IN THIS EDITION…
NHA’s Scouting Report
Latest on how NHA is working on your behalf
Committee Corner
The Latest about Committee and Council activities
On Your Radar…
The latest deadlines, reminders, & alerts
Movers & Shakers
See who has been moving around lately
Upcoming Events
Mark your calendars for upcoming NHA Events
The Latest:
You’re Invited! Participate in an NHA Committee or Council
Participating in one or more committees or councils allows you to connect with other waterpower professionals to discuss challenges, successes, and new technologies. They also can be a space to share your input on legislation and regulatory issues that will affect the industry.
And, by participating, you have a hand in helping move your industry forward. Without question, each of your association’s successes can be tied directly to the input and influence of the committees and councils.
Who participated in 2022?
On average 278 people attended at least one committee and council meeting each month, representing, on average, 130 different member organizations.
In 2022, we had 5 member organizations with over 100 meetings attended this year!
- Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) – 145 meetings
- Stantec and HDR both with 138 meetings
- Eagle Creek Renewable Energy with 112 meetings
- New York Power Authority (NYPA) with 104 meetings
To get on a list to be alerted about upcoming meetings for a committee or council, email Catherine at catherine@hydro.org
NHA’s Scouting Report
Here’s how NHA is working on your behalf
Helping You Connect with Your Lawmakers
All politics are local.
While NHA staff works for you every day to connect with members of Congress and their staff to raise waterpower’s profile and advance policies that will allow our industry to flourish, who Congress really wants to hear from is YOU … their constituents.
That’s why NHA is offering to help you set up face-to-face meetings in Congressional offices on Capitol Hill on the morning of May 9. You’ll meet with lawmakers and their staff to share YOUR experiences in the hydropower, pumped storage, or marine energy industries.
Raise your voice to your Congressional representatives! Click HERE for easy step-by-step instructions for who to secure your meeting.
Waterpower Trivia Break…
Time to test your waterpower knowledge! In each Playbook edition, we’ll present you with a hydropower or marine energy brainteaser.
We had two players get the right answer to the last edition’s question! Thank you for playing and congratulations to John Stender, of National Electric Coil and Denise Bunte-Bisnett of Stantec!
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
What is the widest dam on the Wisconsin River?
Hint: The answer is in this newsletter.
The first three respondents with the correct answer will be announced in the next NHA Member’s Playbook. Email your answer to info@hydro.org.
Last Edition’s Answer: The project currently in the Bay of Fundy has the potential to power 150 homes
Upcoming Events
- January 31, 3 PM ET: Asset Owner Only Call
- February 6, 1 PM ET: Markets Committee Monthly Meeting
- February 7, 2 PM ET: Legislative Affairs Monthly Meeting
- February 7, 3 PM ET: Marine Energy Council Monthly Meeting
- February 9, 1 PM ET: Public Affairs Committee Call
- February 15: Deadline for Students to apply for the 2023 NHA Past Chairs’ Legacy Scholarship
- February 15: Membership Dues are due
- February 16, 3 PM ET: FLOW Monthly Meeting
- February 21, 3 PM ET: Tune into the next NHA MEC Featured Presentation hearing from the PRIMRE team.
- April 25-26: 2023 Midwest Regional Meeting, co-hosted with the Midwest Hydro Users Group (MHUG); Host Utility: Alliant Energy
- May 8-10: Waterpower Week in Washington D.C.
- July 25-26: Northeast Regional Meeting in Springfield, Massachusetts. Host Utility: FirstLight Power
- August 24: National Hydropower Day
- October 10-13: Clean Currents 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio
- December 13-14: California Regional Meeting, San Diego, California. Host Utility: San Diego County Water Authority
Committee/Council Corner
Find details on each NHA Committee and Council HERE.
IMPORTANT: Any employee of an NHA member organization is welcome to participate in any/all of the calls and activities of any committee or council. To get notifications about a particular group listed below (i.e., to “join”), simply email: marla@hydro.org
Future Leaders of Waterpower (FLOW)
- Thursday, February 16 at 3:00 PM ET: Join FLOW for the Monthly Meeting
Hydropower Technical Community
- New Year, New Name! Click HERE to see how you can benefit from this community
- Tuesday, February 7 at 2:00 PM ET – Join the Legislative Affairs Committee for new updates
- Tuesday, February 7 at 3:00 PM ET – NHA MEC Monthly Member Meeting
- Come prepared to the first MEC member meeting of 2023 with any job openings at your organization!
