would authorize
federal participation in the drought recovery effort, which would
establish new water management practices.
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House panel holds hearing on cyber insurance
Update provided by Morgan Meguire
On March 22, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on
Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies
held a hearing to examine the potential opportunities to promote the
adoption of cyber best practices and more effective management of
cyber risks through cyber insurance. The hearing focused on the
Department of Homeland Security Cyber Incident Data and Analysis
Working Group, formed to deliberate and develop key findings and
conclusions about usable propositions for cyber insurance.
In his opening statement, Subcommittee Chair John Ratcliffe (R–
Texas) noted that the cyber insurance market is “in its infancy” but
there is room for growth over the next decade.
Ratcliffe said that while large companies are most likely to acquire
cyber insurance, we need to explore ways for this marketplace to
expand to create a wide array of diverse, affordable products that will
also benefit small and mediumsized entities. Specifically, he spoke to
the current efforts by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber
Incident Data and Analysis Working Group who is working with
relevant stakeholders to expand cyber insurance market’s ability to
address emerging risk areas.
Currently, this group has looked at creating a “cyber incident data
repository” that would encourage voluntary sharing of data about
breaches, business interruption events, and industrial control system
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attacks to aid risk mitigation and risk transfer approaches. This group
is also analyzing ways to assist organizations “of all sizes to adopt
stronger cybersecurity best practices and more effective management
of cyber risks against bad actors in cyberspace.”
Panelists at the hearing believed that the effort could facilitate
development of cybersecurity best practices that insurers could look
to or require in their policies as conditions for cyber coverage. And,
while it may take decades before a fully mature and developed
market comes into being, the witnesses urged time and support from
Congress to allow the market to develop organically over time and
allow the actuarial data to be collected.
Bond coalition defends tax exemption of municipal
bonds
Update provided by Morgan Meguire
The Municipal Bonds for America (MBFA) coalition sent a letter to the
newly elected chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Kevin
Brady (D–Texas), urging the chair “to retain the current system of
taxexempt financing that has worked well for America and through
over a century of tax code precedent.”
MBFA is a diverse group of local elected officials, financing authorities,
and other organizations who have banded together to reaffirm their
opposition to legislative proposals targeting municipal bonds,
including private activity bonds. APPA and the Large Public Power
Council are MBFA members, and both signed the letter.
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The group highlighted the increased costs to schools, transportation,
housing, and other public infrastructure if proposals to curb or repeal
the municipal exemption were enacted. They noted that over 75
percent of today’s infrastructure was financed with the help of
municipal bonds. MBFA said, “It is no exaggeration to say that
municipal bonds build America. Any proposal to target the taxexempt
status of municipal bonds would severely undercut this critical
financing tool and deal a severe economic blow to America’s
communities and their citizens.”
The group noted the fiscal pressure the federal government faces to
reverse the unsustainable trends in deficit spending. “MBFA strongly
opposes any proposal that would alter the current law status of tax
exempt municipal bonds. Taxing municipal bonds will do nothing to
address the underlying issues causing our nation’s fiscal problems,
but, instead, shift federal costs onto state and local governments and,
ultimately, the American public,” the group said.
NWPPA has urged its Congressional members to reject proposals that
would alter the status of taxexempt municipal bonds.
FAA raises altitude for drone operators
Update provided by Morgan Meguire
After a comprehensive risk analysis, on March 29 the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) issued a new policy that would raise the altitude
– to 400 feet – that operators of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS),
more commonly known as drones, can fly. Previously, the agency had
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put in place a nationwide Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA)
for such flights up to 200 feet. The change applies to both commercial
use, authorized by Section 333 exemption holders, and governmental
use, authorized under Section 334 COA holders.
“This is another milestone in our effort to change the traditional speed
of government,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “Expanding
the authorized airspace for these operations means government and
industry can carry out unmanned aircraft missions more quickly and
with less red tape.” FAA said it will lessen the need for individual COAs
by 30 to 40 percent. Other provisions of an FAA authorization, such as
registering the UAS and making sure pilots have the proper
certification, still apply.
According to an FAA press release, the new COA policy allows small
unmanned aircraft to fly up to 400 feet anywhere in the country
except restricted airspace and other areas, such as major cities,
where the agency prohibits UAS operations. Under the blanket COA,
the FAA will permit flights at or below 400 feet for UAS operators with
a Section 333 exemption for aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds
and for government UAS operations. Operators must fly under
daytime Visual Flight Rules, keep the UAS within visual line of sight of
the pilot, and stay certain distances away from airports or heliports.
The new policy follows on the heels of FAA’s recently released report
of incidents involving unmanned aircraft in the U.S. airspace system.
The report, by Baird College’s Center for the Study of Drones,
analyzed 900 drone incident reports from August 21, 2015, to
January 31, 2016, and found that 91.9 percent of incidents happen
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above the 400foot ceiling. “The average altitude for incidents was
3,074 feet, and the median altitude was 2,000 feet,” the report said.
200 House members sign letter to appropriators for
LWCF
Update provided by Morgan Meguire
On March 22, nearly 200 House members, almost half the House of
Representatives, signed a letter to appropriators to fully fund the
Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a federal land buying and
recreation program that briefly expired last year.
