The following is a transcript of the Sept. 16, 2024, episode of Public Power Now. Learn more about subscribing to Public Power Now at Publicpower.org/Podcasts. Some quotes may have been edited for clarity.
Paul Ciampoli
Welcome to the latest episode of Public Power Now. I'm Paul Ciampoli, APPA’s News Director. Our guest on this episode is Barry Tupper, general manager of Massachusetts public power utility, Holden Municipal Light Department. Barry, thanks for joining us.
Barry Tupper
Thanks for having me.
Paul Ciampoli
Barry, just for our listeners who may not be that familiar with the utility and are interested in your role and responsibilities, can you detail your role and responsibilities as general manager and also provide an overview of the utility?
Barry Tupper
In my role I manage financial performance, I supervise staff, ensure regulatory compliance and drive initiatives aimed at enhancing system reliability. Service quality and customer satisfaction are also very important....as far as Holden Municipal Light, we're one of 41 municipal owned and operated electric utilities and Holden is a community of about 20,000 residents...We cover 36 square miles and have a peak demand of 24 megawatts. Our annual revenue is approximately $18 million.
Paul Ciampoli
One of the impetuses for my wanting to talk to you for the podcast was recent news involving energy storage. As you know, the utility and Lightshift Energy in August hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of a battery storage project in Holden, Massachusetts, which will serve Holden Municipal Light Department and its customers. How will this five-megawatt battery storage system benefit the utility and its customers?
Barry Tupper
Yeah, we're really excited about that. This is something new for Holden and it started a little while back. The whole process -- it was very involved, but the battery storage is a crucial solution to mitigating the impact of rising capacity and transmission costs for our community. With the installation of the battery energy storage facility [at the] Chaffins substation, we're projected to save our customers at least $10 million over its life cycle, and that's a conservative number. If you talk to Lightshift, they want it to be closer to $20 million. They're very proud of that.
We did a conservative number and we feel like it's going to be a minimum of $10 million if they hit all the peaks. This project is a win for everyone. It not only serves as a significant financial benefit to the community, but also represents an important environmental asset. By reducing peak demand stress, it acts as a pressure release valve for the increasingly strained electric grid, supporting both energy reliability and sustainability...we're one of the first ones around -- Sterling has one. They did it years ago, but... Lightshift has got a bunch that they're putting in in the area. We were the first ones.
We had just....rebuilt it [the Chaffins substation] and we had the thought that we would get something like this eventually, so we added extra infrastructure into it just in case whether it was battery storage or some other generation unit. So it was really turnkey for all the parties. So with very little money invested and very little work on our side, they were able to come in. There was plenty of space and they dropped in the batteries and hooked them all up and it went extremely smooth and quick and they're up and running now, so it's something we're really happy about.
Paul Ciampoli
With respect to customers and I asked this question of a recent guest who is also pursuing an energy storage project -- could you provide any comments on communicating with customers as it relates to this project?
Barry Tupper
When it first came out -- we went to the Commissioners and it was quite public because it's not something we wanted to keep secret. We were pretty proud of it. And we have a local group that is really concerned about green energy and the future. So they were very supportive and they've come to a lot of our meetings to show their support and they were they were behind this 100%. Our Commissioners were behind it. At our ribbon cutting we had a state senator and a representative with us, so it was really good to have that much support and it's been a great project.
Paul Ciampoli
I wanted to switch topics and talk about mutual aid and just noting by way of background that you are a member of not only of APPA’s mutual aid committee, but also a member of the Northeast Public Power Association's Mutual Aid Committee. Against that backdrop and given your experience with mutual aid events and your roles with those committees, can you detail the ways in which public power utilities leverage the nationwide public power mutual aid network to help each other in times of need?
Barry Tupper
Nationwide mutual aid is a crucial resource for public power communities, particularly those within the...American Public Power Association network. In times of need such as major weather events, local municipal utilities, MLPs, often rely on surrounding utilities for support. However, when widespread events impact multiple nearby MLPs the APPA’s nationwide mutual aid network steps in, allowing unaffected utilities across the country to mobilize crews to assist those in crisis. One example of a robust mutual aid system is the Northeast Public Power Association. NEPPA’s mutual aid committee -- it's chaired by....Nick Lawler [APPA’s Board Chair]. NEPPA’s network spans over six states, providing a unique advantage. It's a large network of line workers that are all trained at NEPPA’s facility in Littleton, Mass., and it allows for swift and organized responses.