- An invite should already be on your calendar, but if not, please contact Kelly Rogers at kelly@hydro.org.
- In case you missed it – NHA MEC’s Featured Presentation on January 17 with PNNL’s Joseph Haxel – Watch the recording here and see the slides here
- February 21 at 3:00 PM ET– Tune into the next NHA MEC Featured Presentation hearing from the PRIMRE team. A calendar invite will be sent out shortly.
- February 6 at 1:00 PM ET: Please join us. Want to discuss a particular item? Contact Mike Purdie at michael@hydro.org.
- Numerous stakeholders responded to RTO/ISO reports in the AD21-10, “Modernizing Wholesale Electricity Market Design” docket. Comments were due 1/19/2023.
SAVE THE DATES!
- February 9, 1 PM ET: Public Affairs Committee Call
- August 24: National Hydropower Day
- Next meeting date is to be announced soon – stay tuned!
- Thursday, January 26th from 1 pm – 2 pm ET: NPD HYDRO Tool Demonstration
- Join researchers from INL and PNNL for a demonstration of their new NPD HYDRO tool. This tool allows users to identify and prioritize opportunities for adding power generation and energy storage to existing non-powered dams. Learn how it could benefit potential users, offer feedback on the tool, and learn about what could come next in this work. Click here to register.
- Tuesday, January 31st, 2 pm ET: Join the Energy Storage Center on a virtual pumped storage hydropower field trip!
- During this virtual field trip and Q&A, we’ll tour New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project. We’ll also hear about PSH cutting-edge research, diving deep into the ways this energy storage technology can serve as a grid transmission asset and more. To reserve a seat, click here.
- NHA is expecting draft guidance soon from the U.S. Department of Energy about how to apply for financial grants for grid resilience, dam safety upgrades, and environmental enhancements at existing hydropower facilities.
- How much can a facility receive? Grants up to 30% of capital expenditures; capped at $5 million a year.
- $553 million worth of grants is available until it is expended.
- We will keep you updated – as soon as we hear, we will let you know.
For your background: Comments NHA submitted to DOE on September 6th on behalf of membership about how the grants are distributed can be found HERE.
- Monthly meetings (on Microsoft Teams) of this committee will start in February.
- Special shout-out to NHA member organization City of King Cove, Alaska. The city’s work on using small hydro to replace diesel is featured on the POWERHOUSE media platform: Read Here
- STAY TUNED – The Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) will be opening $15 million in funding for the Energizing Rural Communities Prize in February 2023. A prize rules workshop will take place on February 1 at 10:00 AM MT.
- Applications being accepted on a rolling basis for the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvements State-Level Guaranteed Loans & Grants
- Need funding for developing cutting-edge technology?
NHA New Member Spotlight
NHA is pleased to announce Gatto Construction Services and The Tide Mill Institute have joined NHA – read more about each company below and welcome them to the NHA family:
Gatto Construction Services offers hydroelectric project consulting services to all entities in the development and construction phases of potential work. Either as a sole entity or with others, Gatto can provide services such as project feasibility analysis, estimating, scheduling, agreement and procurement risk analysis, and project operational planning. During actual project execution Gatto can assist with your construction operations. Gatto also offers services to resolve or assist in the presentation of construction dispute presentations and investigation of accidents if necessary.
The non-profit Tide Mill Institute (TMI) aims to advance the appreciation of tide mill history and technology by encouraging research, by promoting appropriate re-uses of former tide mill sites, and by fostering communication among tide mill enthusiasts. TMI’s mission is to advance appreciation of the American and international heritage of tide mill technology; to encourage research into the location and history of tide mill sites; to serve as a repository for tide mill data for students, scholars, engineers and the general public and to support and expand the community of these tide mill stakeholders; and to promote appropriate re-uses of old tide-mill sites and the development of the use of tides as an energy source.
NHA’s membership is made up of more than 300 companies and organizations. Bookmark the online member directory for easy reference.
NHA Congratulates
Littoral Power Systems, for being recognized with an honorable mention in the third and final phase of the Hydropower Operations Optimization (H2Os) Prize
Do you know of NHA member organizations or employees working for those organizations who deserve a public pat on the back? Please share with marla@hydro.org.