The LWCF receives $900 million per year from offshore oil and gas
royalties, but is often authorized to spend only around a third of that
total. It lapsed last fall as lawmakers fought over how its funding
should be divided between state and federal conservation efforts. A
month and a half later, however, LWCF was reauthorized for three
years as part of an endoftheyear omnibus spending package. That
funding deal included $450 million for the program for fiscal 2016,
almost a 50percent increase over its fiscal 2015 authorization.
Rep. Rob Bishop (R–Utah), chair of the Natural Resources Committee,
which has jurisdiction over the fund, is the leading opponent of
permanently reauthorizing the LWCF. A bill he introduced after the
program lapsed would reform the program to send significantly more
money to states and greatly curtail federal acquisition of privately
owned lands.
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House, Senate members send LIHEAP funding letters
Update provided by Morgan Meguire
On March 24, 161 House members sent leaders of the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services,
and Education a letter urging no less than $4.7 billion be allocated to
the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in the
subcommittee’s FY17 appropriations bill.
Fortyone senators signed onto a similar letter sent on March 16 to
the Senate Subcommittee. The Senate letter does not specify a
spending level but opposes cuts in funding. Of interest to NWPPA, six
senators from member states signed on to the letter.
The letters come in response to the President’s FY17 budget proposal
to cut LIHEAP by $390 million from FY16 levels.
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Public Power Announcements
(L-R) Commissioner Molly Simpson, JaydeeSchriver, and Commissioner Ron Skagen.
Douglas PUD’s Schriver reaches 20-year milestone
Douglas County PUD Commissioners
Jim Davis, Molly Simpson, and Ron
Skagen Awarded System Operator
Jaydee Schriver with his 20year
service award during the March 28
Commission meeting held at the
District’s East Wenatchee (Wash.)
office.
Commissioner Skagen thanked Schriver on behalf of the citizens of
Douglas County for his years of service; Schriver in turn thanked the
commission.
Umatilla Electric completes solar project
Umatilla Electric Cooperative (Ore.) has energized the MoyerTolles
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A Christenson Electric employee works on installing thesystem.
Solar Station, a 1.3
megawatt (DC) solar
generating project. The
system is capable of
supplying the equivalent
of 112 allelectric homes.
The system is located on
state Highway 730 near
the eastern edge of the
city of Umatilla, on 6.5
acres of land that UEC purchased from the Port of Umatilla. The
system includes 3,952 photovoltaic panels generating up to 320 watts
DC, which if laid end to end would stretch nearly five miles.
The system – UEC’s first utilityscale generation plant – is expected to
produce an average of 1.6 million kilowatthours annually; the
levelized cost of the energy produced is estimated at 7.8 cents per
kilowatthour, based on a 30year life.
With Christenson Electric providing design, procurement, and
construction, UEC installed the $2.5million system to help meet
future requirements from Oregon’s Renewable Portfolio Standard
(RPS) and accommodate growing member interest in solar.
“It’s a step toward having UEC memberowned resources that will
eventually satisfy the RPS obligation,” UEC Finance Manager Kevin
Ince said. “Ultimately, 25 percent of the energy we provide to our
members will have to come from renewable energy.”
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If UEC was obligated to meet that standard today, 45 average
megawatts of renewable energy would be required to support UEC’s
total electrical sales of 180 averagemegawatts.
Over the next dozen years, UEC will continue to seek out sources of
new renewables, such as wind or solar, to provide a portion of its
power supply, Ince said. That may include partnering with others to
build new resources, or entering into power purchasing agreements.
The system is named in honor of two UEC employees, Fonnie Moyer
and Bill Tolles, who died in a 1971 car accident returning from a data
processing orientation.
“Major outages” increase, total outages drop in 2015
for Grays Harbor
The Grays Harbor Public Utility District’s (Aberdeen, Wash.) 2015
outage report features a mixed bag of results. While the overall
number of outages responded to by PUD crews fell by over 100
incidents, the number of customers impacted and total outage
duration were up over previous years.
“We saw more ‘major outages’ in 2015 which impacted a wider area
and a greater number of customers,” said General Manager Dave
Ward. “What we take from this report is the increased knowledge of
highimpact areas and the steps that must be taken to improve our
system reliability.”
In all, the utility responded to 362 total outages in 2015, down from
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the 472 experienced in 2014 and 25 percent lower than the fiveyear
average. However, total customer outages ended the year at 83,755
customers for a total outage duration of 303,880 hours, both
significantly higher than the fiveyear average.
“There were some significant factors that played into those totals,
including large outages caused by equipment failures and storm
events along with two large outages caused by Bonneville Power
Administration issues,” said Ward.
The two BPA outages on March 9 and 26 impacted over 25,000
customers and represented a major portion of the outage total.
Electrical failures stemming from damaged equipment accounted for
121 outages, while 114 outages were storm, wind, or tree related,
down from 155 treerelated outages in 2014.
