The value of local ideas and solutions
Members of WMECO's leadership team may have mentioned to you business books we read and discussed. One of the books we found especially valuable was UMass Professor Alan G. Robinson's Ideas Are Free. The essence of the book is this: "From simple ideas for saving time, effort, and money, to entirely new ways of doing business, front-line employees see a great many opportunities in their day-to-day work that their managers don't ... a worker in one of Europe's largest wireless communication companies stumbled across an error in his company's billing software, fixed it, and saved the company some $26 million per year. A secretary at Grapevine Canyon Ranch proposed a simple change to the company's website that brought the site to the top of search engine listings."
The book's preface notes, "[The employees who do the work] ... see what is frustrating customers, causing waste, or generally holding the organization back. Employees often know how to improve performance and reduce costs more intelligently than their bosses do."
The fact is, we all choose to work at WMECO, and all of us, regardless of our title or job at the company, have a stake in making it the best workplace and best company it can be. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please speak up. And if you'd like to borrow Alan Robinson's book, please ask any member of WMECO's leadership team.
Here's to continued improvement and great new ideas!
Sincerely,
Rod|
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WMECO directors attend NU leadership meeting
Chuck Shivery hosted an NU leadership team meeting on February 21 for officers and directors across the company to discuss 2006 performance, goal results, 2007 plans, NU's new vision, Enterprise Risk Management, and more.
Rod Powell presented an overview of WMECO's priorities for 2007 and discussed our challenges and plans.
WMECO employees will be hearing more about the new vision soon, as well as how WMECO's plans are aligned and integrated. Stay tuned. Photo shows WMECO directors Mike Smith, left, and Bliss Young at the Berlin meeting.
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Merit and incentive checks on March 15
Exempt and nonexempt employees will find in their March 15 paychecks both merit and incentive payouts for 2006. The checks will cover one week on the former rate and one week on the new rate.
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Ted Pleasant promoted to Manager, System Operations Center
On February 11, Ted Pleasant became the manager of WMECO's System Operations Center (SOC). With 23 years of WMECO service under his belt, including 18 years as a lineman and recent accomplishments in Work Methods and Training, Ted will be a strong leader of this critical business area of our operations. |  |
"Central to my decision to accept this position was that Greg Johnson will continue to support the SOC in his role as supervisor," Ted noted. "Our SOC is top notch, and every person working there is experienced, skilled and in the right role to serve our in-house and external customers very well."
He added, "I'm excited about the changes ahead in dispatch with DSCADA and other enhancements, and I'm eager to work with this great team of pros to manage the safe and efficient dispatching of WMECO crews."
IT News
Change Description |
Planned Date
& Time |
Affected Areas and
Required Approvals |
Network Maintenance |
02/28/2007 at 6:00 a.m. for 30 minutes |
WMECO employees in Hadley will experience a 30 minute outage. |
Adjust IBM Mainframe for DST |
3/11/2007 at 12:30 a.m. for 3 hours |
All IBM mainframe systems will be down during this time. |
Welcome new WMECO employees
Phillip Bergeron 1/29/07 Reports to: Matt Lagoy
Construction Electrician - East Springfield
William Gelinas 2/12/07 Reports to: Matt Lagoy
Construction Electrician - East Springfield
Melissa Blowers 2/12/07 Reports to: Dave Drake
Stockhandler S-1 (long-term temp) - East Springfield
An e-mail that benefits the environment, company, you
 Employees who own shares in the NUSCO 401K Plan can reduce environmental waste, reduce company costs and get NU’s 2006 annual report and shareholder proxy materials more quickly by signing up for e-mail delivery of the annual report and proxy materials. The advantages are clear.
· Speed: Receive a link to NU’s annual report and proxy materials up to four weeks faster than relying on bulk mail delivery.
· Convenience: Vote your NU shares easily online and without filling out paperwork. As always, voting your NUSCO 401k Plan shares will be confidential and secure.
· Savings: Hard-copy materials cost $5 to produce and mail, compared to 35 cents for electronic delivery.
· Environmental Stewardship: In addition to reducing the need for paper, ink and energy to print the annual report and proxy, for every employee who registers, NU will donate $5 to the American Chestnut Foundation, an organization devoted to restoration of the American chestnut tree.
· Targeted delivery: You have the choice to send your materials to your home or work e-mail address, whichever is more convenient for you.
To register, go to http://www.proxyconsent.com/nu. Don’t delay. The deadline to sign up for electronic deliver is March 9. Employees can opt out of electronic delivery at any time. If you have further questions, please call NU’s Investor Relations team at Berlin Ext. 701-3249 or Berlin Ext. 701-5154.
Fidelity Investments -- Mailing Error
There was a Fidelity system edit error involving the default fund change that went into effect February 1, 2007. As a result, Fidelity's system incorrectly generated and mailed letters to all 401k Plan participants that should not have been generated.
Fidelity has been made aware of the error and will send out a follow-up letter to all participants apologizing for the mailing that should not have occurred.
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February 21 CL&P contractor fatality
Sadly an accident in CL&P's Waterbury service area resulted in a contractor fatality yesterday afternoon. The incident is being investigated by the company that was contracted to perform the work, as well as by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and local police and fire investigators. CL&P personnel worked through the night to make the scene safe for investigators and to restore power from a resulting outage. When the investigation is complete, we will advise employees of lessons learned from this tragic accident.
