National studies consistently rank the lineworker position to be among the most dangerous jobs in the country, and for good

reason. Laboring high in the air wearing heavy equipment and working with high voltage creates the perfect storm of a dangerous and unforgiving profession. These brave men and women are committed to safety, as well as the challenges of the job.

Minnesota’s lineworkers are responsible for keeping power flowing day and night, regardless of national holidays, vacations, birthdays, weddings or other important family milestones. Beyond the years of specialized training and apprenticeships, it takes internal fortitude and a mission-oriented outlook. In fact, this service-oriented mentality is a hallmark characteristic of the position. The job requires the ability to set aside personal priorities to better serve the local community.

FAMILY SUPPORT SYSTEMTo perform their jobs successfully, lineworkers depend on their years of training, experience and each other to get the job done safely.

Equally important is their reliance on a strong support system at home. The family must understand and support their loved one’s commitment to the greater community during severe storms and power outages. This means in times of prolonged outages, the family may have minimal communication for several days. Without strong family support and understanding, this challenging job would be all the more difficult.

COMMUNITY COMMITMENTIn Minnesota and across the country, electric co-op lineworkers’ mission-focused mentality of helping others often extends beyond their commitment to their work at the co-op. Often familiar figures in the community, they can be found coaching youth sports teams, volunteering for the fire department and local charities, and serving on local advisory boards.

THANK YOUApril 8 is Lineworker Appreciation Day. I encourage you to take a moment and acknowledge the sacrifices they make to ensure a reliable supply of electricity to our homes, as well as the many contributions they make to our local community.

April 2019

REPORT

THE COMMITMENT OF AN ELECTRIC LINEWORKER LINEWORKER APPRECIATION DAY IS APRIL 8by Darrick Moe, MREA President and CEO

Grassroots Day at Minnesota’s Capitol on April 3 included 47 attendees from Minnesota’s electric co-ops. We appreciate

everyone’s willingness to set the day aside to meet with representatives because you really make a difference. Since the start of session, 113 energy industry bills have been introduced. Needless to say, it’s been extremely busy. We are now focusing our time on Senate and House omnibus energy bills (SF1692) and (HF 1833) along with some stand alone bills noted below.

CARBON FREE/CLEAN ENERGY FIRSTThe House omnibus energy bill (HF 1833) calls for a 100% carbon-free standard by 2050 with a provision requiring preference for new generation to come from clean energy first. There is no language in the Senate omnibus energy bill related to either a carbon-free standard or a clean energy first requirement. The “Clean Energy First Act” sponsored by Sen. Senjum (SF 1456) passed the Senate Energy Committee as a stand-alone bill and was referred to the Finance Committee. Provisions of this bill could be part of end-of-session negotiations.

ENERGY USAGE DATA BILLHF 1683, which mandates electric utilities to provide aggregated customer energy usage data to the public upon request, is also included in the House omnibus energy bill. Our concerns include customer privacy, safety and cybersecurity risks. The bill was never heard in the Senate Energy Committee and is not part of the Senate omnibus energy bill.

UTILITY DIVERSITY REPORTING BILLA bill that initially required utilities to report diversity data (HF 2218/SF 1489) was amended before being adopted in the House omnibus energy bill. The amended language calls for the creation of a work group at the PUC. There is no language in the Senate omnibus bill, but the stand-alone bill passed with the same amended language establishing a work group, which could end up in a negotiated bill at the end of session. (continued on back page)

MID-SESSION: IN THE THICK OF ITby Joyce Peppin, Director of Government Affairs and General Counsel

Each year, Minnesota electric co-ops sponsor one or more student leaders to join over 1,900 other students from across

the country on the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. A representative from each state is chosen by their peers to serve on the NRECA Youth Leadership Council (YLC). The articulate and humorous William Dunn from Elgin, Minn. was selected as the YLC delegate representing Minnesota.

William dreams of becoming a computer programmer and developing computer games. In addition to participating in the youth tour, William, along with 43 fortunate YLC representatives attended a week-long leadership training conference in July. Beth Knudson, NRECA’s youth programs and training manager shared, “We had a Will from Wisconsin so everyone called the two of them 'Willesota' and 'Willsconsin'."