“Vegetation management is a key component to Grays Harbor’s
system reliability. The fact that 2015 saw a significant drop in tree
related outages tells me that we are making progress in that area,”
said PUD Commission President Russ Skolrood. “Living on the
Washington coast, we can expect two or three significant storm
events every year. A regular cycle of tree trimming and mowing
around our lines and poles helps to keep those storms from causing
lengthy outages for our customers.”
EWEB to drain Leaburg Canal, close Leaburg Lake for
maintenance
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The Eugene Water & Electric Board (Ore.) began dewatering the
Leaburg Power Canal on April 2 to perform maintenance on the power
plant, canal, and fish screen.
The shutdown of the Leaburg generating facility and power canal is
expected to last about two weeks. During the shutdown, EWEB will
divert very little water from the McKenzie River into the canal, which
will cause the river level to rise downstream of the canal’s mouth.
During the rewatering period, expected to begin on or around April
17, the river level will gradually drop as more water is diverted into
the canal.
Today, April 4, EWEB Generation staff and a contractor will begin
installing a debris boom across the canal intake. The boom, along the
right bank, will help prevent large, woody debris from collecting on
the dam’s trash racks. EWEB expects the boom to help improve safety
and reduce the many hours spent by staff physically removing debris
off the intake.
Leaburg Lake, the parking lot at the visitor center, and the boat take
out will be closed to the public during the installation. The closure is
expected to continue through Thursday, April 7.
The utility will complete similar repairs to the Walterville power plant,
fish screen, and canal beginning in midJune.
Columbia Generating Station reconnects to power grid
Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station reconnected to the
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Northwest power grid early on March 31 and operators continued to
slowly raise the power level to 100 percent. Full power was
anticipated over this past weekend.
Columbia safely shut down at approximately 1:30 p.m. on March 28
when operators received a signal in the control room that an
equipment cooling system showed low water volume. All shutdown
systems, including multiple redundant safety systems, operated as
expected and there was no threat to public health or safety. The
system involved provides cooling to equipment in the plant, including
reactor recirculation pumps and heat exchangers.
“The plant shut down as expected, the equipment responded as
expected, and most importantly the operational team did their job as
expected during the shutdown,” said Brad Sawatzke, Energy
Northwest’s chief nuclear officer. “This was not a nuclear safety issue
but the actions we took protected necessary equipment, allowing us
to continue meeting our commitment to the region.”
Reactor unplanned shutdowns — or scrams — are not uncommon in
the nuclear industry. On average, one in every two of the nation’s
nearly 100 reactors scram annually. Prior to Monday, however,
Columbia had not experienced a scram in more than six years, since
November 2009.
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Calendar of Events
2016 Upcoming Industry Meetings
Send your 2016 meeting dates and locations to Debbie at [email protected].
April 2016
7 – PPC Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR
11-14 – NWPPA Engineering & Operations Conference, Spokane, WA
21 – Celilo Converter Station Celebration, Portland, OR
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22-24 – 10th Annual Wildland Fire Litigation Conference
Have you heard about the 10th Annual Wildland Fire Litigation Conference? Last year’s event was
attended by participants from 21 states and 1 Canadian province. In attendance in recent years were
wildland ἧre investigators; forensics experts; ἧre-ἧghting and prevention personnel; plainti뗏, defense,
subrogation, government, utility, and insurance attorneys; public utility personnel; appraisers and
environmental damage appraisers; Department of Forestry personnel (California and Oregon); USFS,
BLM, tree inspection, and tree trimming contractors; insurance adjustors and insurance subrogation
managers; arborists; foresters; and academics. This year’s program has been expanded to include ἧre
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investigation topics, legal topics, forensics topics, damages,
and environmental issues. We have an outstanding faculty
of professionals ready to expand our knowledge on many
important topics and issues. For more information, visit
http://wildlandἧrelitigation.com/.
DOE Grid Modernization Regional Workshops
The importance of our nation’s electric systemcannot be overstated. It underpins our economicprosperity, national security and our overall qualityof life. However, as our country moves toward a
more digital economy and we witness a convergence of information technology withcommunications, electricity, transportation and other sectors, the demands being placedon our grid infrastructure are changing dramatically.
As part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Initiative, theDepartment is convening industry stakeholders across the U.S. in a series of regionalworkshops. These workshops will seek feedback on the Department’s grid relatedresearch and demonstration strategy, and provide opportunities for stakeholders toinform the Department on the gridrelated technical challenges and emerging policyissues you see confronting your region and the nation as a whole. To incorporate boththese goals, the workshops will include two tracks:
Track 1 will focus of the Department’s Grid Modernization MultiYear Program Plan(MYPP) that identifies key challenges and specifies research and demonstrationpriorities for achieving a modernized grid. The research plan was developed based oninput from the Quadrennial Energy Review and Quadrennial Technology Review aswell as the private sector, including the industryled Future of the Grid Initiative;however, stakeholder input is needed to help refine the Department’s research portfolioto ensure that it aligns with regional needs.
Track 2 will explore the technology implications and challenges associated with
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emerging policies related to grid modernization efforts. These multistakeholderdiscussions and the insights stakeholders provide will help inform efforts to assist stateand local decision makers as they consider future grid investments and develop theirown roadmaps for grid modernization. Stakeholder participation will also help us tobetter understand the technology developments needed to address future policy changes.
