On April 18, 2019 South Texas Electric Cooperative recognized the contributions made by its linemen by hosting a luncheon in their honor in observation of National Lineman Appreciation Day. STEC’s linemen provide a vital service in keeping electricity flowing to thousands of homes and businesses. Whether performing routine maintenance, responding to outages, or repairing lines downed by natural disaster, STEC’s dedicated linemen are always on the job.

 

 

STEC NEWS

LETTER

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

» Lineman Appreciation Day

» Manager’s Message

» Board of Director News

» Human Resources

» Accounting & Finance

» Corporate & Member Services

» Power Delivery

» Power Supply

» Committee Meetings Employee Standing Committee

Safety Committee

» Upcoming Meetings

  Mission Statement

South Texas Electric Cooperative’s mission is to provide the infrastructure and services

to deliver reliable and economical electric power to a diversified membership.

April 2019 Quarterly Newsletter

Power Delivery Division

 

 

 MANAGER’S MESSAGE

 

 

By Mike Kezar

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring. Bernard Williams  

I love this time of the year.

In addition to the mild weather (nothing like we will see in July and August), I love to see the new beginnings in nature – flowers, trees, grass, and new birth within the animal kingdom – are all reasons to find joy each Spring.

Spring also brings changes in our personal lives. The school year will be ending soon. Track & field, baseball, softball, Little League, proms, awards banquets, graduation events, and planning for summer camps, jobs, and family vacations are all a part of the activities of Spring.

Spring also provides an opportunity for each of us to conduct a self-evaluation and commit to new beginnings in our personal and work lives. Maybe it is a personal relationship that needs attention. Maybe it is a faith relationship that needs a rededication. Or maybe it is our approach and attitude toward our work that needs to be refreshed and renewed. Whatever it is, Spring reminds us that we can always begin again, with a new and fresh approach.

Spring is definitely a busy time for STEC. The Annual Meeting will take place on May 23rd and preparations are already well underway for that annual event. One aspect of the Annual Meeting planning is the preparation for a tour of the new G3 office building. I am excited about the opportunity to show off the facility, and very much appreciate the efforts of John Packard and Tony Gigli as they coordinated the renovation that converted the old power plant into a very attractive and functional office and meeting facility.

Spring also brings storms to our service territory. We were privileged to celebrate Lineman Appreciation Day on April 18th, however the absence of several of our lineman who were making repairs to storm damaged facilities, reinforced the fact that our line crews, patrolmen, and commu-nications, substation, metering, and relay technicians are always on call in response to outages or damaged facilities. I want to express my sincere appreciation to each employee that answers the call when emergencies arise or outages occur. Your efforts are truly what “keeps the lights on”.

Spring signals a time to focus on completing major maintenance of our generation and transmission facilities in anticipation of a summer when power generation and transmission availability will be a critical need. All indications are that this summer we will have very tight reserve margins in Texas and the likelihood of emergency alerts, calls for voluntary conservation, and even rolling outages, is very real. Ensuring that we go into the summer in as good a shape as reasonably possible is vitally important and I appreciate all of the efforts to ensure that STEC’s resources are ready to go.

Finally, I am writing this message the week following the Easter holidays. The events that occurred on Good Friday and Easter Sunday approximately 2,000 years ago serve as a vivid reminder of the sacrifice and the power of new life that was modeled for each of us. My sincere desire is that each of you experience peace and joy during this season of hope.

 

SOUTH TEXAS ELECTRIC BOARD OF DIRECTOR NEWS:

 

Gary Raybon

Larry Huesser

Barbara S. Miller

Paul Brysch, Jr.

Bobby Bauch

Brad Bierstedt

James Coleman

Bruce Elliott

Tommy Ermis

John Herrera

Ron Hughes

Leroy Kaspar

Trace McCuan

Mark Rollans

Blaine Warzecha

Donald Wehmeyer

BOARD OF

DIRECTORS

The Board of Directors of South Texas Electric Cooperative, Inc. are rural electric leaders who have either been elected to the Board of their distribution system or are managers of their distribution system. The Board consists of two representatives from each of its eight Member Cooperatives.