Beth also explained that the YLC students were challenged to visit with their sponsoring cooperative after their Youth Leadership Training week. Beth said, “The goal of the meeting between the YLC student and the co-op was to demonstrate that the students

are more than just recipients of free trips, but rather to position themselves as emerging leaders in their communities.”

William was sponsored to attend youth tour by People's Energy in Rochester, Minn. People's Energy president and CEO Elaine Garry said, “The youth tour is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young adults to visit with their legislators, learn about the cooperative business model and meet new people in a way that enhances their leadership development. For most, it’s the first time they travel by themselves which gives them the opportunity to build confidence in themselves and create a network of new friends from across the country. I’m always impressed by the students who apply to go on the trip.”

Since Dunn's leadership training experience, he had the opportunity to present at MREA’s annual meeting and served at the NRECA annual meeting as a “red shirt.” Regarding the amazing opportunities, Dunn said, "The sense of community and drive stirred up between the delegates as a group is extremely inspiring, and makes me feel blessed to be chosen. We plan to stay in contact, and remain active forces in the continual drive forward." For more information about the youth tour program, contact Gayle Karol, MREA marketing and event coordinator.

DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS

Karen Miller joined the MREA staff on March 25 as an event and membership coordinator. She will serve Minnesota’s

electric cooperatives in coordinating MREA’s events, assist members with questions and event registrations, and provide administrative support to MREA.

Karen comes with a wealth of event coordination and executive assistant experience. She assisted executives at KPMG, supporting state & local tax practice partners. Karen supported leadership alongside marketing & sales teams for ten years with Polaris Off Road Vehicles. In her most recent

role, she supported executives in Allina Health’s Information Systems department.

In her spare time, she enjoys motorcycling, gardening, cooking, quilting, vacationing in Alaska and being a grandmother to four energetic grandkids. Karen says, “I’m excited to join the MREA team and am here to help in any way I can.”

MREA WELCOMES KAREN MILLER

William Dunn, Minnesota's youth leadership council representative, presenting at MREA's annual meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota

William Dunn, at the NRECA annual meeting in Orlando, Florida

Karen Miller

The concept of “wellness” in the workplace is not new; organizations have been providing wellness for decades in various forms,

such as biometric screenings, lunch and learn sessions and even on-site fitness centers. Yet for the most part, wellness has resided in a silo: separate from discussions on organizational success and offered as a “nice to have” employee benefit. In general, wellness has been largely disconnected from the greater discussion on overall organizational health. Recently, however, more organizations are shifting the way they think about wellness, acknowledging that employee well-being has a direct impact on organizational performance, and ultimately, the bottom line.

One of the biggest health issues facing workplaces today is stress. Stress alone costs U.S. businesses roughly $300 billion a year through accidents, absenteeism, turnover, diminished productivity, direct medical, legal and insurance costs, and worker’s compensa-tion. Stress, along with unhealthy lifestyle choices, can be directly or indirectly linked to nearly every chronic disease including obesity, diabetes and heart disease, which account for nearly 80% of all healthcare costs, yet nearly all of those chronic diseases are considered preventable via a healthy lifestyle.

The good news is that healthy lifestyles can be supported in the workplace to help employees not only reduce the risk of these costly diseases, but more importantly, to thrive. When employees thrive, business succeeds. That’s where a good wellness program comes in.

In our role as an independent consultant to Minnesota’s electric cooperatives on employee benefits, we have found many of the MREA member co-ops are moving in the right direction. To share some ideas and promote further progress as a co-op community, we highlight MREA member Itasca-Mantrap (IM). They have been elevating the employee experience for many years by coordinating efforts throughout the organization like:

• Wellness education with healthy snacks available through a “Statewide Health Improvement Program” grant

• Collaborative walking challenges between local businesses • Annual biometric screenings and flu shots• Standing desks • A financial provider who helps employees • Employee and leadership development, including tuition

reimbursement along with MREA and NRECA training • Transparent communication highlighting personal and

professional achievement and safety stats• In 2017, IM held a “Walk to New Orleans” challenge

Community involvement by IM employees is high, which is an outgrowth of a healthy organization. Some programs include: Kinship, Rotary, Adopt-a-Highway, Food Angels, Community Christmas Tree Lighting, MS Walk and the Suicide Prevention 5K.