The workshops will take place from March through June 2016 in the following regions:
Central: Austin, TX – March 23 Northeast: Boston, MA – April 1314 Northwest: Seattle, WA – April 2627 Midwest: Minneapolis, MN – May 910 Southeast: Atlanta, GA – May 1718 2016 Southwest: San Francisco, CA
Regional Designations
May 2016
1-4 – NRECA Legislative Conference, Washington, D.C.
5 – PPC Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR
15-18 – NWPPA Annual Conference & Membership Meeting, Tulalip, WA
17-18 – Western Reliability Summit, Hilton Hotel Salt Lake City, Utah
WECC is excited to announce its first‐ever Western Reliability Summit. The Summit will be held inSalt Lake City, Utah on May 17 and 18. For more informa퉻on about the event and to register, visit
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the Summit website at hp://www.westernreliabilitysummit.org/ or email us [email protected]. This is a unique opportunity for you to share your thoughts andpar퉻cipate in discussions that will help inform our understanding of the electric reliabilitychallenges facing the Western Interconnec퉻on and shape and influence the direc퉻on of our workand products over the coming years.
June 2016
2 – PPC Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR
7-9 – APA Federal Legislative Conference, Washington, D.C.
10-15 – APPA National Conference & Public Power EXPO, Phoenix, AZ
14-15 – WRECA Annual Meeting, Red Lion Hotel Richland Hanford House, Richland, WA
July 2016
7 – PPC Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR
12-14 – ORECA Mid-Year Meeting, Seven Feathers Casino Resort, OR
August 2016
4 – PPC Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR
September 2016
1 – PPC Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR
19-20 – National Hydropower Association Alaska Meeting, Cordova, AK
21-23 – APA Annual Membership Meeting, Cordova, AK
October 2016
4-6 – Regions 7 & 9 Meeting, Reno, NV
6 – PPC Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR
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November 2016
3 – PPC Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR
29-Dec. 1 – ORECA Annual Meeting, Location TBA, OR
December 2016
8 – PPC Annual Meeting, Sheraton Portland Airport, Portland, OR – 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
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Submit an RFP or RFQ
NWPPA o㐸㤳ers its members the opportunity to post RFPs and RFQs on our website at no charge. For
more information or questions, contact Debbie K. at [email protected] or complete the form below.
CURRENT RFPs/RFQs
Three (3) Control/Relay Panels for the Irondale Substation
O㔰㐮ered by: Je㐸㤳erson County PUD
Response deadline: April 18, 2016
3:00 p.m. Paci‾c Standard Time
Posted on: April 4, 2016
Je㐸㤳erson County PUD in Port Townsend, Washington, invites sealed bids to be received at the o‱ⴠce
of the District, Attn: Alyson Dean 310 Four Corners Rd, Port Townsend, WA 98368 until 3:00 p.m.,
Paci䄴〰c Standard Time, on Monday, April 18, 2016 for three (3) Control/Relay Panels for the Irondale
Substation.
Prospective bidders are hereby noti‾ed that they are solely responsible for ensuring timely delivery
of their bid to Je㐸㤳erson County PUD on or before the bid submission date and time indicated above.
The bid documents are available for viewing on our website at <http://www.je㐸㤳pud.org/requests-for-
quali‾cations/. They may also be picked up at the o‱ⴠce located at 310 Four Corners Rd, Port
Townsend, WA 98368, requested by telephone at (360) 385-8349 or by email at .
Je㐸㤳erson County PUD reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive informalities or
irregularities.
Submit an RFP/RFQ for publication on NWPPA.ORG
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Bid Number - 4803 - Electric Utility-Field Services Meter Routing System Project
O㔰㐮ered by: City of Redding
Response deadline: May 12, 2016
Must be received by 3:00 pm PST
Posted on: April 4, 2016
Request for Proposals: Electric Utility-Field Services Meter Routing System Project
http://www.cityofredding.org/Home/Components/RFP/RFP/1220/340
The City of Redding (City) is requesting proposals from quali‾ed ‾rms or individuals interested in
providing an end-to-end GIS-based meter reading and service order routing software application and
a GPS navigation solution with Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) for the Field Services Division of
Redding Electric Utility (REU) to re- route existing meter reading routes in REU’s service territory,
provide on-going daily work reassignment capabilities, optimize route performance and enhance
employee safety.
The City intends to procure a contract for a service that is multi-functional, compatible with the City’s
geocoded street centerline data, and compatible with both REU’s current ‾eld data collection
management software and hosted enterprise level customer information management system (CIS).
This project is intended to equalize all meter reading routes initially, as feasible, and allow for daily
adjustments with routes based on sta㐸㤳 availability and overall daily workload. This project will also
automate the scheduling of daily, non-meter reading service work and add an additional tool through
the GPS/AVL function for optimizing employee safety and e‱ⴠciency.
Sealed proposals must be submitted to:
City of Redding: City Clerk; 777 Cypress Ave; Redding, CA 96001
Please view the link above for the full RFP, including speci‾cations and contact information. Thank
you.
