6.1a ERMUSR 07-13-2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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______________________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 2 • I attended the APPA Summer Conference meeting in Orlando, FL June 20-23. Attendance was down compared to other years, 800 this year versus 1,300 in previous years. Some key takeaways from the conference are noted below. o Joy Ditto, President and CEO of APPA, addressed the conference with a message that public power entities need to share their stories and highlight their strengths. Typically, we are a humble group and a stable provider of key essential services. When services are being delivered so well and so reliably, the users can take us for granted. It is important to communicate with our users often to highlight our strengths and our commitment to our communities. She also spoke about the challenges of net zero emissions proposed timelines, climate change, and cybersecurity, which APPA is positioned to help big and small utilities overcome. o Admiral Jim Stavridis spoke about the pandemic and global politics. He noted that the Spanish Influenza pandemic was in 1920, and approximately every 100 years there is a pandemic of some sort. We learn from each one and need to be reminded to continually be vigilant in progressing, not just surviving the current pandemic. In speaking about global politics, he noted that the US political gridlock handicaps us, and other nations can take advantage. He cited four leadership tools that he feels are needed for global political success: Innovation and the ability to change, Communication on all sides and not just one-sided, Collaboration and Teamwork within countries and between countries, and Speed in how quickly we respond and change as needed. In emphasizing this last tool of Speed, he noted that the cheetah, fastest of all land animals, can go from 0-60 mph in 2 seconds. The cheetah’s body is very sleek, long, and muscular, (built for speed) but it has an enormous tail. The large tail is needed for proper balance to keep the animal on course, able to focus, and change course quickly and effectively. That tail is analogous to discipline and strategy in our decision making. o There was a panel discussion on resiliency and response from four CEOs that each shared their challenges (and how they overcame them) throughout the pandemic. The challenges shared were devastating hurricanes; freezing temperatures; the natural gas situation in February; communicating with employees, public, commissions, and customers during shutdown; and a potential takeover for one utility. The common theme for overcoming challenges was the strength in the community, whether it is the company community, the mutual aid community, or the public power community. We reach out and help each other, sharing resources and best practices, and this a great strength of public power. o Geoff Tuff, author of the book Detonate spoke of the need to be strategic and think exponentially, rather than linearly (which is the natural human tendency). We need to be thinking with a beginner’s mind where the possibilities are endless, instead of an expert’s mind where the possibilities are few. The experts are looking backwards and analyzing data, where we need to be looking forward. Essentially, we need to blow up (detonate) the current best practices and create new ones to survive. 114