President

Vice President

Secretary/ Treasurer

Asst. Secretary/ Treasurer

Asst. Secretary/ Treasurer

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

 

 

Each Division’s 2018 Goal  Status  and 2019 Goals were presented  to the Board. 

Frances Nitschmann reported on the S&P Credit Ra ng published on December 20, 2018. 

The Board approved the final 2018‐2019 Employee Incen ve Plan. 

The  Small  Industrial  Pass‐Through  Service  (SIPS)  tariff  schedule was approved by the Board. 

Crea on of South Texas Solar Power, LLC as a subsidiary of STEC was approved by the Board. 

The 2018 Annual Outage report was presented by Cory Allen. 

Frances Nitschmann gave the 2018 Professional Services report. 

The  STEC  Member  Rate  Components  and  Cost  Driver  Evalua on     update was presented by Clif Lange and Frances Nitschmann.   

Carl Stover and Frank Beling with Guernsey provided the Board with further evalua ons of five rate issues. 

The  Board  formally  accepted  the  2018  Financial  Audit  prepared  by Bumgardner, Morrison, and Company. 

The 2018 Capital Credit Alloca ons were approved by the Board and Capital Credit Cer ficates were provided to each Member Manager. 

Don  Gray  presented  property  and  liability  insurance                 recommenda ons  for  the  policy  period  of  July  1,  2019‐2020.    The Board approved his recommenda ons. 

The  Board  approved  the  Emergency  Response  Service  (ERS)  tariff schedule charges. 

The  Organiza onal  Chart  was  changed  to  include  one  addi onal     Custodian for the Sam Rayburn facility. 

John  Packard  reported  on  the  Summer  2019  Preliminary  SARA        Review. 

 

 

Just Breathe Breathing is one of those involuntary things we often take for granted. But have you ever noticed that when you are stressed and anxious your breathing becomes fast and shallow? By paying attention to our breath, we are able to calm our bodies and bring ourselves back to the present moment. Try this breathing exercise the next time you feel stressed: Inhale through your nose for a count of 4, hold it for a count of 7, and exhale through your mouth for a count of 8.

One Thing At A Time Rather than multitasking, try unitasking, or focusing on just one thing at a time. If you are eating don’t do it at your desk while answering e-mails. Focus on the taste and sensation of the food and give yourself the time to enjoy it. If you are working on your computer, focus on one project at a time, and turn off your notifications. If you are having a conversation, put your phone away.

 Mindfulness and the Workplace

In today’s fast paced world it’s easy to become unfocused, distracted, and generally overwhelmed. Multi-tasking is the new norm and if you aren’t doing a least a dozen things at once then are you really being productive? The problem with this is that it leads to frustration, burnout, and even lower productivity as we spend our days trying to do everything, but nothing well. That’s where mindfulness comes into play. Before you complain that you don’t have time to meditate at work, you should know that meditation is not what we are referring to here—although it can be a part of your toolbox. Mindfulness is simply about being present in any given moment, focusing on the task or feelings at hand rather than worrying over the past or future. Closing all the open tabs in our brains except for the one that is relevant right here, right now. Easier said than done, we know-- but there are a few tips and techniques that can help. Like anything worth doing, mindfulness takes practice, but once you master it you can reap the many benefits, which include reduced stress and anxiety, and an ability to retain information. Sound good? Let’s get started!

 Find Your Happy Place

What brings you joy? Peace? Happiness? Are you doing those things every day? Maybe it’s going for a long run. Maybe it’s curling up in the quiet with a good book, or binging your favorite Netflix series. Whatever it is, make time for it—often, and live in that moment without worrying about what you will do next.

Practice Gratitude How often do you stop and look around at your life and all the wonderful things in it? Practicing gratitude has been shown to decrease stress and cultivate a stronger sense of well-being. Try starting each day by acknowledging three things you are grateful for—you can even write them down. When you start to focus on the good, you begin to see the good more frequently.