To be added the distribution list for this RFP, please contact Amber Edenburn @
RFQ for Professional Cybersecurity Consulting Services
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O㔰㐮ered by: Public Utility District No. 1 of Whatcom County
Response deadline: April 22, 2016
Must be received by 2 PM Paci‾c Time
Posted on: March 31, 2016
Request for Quali‾cations
Professional Cybersecurity Consulting Services
Public Utility District No. 1 of Whatcom County ("District") hereby solicits Statement of Quali‾cations
(“SOQ”) from engineering and/or consulting ‾rms, who o㐸㤳er cybersecurity services and would desire
to provide such services for the District, as may be needed.
The purpose of this Request for Quali‾cations (RFQ) is to assist the District in selecting the most
quali‾ed ‾rm(s) that may be utilized to assist District sta㐸㤳 with cybersecurity matters related to the
District’s electric and water utility operations.
Firms desiring consideration may request the SOQ submittal requirements document by contacting
the District’s project manager for this solicitation at the following:
Public Utility District No. 1 of Whatcom County
P.O. Box 2308/1705 Trigg Road
Ferndale, Washington 98248
Phone: 360-384-4288 ext.17
Attn: Alec Strand, Project Manager
Or, interested ‾rms may obtain a pdf document of the SOQ submittal requirements electronically on
the District’s website: www.pudwhatcom.org.
The deadline for submittal of a Statement of Quali䄴〰cations in response to this solicitation is
2:00 PM (PDT), April 22, 2016.
The District anticipates the need for services beginning this calendar year 2016 and continuing for the
next ‾ve (5) years.
The District reserves the right to select a ‾rm or ‾rms directly from the Statement of Quali‾cations
submitted and to proceed directly to scope and contract negotiations with one or more ‾rm(s)
determined to be most quali‾ed. The District is committed to a program of equal opportunity.
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Minority and women owned businesses are encouraged to submit. This is not a Request for
Proposal.
Stephan Jilk
General Manager
Bid No. 16-41 - Supply of Overhead and Underground Transformers
O㔰㐮ered by: Chelan PUD
Response deadline: April 13, 2016
2:00 p.m. Paci‾c Time
Posted on: March 30, 2016
Sealed bids will be received by Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County, Washington, at the o‱ⴠce
of the District, Attention: Mark Belton, Procurement and Contract Services, 327B North Wenatchee
Avenue, Wenatchee, Washington, 98801, until 2:00 pm, Paci䄴〰c Time, Wednesday, April 13, 2016,
for supplying all labor, materials, tools, equipment, facilities, and all other appliances and supplies as
speci‾ed, and performing all work required in accordance with the Contract Documents.
The Contract Documents, in whole or in part, may be available in read-only format at
http://www.chelanpud.org/cf/PCS_Bids. Prospective Bidders may obtain Contract Documents in
electronic format from the Procurement and Contract Services Department. Requests are accepted
online at http://www.chelanpud.org/cf/PCS_Bids, or in writing to P.O. Box 1231, Wenatchee, WA
98807, or by telephone at (509) 661-4479 or (888) 663-8121, extension 4479, or may be viewed in
person at 327B N. Wenatchee Avenue, Wenatchee, Washington. The District makes every e㐸㤳ort to
insure the completeness of the electronic ‾le. If there are any questions, please contact the
Procurement and Contract Services department at the number stated above.
No pre-bid site inspection has been scheduled for this Project. If you have questions, please contact
the Project Manager below:
Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County
P.O. Box 1231, 327 North Wenatchee Avenue
Wenatchee, Washington 98807
Telephone: (509) 661-4182, or toll free at (888) 663-8121, extension 4182.
Attention: Jack Nieborsky
The District reserves the right to reject any and/or all bids, to waive informalities, and to accept any
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bid which is in the District's best interests.
Bid Number 4799 - Development of REU Risk Management Program
O㔰㐮ered by: Redding Electric Utility
Response deadline: April 21, 2016
Must be received by 3:00 pm PST
Posted on: March 28, 2016
Redding Electric Utility (REU) is seeking proposals from quali‾ed organizations to assist in
the development of a risk management program. The selected consultant must have experience
in developing risk management programs for electric utilities, best practices for risk management, as
well as a technical understanding of the publicly‐owned electric industry and the challenges it is
facing. The consultant must also have expertise in reviewing and analyzing data, making sound
business recommendations based upon that data, and the ability to communicate e㐸㤳ectively with
REU sta㐸㤳.
For the full RFP and instrustions, please visit www.cityofredding.org/PurchasingBids, RFP Number
4799.
To be added the distribution list for this RFP, please contact Binky Peer at [email protected].
BID NO. 16-06 - Con橔‾uence Technology Center HVAC System Upgrades
O㔰㐮ered by: Chelan PUD
Response deadline: April 12, 2016
2:30 pm, Paci‾c Time
Posted on: March 22, 2016
Sealed bids will be received by Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County, Washington, at the o‱ⴠce
of the District, Attention: Lou Pratto, Procurement and Contract Services, 327B North Wenatchee
Avenue, Wenatchee, Washington, 98801, until 2:30 pm, Paci䄴〰c Time, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, for
supplying all labor, materials, tools, equipment, facilities, and all other appliances and supplies as
speci‾ed, and performing all work required in accordance with the Contract Documents.
