Idaho Falls Power recognized by Public Power Association

Here's an old photo of Idaho Falls Power's Gem State Dam, built in the mid-1980s. The bond that financed that project are being retired this year. 

Idaho Falls Power has been named a Reliable Public Power Provider by the American Public Power Association, and is one of 54 publicly owned utilities to receive the RP3 Diamond designation.

Kenneth Stone, energy services and accounting manager at Braintree Electric Light Department of Braintree, Mass., and executive committee member of APPA’s RP3 Review Panel, presented the awards May 18 during the association’s annual Engineering and Operations Technical Conference, held in Sacramento, Calif.

The RP3 designation recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce development and system improvement. The designation lasts for three years.

Idaho Falls Power was one of the four Bonneville Power Administration customers awarded the diamond designation and the only Utah Association Municipal Power Systems member to receive it.
gnation.

“The RP3 review process is very rigorous,” said Jackie Flowers, Idaho Falls Power’s general manager. “The staff at Idaho Falls Power has put in a lot of hard work to serve our community. RP3 represents a much appreciated recognition of this hard work,” she said.

Former Post Register staffer honored

Rachel Cook

Congratulations to Rachel Cook, a former Post Register staff writer honored for a story she wrote for the Bakersfield Californian.

Cook's July 2014 story, "Dental Dangers," on dental licensing and review in California, won the George F. Gruner Prize for Meritorious Journalism May 12 in Fresno. Cook was health reporter for the Californian at the time. Her story focused on Dr. Robert Tupac, whose license was revoked by the state Dental Board and who killed himself the day after he learned of the decision.

Cook is a graduate of Skyline High School and is now an editor at the Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.

Rumination on drought and my utility bill

While I was paying my utility bill this morning (late as usual), I was amazed once again by how little we pay for water in Idaho Falls: $21 for an unlimited amount.

Given all that we have been hearing about the drought in California and the fines that are being proposed for overwatering lawns there, I did some research and learned that in San Diego, $21 will by you roughly 8.4 hours in the shower, 16.8 hours if you are using a low-flow shower head.

The typical single-family domestic customer has a 3/4-inch meter (some larger homes may have a 1-inch meter) and the total bill is a combination of the monthly meter base fee (which is based on the size of the meter) and the amount of water used.

For billing purposes, the Public Utilities Department measures water used by hundred cubic feet or HCF. Each HCF equals 748.05 gallons.

The bi-monthly charges for a typical single-family domestic customer are:
Base fee: $40.62
0 - 8 HCF used are billed at $3.896 per HCF.
9 - 24 HCF used are billed at $4.364 per HCF.
25 - 36 HCF used are billed at $6.234 per HCF.
Each HCF used after the initial 36 HCF is billed at $8.766 per HCF.

This is where it saves you money to have a low flow shower. If your house was built before 1980, the average flow per minute is 5 to 7 gallons per minute. Between 1981 and 1991 it’s 3.5 and after 1992 it’s 2.5 gpm.

Replacing old shower heads with new ones can save you as much as 750 gallons per month.
Do we care here in Idaho Falls? I could water my lawn all night, take half-hour showers three times a day and still pay $21 a month. Not that I would, or that many other people do.

Even though we live in a desert, our forebears had the presence of mind to build our city on top of an aquifer. The first well was dug in 1924, and there are more than two dozen now.

City plans meeting Wednesday to discuss new downtown fire station

The Idaho Falls Fire Department will hold an open house Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 680 Park Avenue, to discuss plans for a new downtown fire station.

The main purpose of the open house is to invite contractors to learn about the new process and to help them make sure they have the proper licensing before the project goes out for bid at the end of June, Fire Chief Dave Hanneman said.

The project's timeline will be discussed. Fire department staff and the architects will be available for questions.

In April 2015, Idaho Falls City Council unanimously approved a $163,000 contract with the CRSA architectural firm to design a new fire station to replace downtown Fire Station 1, which is on the lower level of Idaho Falls' 85-year old City Building.

The new station is to be located on existing city-owned property on E Street between Shoup and Park Avenues.

The State of Idaho requires  construction managers be licensed. This is to assure the public they have the level of education and experience required for successful management of public construction projects.

Cabela's opening draws huge crowd

Here's the line this morning at the new Cabela's store in Ammon.  This was shot by David Snell, not me, and shared on Facebook. We will be checking later to find out what the attendance actually turned out to be.