Membership Tip of the Week
Use NHA’s Career Center to find your next Intern, for free
Does your organization have internships that you are looking to promote? NHA members can post available internship opportunities free of charge to NHA’s Career Center.
Connect & Learn
How NHA is helping its members connect, learn, network, and do business with each other and the entire waterpower industry
April 25-26: 2023 Midwest Regional Meeting, co-hosted with the Midwest Hydro Users Group (MHUG), is in Middleton, Wisconsin (near Madison).
Host utility Alliant Energy is offering a tour of its Prairie du Sac project. The Prairie du Sac Dam is the widest dam on the Wisconsin River and has a generation capacity of about 31 MW. Learn more about Prairie du Sac Dam. Register for the meeting now to secure your spot on the tour (only 80 spots available).
Thanks to 19 NHA member organizations who are sponsoring the event.
Getting On Your Radar…
Is your alma mater on the list below?
If so, let us know by emailing marla@hydro.org or texting 816-588-4639.
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We are looking to match up alumni from these schools with students interested in hydropower and/or marine energy.
Students from these schools are competing in collegiate competitions for conventional hydro and marine energy and will be at Waterpower Week in Washington (May 7-9) for the competitions’ grand finale.
Know a College Student Who Needs Money?
Please let him or her know NHA is here to help!
NHA offers a $2,500 scholarship for a college sophomore or junior pursuing a program of study related to the hydropower industry.
Applications are due February 15, 2023.
All we ask of you is to “spread the word” to students about the upcoming opportunity to apply.
Details HERE.
Dues are Due!
Thank you to all member organizations who have already processed their 2023 membership renewals.
As a reminder, renewals are due no later than February 15th.
If you need any assistance, please contact Marla Barnes at marla@hydro.org or Kimberly Costner at kimberly@hydro.org.
Operational Excellence Program (OpEx)
- Featured Event Report: Powerhouse Weir Injury and Near Miss Event
- An OpEx Event Report is an event or near miss experienced by a hydropower operator related to its operations, maintenance, environmental performance, or safety (dam, employee, or public). Have an experience to share? Submit an Event Report at hydroexcellence.org.
The NHA member-only OpEx program is the hydropower industry’s only voluntary event reporting system that receives, distributes, archives, and catalogs operating experiences and resulting best practices and lessons learned.
Industry Job Opportunities
NHA has a “job board” – member organizations can post job openings and available internships on this board, which averages 191 views per job posting.
Jobs recently posted:
- Canyon Hydro needs a CNC programmer/machinist
- Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) seeks a hydro compliance engineer
- SMUD Sacramento Municipal Utility District is looking for a power generation associate mechanical engineer journey level – hydro, a generation designer, and a power generation senior mechanical engineer – hydro
Check out the Career Center here NHA Career Center!
Funding & Technical Assistance Opportunities
Sign Up to Receive Funding Notices from the U.S. Department of Energy – Register for the new list HERE
Need funding for developing a cutting-edge technology?
Join Virtual Workshop on Feb 1 to Learn About Energizing Rural Communities Prize
The Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) will be opening $15 million in funding for the Energizing Rural Communities Prize in February 2023. A prize rules workshop will take place on February 1 at 10:00 AM MT.
Looking for funding to maintain, upgrade, and repair a dam?
If yes, you’ll want to check out the US Army Corps of Engineers Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP).
There are two opportunities to learn how to get the funding (the same will be covered at both virtual information sessions) – sign up for one today:
- Wednesday, February 8 – Wednesday, February 8 – 1PM EST: USACE Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program Virtual Information Session #1 Registration Form
- Wednesday, March 1, 1PM EST: USACE Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program Virtual Information Session #2 Registration Form
Are you a Small Business Looking for Loan Financing?
Applications being accepted on a rolling basis for the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvements State-Level Guaranteed Loans & Grants
- January 31 – Applications due for US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Energy Audit & Renewable Energy Development Assistance Grants
Funding for a Tidal RD&D site, Community‐led Tidal Energy Planning and Project Execution
The Department of Energy released a revised Notice of Intent (NOI) for the $45 million funding opportunity titled, “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Section 41006(a)(2): U.S. Tidal Energy Advancement.” See the revised notice HERE. No application timeline has been released yet.
