May 2021 — President/Business Manager's Report

I would first like to thank everyone that made the trek down to our first Union meeting since last March. It was nice to get back to some sense of normalcy. Let's hope that this is the start of putting this horrible pandemic behind us and getting our lives back. The BPU passed the ZEC subsidy 2 weeks ago by a unanimous vote, which is great news. However, expect over the next few months to begin to hear some discussion about the future of how to deal with this in the future, whether it be an amended legislation or some new language altogether. The BPU is a bit irritated that they feel the way the law is written handcuffs them whereas they cannot do anything but grant the subsidy or the plants will close. Everyone agrees that the plants cannot close but they feel that this is something they would not like to be faced with every 2-3 years. The company has no update yet on the sale of the Fossil fleet. From the rumor mill, it appears that sometime in last quarter of 2021 they will eventually close on the sale…more to come on that. The AMI project that the company is embarking on is set to begin in the second half of this year and ramp up in full at the start of 2022. We have had several discussions on how to approach the work and keep it all in house. The pole work and sensors are about 6-7 months in duration, and it was agreed to contract that out. We are trying to catch up on headcount that was not filled along with training because of the pandemic. The company is trying to get folks hired and on the property, but the process is slow. We are hoping to get our NWF at the number and a bit above before years end. Last but not least—Moe is retiring, and I want to wish him the best for the future. He will be missed.