SMMPA earns Governor's Safety Award

Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) will be recognized for excellence in workplace safety and health during the Governor's Safety Awards ceremony on May 8th at the 85th annual Minnesota Safety & Health Conference at Mystic Lake Center. SMMPA is one of 294 employers to be honored through the awards program, coordinated by the Minnesota Safety Council.

"Every day in Minnesota, about 100 workers get injured or ill to the point that they can't go back to their job the next day," said Paul Aasen, president of the Minnesota Safety Council. "Congratulations to SMMPA for their hard work to make sure their employees are not part of this statistic."

"Working together, we have created a safety culture here at SMMPA, and this award shows our collective commitment to that culture," said Dave Geschwind, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of SMMPA. "I'm proud of our team for placing such a high value not only on their own safety, but that of their coworkers."

Since 1934, the annual Governor's Safety Awards program has honored Minnesota employers with exceptional safety performance. Applicants are judged on several years of injury data as it compares with their industry's national statistics, and on their progress in implementing a comprehensive safety program.

Winners are recognized at three levels:

• Meritorious Achievement (170 winners): Incidence rates that are better than the industry average for at least three years, and a score between 50 and 7 4 on a 100-point safety program evaluation scale.

• Outstanding Achievement (83 winners): Continuing improvement and/or a continuing outstanding record with incident rates that are 51 %-90% better than the industry average, and a score between 75 and 90 on the safety program evaluation scale.

• Award of Honor (41 winners): Incidence rates at least 91 % better than the industry average, and a score between 91 and 100 on the safety program evaluation scale.

SMMPA received a Meritorious Achievement Award for exemplary workplace safety efforts in 2018.

The Governor's Safety Awards recognition is part of the 85th annual Minnesota Safety & Health Conference, coordinated by the Minnesota Safety Council. The conference is the oldest and one of the largest gatherings of workplace safety and health professionals in the region. The Minnesota Safety Council, founded in 1928, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in Minnesota by preventing unintentional injuries.

SMMPA and its Members Partner With ENERGY STAR’s Flip Your Fridge Campaign

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Now’s the Time to Flip Your Fridge and Save!  Recycle that old energy wasting refrigerator and replace it with a new ENERGY STAR® certified model.  You’ll save energy and you can save even more with a utility rebate!

 

SMMPA member utilities offer rebates of $25 on the purchase of new ENERGY STAR Refrigerators, plus an additional rebate to pay for recycling your old working refrigerator.

 

Rebate forms are available by clicking here and selecting your utility.

 

Refrigerators that are 15 years or older use twice as much energy as a new ENERGY STAR certified refrigerator.  Replacing that old energy-wasting refrigerator with a new ENERGY STAR certified refrigerator could save you more than $300 in energy costs over the next five years.  Learn more and get guidance choosing the right refrigerator for your home here: www.energystar.gov/flipyourfridge.

 

Flip Your Fridge to ENERGY STAR, the simple choice for energy efficiency!

SMMPA Members Earn APPA Safety Award of Excellence

New Prague Utilities Commission, Owatonna Public Utilities, and the City of Saint Peter have earned the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2018. 

 

The utilities receiving this award have proven that safety is of the utmost importance in the operation of their companies.

 

Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records during 2018. The incidence rate, used to judge entries, is based on the number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker-hours during 2018, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

SMMPA Members Recognized by APPA for Reliable and Safe Service

The following five SMMPA member utilities earned the Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3)® designation from the American Public Power Association (APPA) for providing reliable and safe electric service:

  • Austin Utilities (Diamond Level)

  • New Prague Municipal Utilities (Gold Level)

  • Owatonna Public Utilities (Diamond Level)

  • Rochester Public Utilities (Diamond Level)

  • City of Saint Peter (Gold Level)

The RP3 designation, which lasts for three years, recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce development and system improvement.

 

Criteria include sound business practices and a utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity.

EDF Renewables Announces Commercial Operation of Stoneray Wind Project

EDF Renewables North America announced today that the 100 megawatt (MW) Stoneray Wind Project (Project) is fully operational.  Located in Pipestone and Murray counties in Southwestern Minnesota, the Project consists of 39 wind turbines manufactured by Siemens Gamesa.  The electricity generated by the project will be delivered to SMMPA beginning in 2020 under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

The expected electricity generated at full capacity is enough to meet the consumption of up to 47,000 average Minnesota homes.  This is equivalent to avoiding more than 300,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually which represents the greenhouse gas emissions from 64,000 passenger vehicles driven over the course of one year.

Vice President, Development-North Region, Kate O’Hair, commented, “We are grateful for the community and landowners who backed the development of this project for several years.  This level of long-standing support, along with the State’s favorable regulatory environment, excellent wind resource, and advantageous transmission expansion, is vital to bringing wind projects to operation.”

EDF Renewables will perform asset management services, balance-of-plant, and 24/7/365 remote monitoring and diagnostics from its San Diego-based Operations Control Center (OCC) during the equipment warranty period.  Following the warranty period, the contract will expand to include all asset management, and operations and maintenance services to ensure operational performance, equipment availability and reduce downtime.

Stoneray marks EDF Renewables’ twelfth wind project developed in the state and brings the total of projects to over 1.6 GW demonstrating the company’s commitment to investment, involvement and employment in Minnesota.