Safety metrics: year-end 2006 and 2007
 | Safety must be our highest priority at WMECO so that employees can return home after work in the same shape they arrived -- without injury. To that end, here is a recap of WMECO safety performance in 2006. |
2006 Safety Results By District
Area | Recordables | PMVA Level One | Safety Violations |
| | | |
| E. Springfield | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Hadley | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Greenfield | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Pittsfield | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tech Park | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 15 | 5 | 0 |
For 2007, we should strive for 0-0-0 -- triple zero -- results in recordables, PMVA level ones and safety violations.
For all of us at WMECO, let's put safety first in everything we do. And let's stretch every day to avoid muscle strains and pulls, and see Tom Bianco (see Health & Wellness article below) if you are experiencing muscle pain or have limited range of motion.
Rubber glove training complete for 23-kV work
All WMECO line groups have received enhanced rubber gloving training. Completion of this training will allow WMECO lineworkers to glove our 23-kV distribution system.
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Live Wire all-employee meetings under way across WMECO
WMECO-wide employee meetings held this month have been well attended and interactive on the topics of safety, critical initiatives, Live Wire and areas of local interest. Employees received handouts about the rate settlement and its implications on customer bills. These Area Work Center all-hands meetings are a continuation of the leadership team’s on-site visits designed to keep employees updated on current initiatives and talk about concerns and ideas.|
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Promoting SNETR's need, value
As you know, SNETR -- Southern New England Transmission Reinforcement -- is a major, long-term project for WMECO focusing on both 345-kV and Springfield-area 115-kV transmission upgrades.
In conversations with family, friends and neighbors about this big undertaking, keep in mind these facts. The projects can:
- Improve reliability for our customers.
- Deliver greater predictability and stability in our pricing.
- Reduce and ideally eliminate millions of dollars of federally mandated costs our customers bear.
- Return significant asset value back on our balance sheet.
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WMECO employees attend meeting with Governor Patrick
With WMECO's co-sponsorship of the event, several employees attended the Greater Springfield Affiliated Chambers of Commerce’s annual “Outlook” luncheon meeting on February 9. Topics included regulatory, state and federal perspectives on legislative issues, politics and the economy. Governor Patrick was the keynote speaker at the event for business professionals and political officials. He discussed his administration expanding economic opportunities throughout the Commonwealth and his 2008 state budget. Rod Powell and others had a chance to talk with the Governor after the event. Rod will be following up with a letter about our commitment to conservation, renewables and distributed generation, offering to help develop Massachusetts' strategy and plans for these technologies.
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Service Anniversaries
Congratulations to the following employees for their dedicated service and March anniversaries!
35 YEARS
Julius J. Leh, Hadley
25 YEARS
Joseph M. Flaherty, Springfield - Technology Park
Madhu P. Shah, West Springfield Stat
20 YEARS
Elizabeth A. Belliveau, East Springfield
Sarah J. Dean, Springfield -Technology Park
Michael C. Scafuri, East Springfield
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Tom Bianco and ergonomics for WMECO employees
Thanks to a contract WMECO has established with ergonomics and physical therapy expert Tom Bianco, WMECO employees have the opportunity to participate in group stretching exercises and one-on-one assessment and counseling to stay limber and injury free. Nearly 75 percent of our injuries are ergonomics-related, so Tom can offer valuable, practical help.
We are also introducing a new column from Tom in It's Electric. "Tips from Tom" will provide regular pointers and reminders about maintaining our well being, stretching to prevent injury, and ways to make us more comfortable and safe in the workplace and at home.
"Tip from Tom"
Lift like an elevator, not a crane. Bend your knees, not your back, when lifting.
Another ergonomic success story
| Allen Taylor, lead line mechanic in Hadley, identified an uncomfortable position involving the location of some of our new bucket truck controls. Tom Bianco worked with our employees to arrive at a good solution to improve the situation. In full cooperation with Transportation, the controls were relocated, cost effectively. This is a great example of employees speaking up about a problem, a team working together to find the right solution and implementing the improvement promptly -- with the right results. Thanks to Al for pointing out this issue and to everyone who participated, including Steve Chandler, Ed Szuba, Frank Vancini, and Gary Monte. Image, on right, displays the controls after modification by Hadley mechanics Frank Grimaldi and Dave Potter. |  |
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Radio system update from Springfield
To support a vital component of our radio infrastructure upgrade, Dolly Wrona, Doug Clarke and WMECO's real estate attorney, Paul Maleck, met with the Plainfield Selectboard to discuss WMECO's initial plans for the installation of a proposed 150-foot radio tower adjacent to our Plainfield Substation. The meeting went well, with town officials interested in the opportunity to use the tower for municipal communications needs. The next step is to file an application with the Zoning Board of Appeals as the tower’s height exceeds the 100-foot limit specified in the town's building code. |
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Valentine's Day Storm
Despite the severity of the February 14 storm that hit several states with blizzard conditions, WMECO's system held up well and we had few outages. We were well prepared; held several storm conference calls before and during the event; arranged to have personnel, storm operations rooms and all systems ready to go; and stayed in touch with state and emergency officials. Thanks to everyone who helped prepare for and manage the Valentine's Day storm.|
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The staff behind It's Electric depends on your ideas, suggestions and comments to make the publication as timely, valuable and useful as it can be. Please contact Karen Samide (samidke@nu.com) at Tech Park, 601-2211, or Ken Garber (garbeks@nu.com) at Tech Park 601-2216 with any feedback you'd like to share. We welcome your input. Thank you.
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