Don’t Take Everything Personally

Have you ever had a conversa-tion with a coworker and then spent the next several hours rehashing it in your brain until you’re so anxious you can’t focus on anything else? Overthinking is one of the biggest enemies of mindfulness. Rather than try to read between the lines, listen to what it said and accept it at face value. Remember that people speak from their perspective and you listen from yours. If you are still uncertain, ask for clarity—don’t make your own assumptions.

Article Authored by Shannon Hernandez with Cardigan Communications Group.

HUMAN RESOURCES

 

 

The Competitive Retail (CR) Department is processing return mail generated from capital credit checks in reference to inactive accounts. NEC Coop Energy mailed the 2018 Retirement of Capital Credit checks in March.

How do capital credits work? Allocations: Each year, members are “allocated” a portion of the previous year’s margin based on the amount of electricity the member purchased from NEC Co-op Energy in relation to the total amount of electricity purchased by all members during the year. The amount is placed into a “holding account” for a number of years and used by NEC Co-op Energy to fund capital needs related to service. The “allocation” becomes the member’s equity in the cooperative and is maintained in a separate account assigned. Retirement: “Retirement” is what a member will get in cash at a later date. NEC Co-op Energy uses the amount “allocated” to a member for a time, but then returns the amount to members in the form of “retirements.” These payments are made in the form of checks for inactive accounts or bill credits for active accounts.

COMPETITVE RETAIL

After eighteen years with STEC, Frances Nitschmann, CFO, will be retiring on May 24, 2019.

Frances began her career as a Certified Public Accountant with Bumgardner Morrison & Company, LLC and was also the Assistant Finance Director at the City of Victoria before joining STEC in 2001.

Frances started her career at STEC as the Regulatory Accountant. She was promoted to the Manager of Accounting & Finance and currently holds the position of Chief Financial Officer since 2009. Over the years, Frances has been a part of the buyout of RUS and instrumental in transi-tioning STEC’s long term financing to private placement bond offerings and long-term financing facilities in addition to obtaining revolving lines of credit needed for short-term financing. She was also involved with the process of obtaining ratings from the national rating agencies Fitch and Standard and Poor’s, the latest update resulting in an upgrade to an A rating. Frances has been active in guiding the finance portion of the building of three new genera-tion facilities and new transmission assets. Throughout her tenure at STEC, Frances has been a consum-mate professional demonstrating her integrity, intelligence and unsurpassed work ethic as she has led the Accounting and Finance division through countless projects and changes.

Frances and her husband plan on traveling and spending quality time with their daughters and their fami-lies. While we are happy for Frances on her well-deserved retire-ment, she will be missed immensely.

ACCOUNTING & FINANCE

 

The Safety Department conducted annual Fire Prevention and Impairment training in accordance with OSHA 29 CFR 1910.39. The purpose of fire prevention and impairment is to eliminate causes of fire, prevent loss of life, and prevent property loss.

Training topics included: fire prevention rules, fire protection rules, classes of fires and extinguishing agents, impairment procedure, and inspections and maintenance.

CORPORATE & MEMBER SERVICES

 

 

 

Importance and Benefits of Effective Safety Leadership

The Safety Department discussed the importance and benefits of safety leadership during the March meeting attended by supervisors. STEC’s safety culture is driven by the leadership team that creates, cultivates and sustains STEC’s journey of making sure employees go home safely at the end of each day.

Who are Safety Leaders Foreman Experienced Workers Trainees / Apprentices

Supervisors Management ANYONE….EVERYONE  

Benefits of Effective Safety Leadership Increased morale More productive Increased teamwork Positive safety culture

Reduce hazards Safe work practices 

Fewer injuries 

Better business reputation  

“Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands.” - Mike Kezar

 

Managing Air Quality

The Environmental Department provided annual air emissions information for Sam Rayburn, Pearsall, and Red Gate Power Plants to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The Air Emissions Reporting Requirements requires state and local agencies to collect and submit emissions information to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Governments use emission inventories to help determine significant sources of air pollutants and to target regulatory actions. Emissions inventories are an essential input to mathematical models that estimate air quality.