The Contract Documents, in whole or in part, may be available in read-only format at
http://www.chelanpud.org/cf/PCS_Bids. Prospective Bidders may obtain Contract Documents in
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electronic format from the Procurement and Contract Services Department. Requests are accepted
online at http://www.chelanpud.org/cf/PCS_Bids, or in writing to P.O. Box 1231, Wenatchee, WA
98807, or by telephone at (509) 661-4479 or (888) 663-8121, extension 4479, or may be viewed in
person at 327B N. Wenatchee Avenue, Wenatchee, Washington. The District makes every e㐸㤳ort to
insure the completeness of the electronic ‾le. If there are any questions, please contact the
Procurement and Contract Services department at the number stated above.
A mandatory pre-bid meeting and site visit will be conducted at the Conㄊ橔uence Technology Center
(CTC), located at 285 Technology Way, Wenatchee, WA 98801, on March 29, 2016, beginning at 10:00
AM. For security purposes, on-line registration for the pre-bid meeting is required. All attendees must
register on-line by 5:00 PM on March 22, 2016. IMPORTANT: Any contractor/vendor business not pre-
registered for the pre-bid meeting will be denied access to the hydroelectric project. Valid photo
identi‾cation should be carried for potential veri‾cation with meeting registration list. If you have
questions, please contact the Project Manager below:
Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County
P.O. Box 1231, 327 North Wenatchee Avenue
Wenatchee, Washington 98807
Telephone: (509) 661-4965, or toll-free at (888) 663-8121, extension 4965.
Attention: Casey Hall
The District reserves the right to reject any and/or all bids, to waive informalities, and to accept any
bid which is in the District's best interests.
BID NO. 15-65 Rocky Reach Dam Powerhouse Bridge Cranes Refurbishment
O㔰㐮ered by: Chelan County PUD
Response deadline: April 12, 2016
2:30 pm, Paci‾c Time
Posted on: March 8, 2016
Sealed bids will be received by Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County, Washington, at the o‱ⴠce
of the District, Attention: Alexandria Smith, Procurement and Contract Services, 327B North
Wenatchee Avenue, Wenatchee, Washington, 98801, until 2:30 pm, Paci䄴〰c Time, April 12, 2016, for
supplying all labor, materials, tools, equipment, facilities, and all other appliances and supplies as
speci‾ed, and performing all work required in accordance with the Contract Documents.
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The Contract Documents, in whole or in part, may be available in read-only format at
http://www.chelanpud.org/cf/PCS_Bids. Prospective Bidders may obtain Contract Documents in
electronic format from the Procurement and Contract Services Department. Requests are accepted
online at http://www.chelanpud.org/cf/PCS_Bids, or in writing to P.O. Box 1231, Wenatchee, WA
98807, or by telephone at (509) 661-4479 or (888) 663-8121, extension 4479, or may be viewed in
person at 327B N. Wenatchee Avenue, Wenatchee, Washington. The District makes every e㐸㤳ort to
insure the completeness of the electronic ‾le. If there are any questions, please contact the
Procurement and Contract Services department at the number stated above.
A mandatory pre-bid meeting and site visit will be conducted at a time and date to be decided.
IMPORTANT: Any contractor/vendor business not pre-registered for the pre-bid meeting will be
denied access to the hydroelectric project. Valid photo identi‾cation should be carried for potential
veri‾cation with meeting registration list. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is required at this
location in order to attend the pre-bid meeting. The following PPE is required to be used by all
attendees: shirts with sleeves, full length trousers, sturdy leather footwear, steel-toed boots, eye
protection, hard hat, ear protection, and a safety vest. If you have questions, please contact the
Project Manager below:
Public Utility District No. 1 of Chelan County
P.O. Box 1231, 327 North Wenatchee Avenue
Wenatchee, Washington 98807
Telephone: (509) 661-4268, or toll-free at (888) 663-8121, extension 4268.
Attention: Stephen Wiest
The District reserves the right to reject any and/or all bids, to waive informalities, and to accept any
bid which is in the District's best interests.
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4/11/2016 Jobs | Northwest Public Power Association
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Jobs
Recent job openings within the industry in the
last week:
Chief Electrical Engineer – Commonwealth Utilities Corporation Electric Utility Technician I or II – City of Ukiah Electric Utility Department Electrical and Control Systems – Eugene Water and Electric Board Electrical and Control Systems Planner – Eugene Water and Electric Board Electronic System Control Craftworker (TCK) – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Executive Director – Commonwealth Utilities Corporation Groundman – Clatskanie People’s Utility District
Information Systems Specialist – Grays Harbor PUD Line Superintendent – Matanuska Electric Association Lineperson – City of Ukiah Electric Utility Department Real Time Trader – Eugene Water & Electric Board Senior Engineering Specialist or Below #69976 – Puget Sound Energy Working Fleet Supervisor – Midstate Electric Cooperative
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View all available jobs
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4/11/2016 This Day In History | Northwest Public Power Association
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This Day In History
NATO established
April 4, 1949
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by 12
Western nations: the United States, Great Britain, France, Belgium,
the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland,
Canada, and Portugal. The military alliance, which provided for a
collective selfdefense against Soviet aggression, greatly increased
American influence in Europe.