Mike Boettcher, Human Resources Coordinator at IM says, “None of this would be accomplished without the ongoing support of senior leadership, along with the dedicated efforts of many groups throughout the organization, including the IM wellness team.”

According to a semi-annual survey conducted by IM, this intentional focus on the overall well-being of employees has resulted in reduced absenteeism and better health screenings. But perhaps most importantly, it results in employees feeling that IM cares about them, which, according to Mike, is priceless.

WELLNESS AS A STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE

“Walk to New Orleans” teams were challenged to walk the distance to New Orleans. Winners left to right, Nikki Torkelson, Esther Simon,

Beth Eischens and Aaron Tompkins.

Contributed by Teri Erhardt, well-being advisor, NFP and Andy Weitnauer, benefits advisor, NFP

Keeping you well covered with insurance and benefits solutions that work.Let’s talk about your needs. Contact Andy Weitnauer, MBA, CFA, GBA.763.450.1817 | andy.weitnauer@nfp.com

NFP.com visit: waterfurnace.com

call: (260) 442-5374

Considering using geothermal to heat and cool your home?

TRUST YOUR COMFORT WITH AN EXPERT.

Worklete, a technology platform for preventing musculoskeletal disorders, announced that electric cooperatives in Minnesota

have reduced recordable workplace injuries using the Worklete platform. MREA began offering the Worklete program in 2017, and approximately 25% of Minnesota’s electric co-ops are using Worklete, including Great River Energy and East River Electric Power Co-op.

Musculoskeletal disorders are soft-tissue injuries that typically result from overexertion or repetitive motion, including sprains, strains, as well as more severe injuries to the shoulders, knees and back. These injuries account for 64% of workers’ comp claims in the U.S. and are typically the costliest for businesses because they take a long time to heal and frequently recur. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that musculoskeletal disorders of the back, shoulder and arm make up 59% of work-related injuries involving days away from work.

Worklete uses software to deliver custom interactive content to hundreds of lineworkers, mechanics and meter readers that work in distributed locations throughout the state. Courses are delivered in five-minute micro-learning modules that can be accessed via a desktop, tablet or mobile device, supplemented with in-person practice that is led by co-workers who have been certified in Worklete techniques.

“There’s an infinite number of tasks and situations these workers encounter every day. Simply engineering the environment around them is never going to be enough,” said Ben Kanner, co-founder and CEO of Worklete. “If you focus on training the human to use their body correctly, then it doesn’t matter how many new situations or environments they encounter because they can deal with them effectively and avoid getting injured.”

Worklete has partnered with some of the top minds in athletics and behavioral psychology to create a program that teaches workers

how to conduct everyday tasks without getting hurt. The program is designed to create habits around proper human movement so that workers automatically default into the strongest, most stable positions. The goal is to train them in the same way that a professional athlete trains, so that when it’s time to perform they will automatically use their bodies correctly without having to think about it. These principles of human movement are then applied to common tasks that workers face every day, including how to get in and out of trucks, climb utility poles, work overhead with their arms, work in buckets, and conduct other tasks. Worklete can be accessed via any internet enabled device, with mobile being particularly useful for workers in remote locations.

Lidia Dilley-Jacobson, MREA director of safety and loss control noted, “One of our linemen said that he wouldn’t have needed two of his previous surgeries if he had known about Worklete earlier in his career.” Jacobson also said, “We heard another worker say, ‘I’m using Worklete at home when I shoot my bow, and I’m shooting better now.’ When they see how it applies to their overall quality of life, it clicks and adoption starts to take off.”

Lyon-Lincoln Electric Cooperative’s (LLEC) 2017 KRTA results are something for one of Minnesota’s smallest electric co-ops to

be proud of!