The Environmental Department also submitted annual totals for Greenhouse Gas Emissions to the EPA for all three power plants. Greenhouse gases are types that trap heat in the atmosphere and include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. For each greenhouse gas a global warming potential has been calculated to reflect how long it remains in the atmosphere and how strongly it absorbs energy. This information can be retrieved on EPA’s website along with inventories of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks from 1990-2016.

 

 

U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2016

The Information Technology (IT) Department plays an important role at STEC to ensure the environment is protected from Cyberattacks. STEC utilizes a service called the Secure Email Gateway as the first line of defense for identifying and quarantining Malicious emails. Its important to know the difference of cyberattacks and how to combat them. Cyberattacks are caused by the following:

Phishing Phishing is the attempt to gain financial or confidential information in the form of an email. Phishing emails try to get users to click on a link, open a document, install software/malware, or enter a username and password into a website that appears to be legitimate in order to gain access and steal sensitive information.

Vishing Vishing is a type of phishing using a phone system. The phone call appears to be coming from a legiti-mate source where caller ID spoofing has been used to disguise the real source of the call. Example of Vishing: The caller pretends that they are from a government tax department or a tax collection ser-vice and that you have unpaid taxes. They pressure you to pay your taxes with a credit card over the phone.

Smishing Smishing is an attempt to trick you into giving private information through text or SMS message. Examples of Smishing:

   

 

 

East Rio Hondo Substation

The East Rio Hondo project is a 138kV Substation Bus upgrade to connect the new Palmas - East Rio Hondo transmission line. The transformer will be energized in April and transferred during the AEP North Rio Hondo - East Rio Hondo 138kV line clearance.

 

  Metering and communications work on the Pearsall Solar resource has been completed. Equipment has been mounted and is currently being checked for proper operation. The final metering checks will occur once the solar farm comes online. Activities included terminating the underground service leads between the riser poles and the solar farm step-up transformers.

POWER DELIVERY Central Avenue Substation

The contractor has completed construction of Bus #1 to upgrade the breakers, bus and switches. Transformer #1 will be energized and load will return back to the transformer by May.

   

A concrete communications pole was installed at Gillrina Substation to establish the microwave radio link to Midstream Substation. Shawn Diebel, Communications Tech-nician, aligns the microwave antenna with the distant end of the path. The Construction crews performed fence maintenance at the El Campo Substation.

The 2019 Black Start training being held at the new ERCOT training facility in Taylor is underway. This year’s annual training covers applied system restoration principals, incorporating both lecture and simulation components relevant to ERCOT’s system restoration strategy. Current entity-specific Black Start plans will be executed during the simulation exercises allowing participants to perform their expected roles and functions.

Black Start Fundamentals, completed prior to attending this on-site training, is a mandatory computer-based training (CBT) course, designed to bridge the gap between generic restoration theory and ERCOT-specific requirements. Brad Graham, Sys-tem Operator, provided feedback to the group responsible for developing the CBT.

This training provides Continuing Education Hours (CEHs) credited toward maintenance of our NERC System Operator Credentials.

 

System Operations participated in several meetings and/or discussions last quarter to include:

Spring Outage Coordinator meeting Black Start Working Group (BSWG) Operations Working Group (OWG) Operator Training Working Group

(OTWG)

Derek Merta, Distribution Engineer, hosted the Milsoft LightTable training on March 20 - 21, 2019. LightTable enables accurate protective device coordination within the distribution network. Representatives from MEC, MVEC, NEC, SPEC, STEC were in attendance.