Greece, Turkey, and West Germany later joined NATO, but in 1966
France withdrew, citing American violations of the 1949 treaty. In
1955, the Warsaw Pact, a Sovietled Eastern European alliance, was
established to counter NATO. In 1994, three years after the end of
the Cold War, NATO engaged in its first military action as part of an
international effort to end two years of fighting in Bosnia
Herzegovina. Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, which all left
the Warsaw Pact upon its dissolution in 1991, joined NATO in 1999.
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Today, there are twentysix member states in total.
Dr. King is assassinated
April 4, 1968
Just after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is fatally shot
while standing on the balcony outside his secondstory room at the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in
Memphis to support a sanitation workers’ strike and was on his way to
dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal
cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis
hospital. He was 39 years old.
In the months before his assassination, Martin Luther King became
increasingly concerned with the problem of economic inequality in
America. He organized a Poor People’s Campaign to focus on the
issue, including an interracial poor people’s march on Washington,
and in March 1968 traveled to Memphis in support of poorly treated
AfricanAmerican sanitation workers. On March 28, a workers’ protest
march led by King ended in violence and the death of an African
American teenager. King left the city but vowed to return in early April
to lead another demonstration.
On April 3, back in Memphis, King gave his last sermon, saying,
“We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with
me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop…And He’s allowed me
to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the
Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know
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tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”
One day after speaking those words, Dr. King was shot and killed by a
sniper. As word of the assassination spread, riots broke out in cities
all across the United States and National Guard troops were deployed
in Memphis and Washington, D.C. On April 9, King was laid to rest in
his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Tens of thousands of people lined
the streets to pay tribute to King’s casket as it passed by in a wooden
farm cart drawn by two mules.
The evening of King’s murder, a Remington .3006 hunting rifle was
found on the sidewalk beside a rooming house one block from the
Lorraine Motel. During the next several weeks, the rifle, eyewitness
reports, and fingerprints on the weapon all implicated a single
suspect: escaped convict James Earl Ray. A twobit criminal, Ray
escaped a Missouri prison in April 1967 while serving a sentence for a
holdup. In May 1968, a massive manhunt for Ray began. The FBI
eventually determined that he had obtained a Canadian passport
under a false identity, which at the time was relatively easy.
On June 8, Scotland Yard investigators arrested Ray at a London
airport. He was trying to fly to Belgium, with the eventual goal, he
later admitted, of reaching Rhodesia. Rhodesia, now called
Zimbabwe, was at the time ruled by an oppressive and internationally
condemned white minority government. Extradited to the United
States, Ray stood before a Memphis judge in March 1969 and pleaded
guilty to King’s murder in order to avoid the electric chair. He was
sentenced to 99 years in prison.
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Three days later, he attempted to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming
he was innocent of King’s assassination and had been set up as a
patsy in a larger conspiracy. He claimed that in 1967, a mysterious
man named “Raoul” had approached him and recruited him into a
gunrunning enterprise. On April 4, 1968, he said, he realized that he
was to be the fall guy for the King assassination and fled to Canada.
Ray’s motion was denied, as were his dozens of other requests for a
trial during the next 29 years.
During the 1990s, the widow and children of Martin Luther King Jr.
spoke publicly in support of Ray and his claims, calling him innocent
and speculating about an assassination conspiracy involving the U.S.
government and military. U.S. authorities were, in conspiracists’
minds, implicated circumstantially. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
obsessed over King, who he thought was under communist influence.
For the last six years of his life, King underwent constant wiretapping
and harassment by the FBI. Before his death, Dr. King was also
monitored by U.S. military intelligence, which may have been asked
to watch King after he publicly denounced the Vietnam War in 1967.
Furthermore, by calling for radical economic reforms in 1968,
including guaranteed annual incomes for all, King was making few
new friends in the Cold Warera U.S. government.
Over the years, the assassination has been reexamined by the House
Select Committee on Assassinations, the Shelby County, Tennessee,
district attorney’s office, and three times by the U.S. Justice
Department. The investigations all ended with the same conclusion:
James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King. The House committee
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acknowledged that a lowlevel conspiracy might have existed,
involving one or more accomplices to Ray, but uncovered no evidence
to definitively prove this theory. In addition to the mountain of
evidence against him–such as his fingerprints on the murder weapon
and his admitted presence at the rooming house on April 4–Ray had a
definite motive in assassinating King: hatred. According to his family
and friends, he was an outspoken racist who informed them of his
intent to kill Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He died in 1998.
Microsoft founded
April 4, 1975
On this day in 1975, at a time when most Americans use typewriters,
childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft, a company
that makes computer software. Originally based in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, Microsoft relocated to Washington State in 1979 and
eventually grew into a major multinational technology corporation. In
1987, the year after Microsoft went public, 31yearold Gates became
the world’s youngest billionaire.