In many cases, NEPPA can dispatch over 20 crews, including mechanics, supervisors, to assist affected communities. What makes NEPPA’s mutual aid network particularly effective is its ability to respond in ways for long term recovery events. This ensures that even in a prolonged event NEPPA can maintain a steady flow of aid, supporting public power utilities throughout the country. Holden, particularly, has responded to 8 mutual aid events since September of 22, including Florida, New Hampshire, Concord, Mass., Vermont, Boylston, Mass., Princeton, Mass., Wolfeboro, NH, and Wallingford, Connecticut. Mutual aid has always been a priority for both Holden and myself. I responded to my first mutual aid event January 9, 1998 -- actually Colebrook, NH -- I was still an apprentice lineman at the time.
Additionally, in 2008, our...town experienced a devastating ice storm that knocked out power to the entire town for four days and in some areas for over 2 weeks, including my own house. Thirteen NEPPA mutual aid crews assisted us during that crisis and ever since giving back in times of need has been a core value for us here in Holden. We're committed to repaying the communities that came to our aid. Holden Light has even extended its mutual aid efforts as far as Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands after Hurricane Irma in 2017.
We had multiple crews there for 2 1/2 months to help with restoration efforts. I personally spent a month on the island celebrating Thanksgiving with fellow responders and the wonderful, grateful people of Saint Thomas, so it's really important to us here at Holden.
Paul Ciampoli
Barry, to wrap up our conversation, I wanted to take a bigger picture approach to our discussion and give you the opportunity to talk about your long term goals in terms of what you would like to achieve as general manager of the utility.
Barry Tupper
As general manager of Holden Municipal Light Department, my long-term goals are centered on enhancing reliability, efficiency and affordability. Holden has a strong reputation for providing clean, reliable energy at a competitive price and I'm dedicated to upholding that standard.
While I'm committed to integrating more renewable energy solutions to reduce our environmental impact, I remain mindful of the challenges posed by increasing electrification and the demands it places on our infrastructure. Additionally, employee retention and development are key priorities, ensuring that we attract and retain top talent to deliver excellent service. Financial stability is equally important and I will continue making sound business decisions to keep our rates competitive. Lastly, I'd say strengthening community engagement and fostering deep connections with our customers are essential parts of my vision for the department’s future.
Paul Ciampoli
So you referenced workforce – I would love to get your perspective in terms -- I mean obviously it goes without saying that that's an ongoing perhaps increasing challenge for not only public power utilities, but just the utility industry in general. Any insights in terms of how you guys are specifically working to address this?
Barry Tupper
It's a good question and it really is a real dilemma for a lot of utilities. One of the good things that I've seen is schools and colleges have acknowledged that this is a real issue and they're finally acknowledging that this can be educational and there's classes, there's a local college here in Worcester that does a utility specialist class. Basically, it's a two-year program, I think. You get an associate’s degree and they really touch upon a lot of different things.
We've hired a bunch of people through that. I've gone to some recent sporting events -- the senior events -- when the kids go out and get the flowers and they talk about where they're going to school and they're acknowledging and recognizing that some of these students are going to education-based lineman schools like the Southwest Lineman College and Georgia Lineman School, so that's good to see because we're seeing a lot of that when we put out applications for apprentices, our job openings, the people are applying and have some kind of education or have done something to further themselves...and when I first started it was basically you just applied for it and you got it.
There was really no education, you didn't have any licensing or anything like that. And a lot of these young adults are coming out with their licensing, hoisting license, CDL licenses and climbing experience, and also the education part, so it makes it a lot easier that way. And for us, we try to listen to the people, listen to our employees and I've been doing this for so long, I've seen a shift in what counts to certain groups and age groups. And what was important to myself and my peers when I started is no longer important to this new generation coming out, so I think it's important to just kind of listen to what they're saying. Whether we agree with it or not, it's important to try to mold and focus on the areas that you need to to make you a place where people want to work and stay. Getting them is one thing, keeping them is another.
Paul Ciampoli
Barry, thanks again for taking the time. Would you be open to returning as a guest on our podcast sometime in the future?
Barry Tupper
Absolutely.
Paul Ciampoli
We could talk about perhaps an update on the storage project or obviously some of the other goals for you that you mentioned in the interview, so thanks again, Barry.
Barry Tupper
Absolutely. Thank you, Paul. I appreciate it.
Paul Ciampoli
Thanks for listening to this episode of Public Power Now, which is produced by Julio Guerrero, Graphic and Digital Designer at APPA. I'm Paul Ciampoli and we'll be back next week with more from the world of public power.