Sarah Bullock, CFC regional vice president for southern Minnesota and Wisconsin presented Lyon Lincoln’s KRTA results at their November board meeting noting the results were compared against 813 U.S. co-ops, 43 Minnesota co-ops, 57 co-ops with membership of 2,500 to 4,000 and 20 co-ops that receive their power from East River Electric Cooperative. Among the ratios presented, LLEC paid out 51.53% of all capital credits allocated to the membership. This ranks them 22 out of 709 cooperatives nationwide, fifth in their consumer size, second in their power supplier group (East River) and sixth in cooperatives with the same plant growth.

LLEC CEO Tim O’Leary said, “The cooperative’s board of directors have made a commitment to retiring capital credits over the years. The cooperative’s capital credit policy uses a hybrid approach that has retirement being made to long term members and members that have been on the system for five years .The retirement is a great reminder to our membership that they are served by a cooperative and it allows us to show the value of cooperative membership to long term and newer member-owners. We are fortunate that East River and Basin have made a commitment to retire capital credits to their members over the years as well. We share this information at our district meetings and in our newsletter, so it’s a message members are used to hearing.”

LYON-LINCOLN ELECTRIC RANKED FIRST IN MINNESOTA ONCAPITAL CREDITS RETURNED

COOPERATIVES REDUCE WORKPLACE INJURIES WITH WORKLETE Electric co-ops use micro-learning platform to prevent common musculoskeletal disorders

MID-SESSION: IN THE THICK OF IT (CONTINUED) SOLAR FOR SCHOOLSBoth the House and Senate omnibus energy bills call for a solar-on-schools program to be established in the special revenue account of the general fund. While the House appropriates $600,000 in the fund, the Senate appropriates no money for the program. Schools in cooperative and municipal territory will be limited to 40KW in size, or 120% of load, whichever is smaller. It is likely the program will be established, although it is not clear if there will be any funding source this session.

CIP REFORMOur CIP reform bill (SF 1915/HF1839) passed the Senate Energy Committee as a stand-alone bill and is sitting in the Senate Finance Committee where it can be pulled up at any time. It is also included in the Senate omnibus energy bill (SF 1692). The bill would reduce consumers’ total energy bills, provide better tools for reducing carbon and encourage innovation with tomorrow’s technologies.

The House energy omnibus bill (HF 1833) does not contain our CIP reform language. Rather, it contains CIP language developed by the Department of Commerce (DOC). Unfortunately, the provisions are a step backward from the status quo and we are opposed to them.

Both the House and Senate omnibus energy bills will likely pass their respective chambers largely intact, and the CIP language will need to be negotiated. Please refer to the April 5 legislative bulletin for more detail.

COMMUNITY & TECHNICAL COLLEGE

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powerlinetechnology

SUMMERsemester

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MN PUBLIC POWER FISHING TOURNAMENTIS JUNE 1, 2019Join us for the 2019 Minnesota Public Power Fishing Tournament on beautiful Rush Lake in Ottertail, Minnesota. This fun event, which was first held in 2001, is a fundraiser to support the next generation of lineworkers and is a great way to network with others working in public power from the municipal world and the co-op world. Last year's tournament raised $1,600, which was donated to the four lineworker training programs in Minnesota: Baudette, Jackson, Rosemount and Wadena.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS May 31 - Fish Fry June 1 - Tournament & Awards Dinner Cash prizes to be awarded to the top three teams and for the largest fish. This is a walleye fishing tournament. For official rules and full details click here. links below. Click here for tournament brochure. LOCATION Bladow Beach Resort & Campground, 36052 Rush Lake Loop, Ottertail, MN. (Same location as before, just a new name.) Lodging is limited and cannot be guaranteed. Contact the resort directly to make a reservation at 218-346-6007 or 218-770-5994 (cell).

If you have any questions about the tournament please contact Tournament Coordinators: Dave Lundberg at 218-590-8049 / dlundberg@mmua.org or Todd McMichael at 701-373-5826 / toddm@primusmarketing.com. Deadline to register is May 10 or when registration is full. Maximum of 50 (2-person teams). Registration space is assigned on a "first-come" basis and cannot be guaranteed.