Gates and Allen started Microsoft—originally called MicroSoft, for
microprocessors and software—in order to produce software for the
Altair 8800, an early personal computer. Allen quit his job as a
programmer in Boston and Gates left Harvard University, where he
was a student, to focus on their new company, which was based in
Albuquerque because the city was home to electronics firm MITS,
maker of the Altair 8800. By the end of 1978, Microsoft’s sales topped
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more than $1 million and in 1979 the business moved its
headquarters to Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, where
Gates and Allen grew up. The company went on to license its MSDOS
operating system to IBM for its first personal computer, which
debuted in 1981. Afterward, other computer companies started
licensing MSDOS, which had no graphical interface and required
users to type in commands in order to open a program. In 1983, Allen
departed Microsoft after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma;
he was successfully treated for the disease and went on to pursue a
variety of other business ventures.
In 1985, Microsoft released a new operating system, Windows, with a
graphical user interface that included dropdown menus, scroll bars
and other features. The following year, the company moved its
headquarters to Redmond, Washington, and went public at $21 a
share, raising $61 million. By the late 1980s, Microsoft had become
the world’s biggest personalcomputer software company, based on
sales. In 1995, amidst skyrocketing purchases of personal computers
for home and office use, Windows 95 made its debut. It included such
innovations as the Start menu (TV commercials for Windows 95
featured the Rolling Stones singing “Start Me Up”) and 7 million
copies of the new product were sold in the first five weeks. During the
second half of the 1990s, Internet usage took off, and Microsoft
introduced its web browser, Internet Explorer, in 1995.
In 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice and 20 state attorneys
general charged Microsoft with violating antitrust laws by using its
dominance to drive competitors out of business; in 2001, the
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company reached a settlement with the government that imposed
restrictions on its corporate practices. Also in 2001, Microsoft joined
the videogame market with the launch of its Xbox console, which
proved to be a hit. However, in the first decade of the 21st century
Microsoft fell behind companies such as Apple in the mobilephone
market and Google in the searchengine market.
Legendary movie critic Roger Ebert dies
April 4, 2013
On this day in 2013, one of America’s bestknown and most influential
movie critics, Roger Ebert, who reviewed movies for The Chicago Sun
Times for 46 years and on TV for 31 years, dies at age 70 after a
battling cancer. In 1975, Ebert started cohosting a movie review
program on TV with fellow critic Gene Siskel that eventually turned
them both into household names and made their thumbsup, thumbs
down rating system part of American pop culture.
Born on June 18, 1942, in Urbana, Illinois, Ebert was the only child of
an electrician father and bookkeeper mother. At age 15, Ebert he
began writing about high school sports for his local newspaper. In
1964, he graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana
Champaign, where majored in journalism and served as editor of the
school’s newspaper. Two years later, he went to work for the Chicago
SunTimes. When the paper’s film critic retired in 1967, Ebert was
named as her replacement.
Ebert’s column soon became a mustread for movie lovers, and in
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1975 he became the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize. That same
year, he and rival critic Gene Siskel, of The Chicago Tribune, were
paired as cohosts of a monthly moviereview show, “Opening Soon
at a Theater Near You,” on Chicago’s public broadcasting station. In
1978, the show, renamed “Sneak Previews,” went into national
syndication, and later became the highestrated halfhour series in
the history of public television. In the early 1980s, the program was
acquired by another broadcasting company and rechristened “At the
Movies.” Its name was changed to “Siskel & Ebert at the Movies” in
1986, the same year the two hosts, who became known for their
sometimes contentious onscreen chemistry, debuted their thumbs
up, thumbsdown judgments. The program helped turn Siskel and
Ebert into some of the planet’s most powerful film critics as well as
celebrities in their own right. After Siskel died in 1999 at age 53 from
a brain tumor, Ebert selected his SunTimes colleague Richard Roeper
as his new cohost and the program was rechristened “At the Movies
with Ebert & Roeper.”
Ebert reportedly watched 500 movies a year and penned reviews of at
least half that many on an annual basis. (In 2012, when asked to
name the 10 greatest films of all time, his list included such titles as
“Apocalypse Now,” “Citizen Kane,” “Raging Bull” and “Vertigo.”) His
work was syndicated in hundreds of newspapers around the world,
and he was the author of more than 15 books, including the
acclaimed 2011 memoir “Life Itself.” Ebert had a brief foray into
movie making when he wrote the script for 1970’s “Beyond the Valley
of the Dolls.” Upon its release, the film was trashed by critics,
including Siskel.
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Diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002 and salivary gland cancer the
following year, Ebert lost the ability to speak, drink and eat in 2006
following surgery for jaw cancer. However, he continued to work,
writing for the SunTimes, blogging for his own website and
developing a large following on Facebook and Twitter. On April 2,
2013, Ebert publicly announced he would be writing fewer reviews
due to a recurrence of cancer. He died two days later. The SunTimes
published his final movie review on April 6, for “To the Wonder.” Ebert
awarded it 3.5 out of 4 stars.
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