  With all the transmission and substation projects underway, along with required maintenance and testing, Allen Moeller has been very busy submitting model updates to ERCOT via the Network Model Management System (NMMS) to add new or temporary equipment and retire/remove old or temporary equipment. All System Operators manage the ERCOT Outage Scheduler to reflect the current system configuration and are tasked with the switching operations necessary to keep the workforce moving forward with their daily activities.

Melissa Reynolds, Meter Data Processor, was instrumental in completing the Annual Outage Report that was presented to the Board of Directors at the February Board meeting.

 

 

POWER SUPPLY The G3 Building Renovation project construction at the Sam Rayburn facility is now complete and personnel have moved into the new offices.

 The Pearsall High School Auto-Tech class toured the plant facility. The

students were very impressed with the

engines and felt they gained a wealth of

knowledge from the 3 hour visit. This is the

second year that the class has requested a tour of

the plant.

The Solar Project installation continues moving forward with

assistance from several departments.

The initial power back-feed occurred

during the first week of April. All the

help and teamwork is greatly appreciated.

The Solar Project installation has continued at the Red Gate Power Plant. The project is nearing the beginning of commissioning tests.

The end of the first quarter marks the beginning of an annual training for the QSE Operators. The STEC QSE Operators along with the Power Plant Operators and System Operators attend required annual Black Start training. This annual training covers theoretical, practical and simulated scenarios of an ERCOT system restoration following a blackout event. ERCOT has invested many resources to develop a simulator to provide operators within ERCOT the ability to gain “hands-on” or “practical” training for readiness during an ERCOT restoration event. The simulation training includes communication practices and interactive software that mimics generator and transmission operations. In addition, the training provides the opportunity to put a face with a name, both among STEC personnel and between STEC and other entities in attendance, for positions that are almost completely accomplished over the phone. This year the training will be held at the newly-completed training center at the ERCOT Taylor Operations Center.

 

 

 

 

  March and April generally marks a period of low demand across ERCOT which is an opportunity for generation resources to perform maintenance for readiness of the upcoming summer season of peak demands. This was the case in the past, however in the last few years as renewable generation like wind and solar have increased and thermal generation supply has decreased, an elevated level of volatility has appeared in these once often mild days of old. STEC QSE deals with volatile changes in pricing as increased reliance on renewables leaves ERCOT with less thermal generation to fill the gaps of demand, meaning prices tend to swing between very cheap wind generation and the more expensive generation available while the normal operating range of units is offline for the maintenance. STEC QSE does hedge this volatility through procurement of energy, as well as leveraging our own resources, particularly the Pearsall and Red Gate resources which are well suited for real-time price spikes that are infrequent and indeterminable at times. It’s just another example of the ever-changing dynamics of the ERCOT market.

EMPLOYEE STANDING COMMITTEE

 

 

Do you know who your ESCrepresentative is? Are youexpressingyourquestionsandcomments?TheESCisheretoshare your concerns duringthe monthly meeting. Thiscreates a great avenue ofcommunication as theanswers to the questions areprovided to your representa-tive. The representative thenshares the information fromthe meeting back to theirrespective department. Oddsare, you probably aren’t theonly individualwith thesamequestion.

Employees from the Pearsall facility volunteered their time on March 6th building a wheel-chair ramp for disabled or elder-ly people who can’t afford to purchase one. The ramp gives the individual the freedom to leave their home. Pictured are Bo Alvarez, Mr. Vasquez, Ramon Perez, Jose Ramirez and Christopher Guerrero.

 

We want to share photos of you volunteering with your chosen qualifying organization. Therefore, when you volunteer, please take photos and email to Diana Sanchez (diana@stec.org). The photos are displayed at the Sam Rayburn facility and on the STEC website for the members to view.

STEC’s 24th Annual Golf Tournament held on Saturday, April 13, 2019 at The Club at Colony Creek was a success. STEC introduced a new format for this year’s tournament - 4 person scramble, flighted with gross and net payouts. The staff at The Club at Colony Creek were professional and courteous. The club provided wonderful food and golf services to the players. We would like to thank everyone that helped make this year’s golf tournament such a success.

2019 STEC Golf Tournament Results

Flight A 1st place - Net A. Meyer K. Eakes L. Braun G. Low

2nd place - Gross B. Warzecha J. Gray Z. Ybarra R. Snider

Flight A 1st place - Gross P. Blevins Z. Blevins R. Pucciarello H. Hartman

2nd place - Net R. Torres D. Perez L. Perez R. McLeroy

Flight B 1st place - Gross A. Spears R. Leuschner J. Paul D. Salais

Flight B 1st place - Net W. Buchhorn A. Parsons T. Diehl J. Buchhorn

2nd place - Gross J. Rothe R. Morkovsky D. Snoga J. Cain

2nd place - Net L. Martinez K. Beahm J. Longoria M. Lewis

Sam Rayburn and Donna/Red Gate facilities put together annual Easter Egg Hunts at each location. Around 35 children and their families gathered at the Nursery Pavilion for this year’s Sam Rayburn event. A huge thanks to everyone at each of these facilities that helped make the Easter Egg Hunts such a success and giving the employees’ children/grandchildren the opportunity to join in celebrating the Easter holiday.

As of March 31, 2019 STEC has donated $30,800 to qualifying

organizations in the areas that we serve through STEC’s Charitable Giving

and Corporate Support Program. In addition, STEC employees used 9.28

days (74.25 hours) of paid release time giving back to our communities.

The ESC continues to encourage employees to find qualifying

organizations in the communities that we serve where you can give back

by using your paid release time.

Remember all employees have 24 hours of paid release time to use for 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

SAFETY COMMITTEE

 

STECemployeesareencouragedtodiscussanysafetyconcernsorsuggestionswithanySafetyCommitteeMember,andthememberswillupdatetheirdepartmentsinatimelymannerofwhattheSafetyCommitteediscussedinthepastmeetings.AllSTECemployeescanalsousethesuggestionboxesaroundeachfacilityandemailconcernsandsuggestionstosafetycommittee@stec.org.

The Safety Committee plays an active role in evaluating and enhancing procedures/policies regarding the STEC Safety Manual. The Job Briefing program was introduced to employees in March by the Safety Department with input from the Safety Committee. The Job Briefing is to establish an employee participatory process of identifying, eliminating, or controlling recognized hazards before starting a job/task as a means of creating a safer and healthier work environment.

Safety  leader  is  defined  as  a  person who  has  the courage to demonstrate that he/she values safety by  working  and  communica ng  with  team       members to iden fy and limit hazardous situa ons  even  in  the  presence  of  other  job  pressures  such as scheduling and costs. 

 

CORE VALUES

Safety

Integrity

Teamwork

Communication

(Supervisors + Invites) 

 

Employee Standing Committee May 2, 2019

Safety Committee May 2, 2019

Safety Meeting (Administration & Power Plant) May 7, 2019

Safety Meeting (Red Gate Facility) May 8, 2019

Safety Meeting (Donna Facility) May 8, 2019

Safety Meeting (Pearsall Facility) May 9, 2019

Safety Meeting (Transmission & Tech Services) May 13, 2019

Concrete Shoes Never Leave the Path May 21, 2019

Committee/Board Meeting May 22, 2019

Annual Meeting (Spring Creek Place Event Center) May 23, 2019

May 2019

M eetingsUpcoming

South Texas Electric

Cooperative

2849 FM 447 P.O. Box 119

Nursery, Texas 77976 361.575.6491

www.stec.org

 

Employee Standing Committee June 6, 2019

Safety Committee June 13, 2019

Safety Meeting (Administration & Power Plant) June 11, 2019

Safety Meeting (Red Gate Facility) June 12, 2019

Safety Meeting (Donna Facility) June 12, 2019

Safety Meeting (Pearsall Facility) June 13, 2019

Safety Meeting (Transmission & Tech Services) June 17, 2019

Objective Outsider (Supervisors + Invites) June 18, 2019

Committee/Board Meeting June 26-27, 2019

June 2019