TVPPA report: Part VII of the assessment
This is the final article in a series covering the assessment of the Holly Springs Utility Department’s electric company by the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association.
TVPPA provides assessments at the request of its members. This assessment was paid for by an appropriation of $500,000 from the Mississippi Legislature to the Tennessee Valley Authority for the purposes of an assessment of the HSUD and for vegetation management.
Succession Planning and Recruitment
A standard that identifies the demographics of the HSUD employees (for example, age, retirement eligibility, position) to prepare for succession planning was not found, according to the report.
A succession plan that includes management tools such as cross-training of employees, job shadowing, leadership programs, and manuals for key positions was not found, according to the report.
This standard is required to show that the HSUD is actively planning for an aging workforce and employee turnover. While the HSUD may use some of these tools - cross-training, job shadowing and leadership development– no official updated document covering these areas was found.
The report said the HSUD does employ best practices in conjunction with recruitment, but little evidence to suggest formal policies designed to retain employees was evident.
Flexible or remote work options, documented career pathways, performance bonuses, and competitive compensation and benefits are policies utilities use to retain its workforce.
No five-year review to determine salaries/benefits comparable to other nearby utilities were documented.
Employee Development
No formal goal-setting process for individual employees were conducted by the HSUD, according to the report. Office personnel, line workers and management level employees should be provided with a goal setting process. None was found. There was no evidence shown that employees were included in a formal goal setting process, nor were sample appraisal forms found.
Education, Participation and Service
No written educational policy, procedure or program for professional development was found at the HSUD. No evidence was found that policy and procedures were communicated to employees upon hiring or yearly thereafter.
Networking with other utilities as a method of establishing relationships were found during the assessment, but the process did not appear to be formalized as a standard.
No evidence was found that the HSUD is a member of a professional organization directly related to the electric power industry. But, the HSUD was shown to have participated in community leadership and service organizations.
Research and Development
Maintenance at the HSUD was found to be extremely deficient or non-existent. The pressures from everincreasing outage numbers has left little time for employees to provide routine maintenance.
The utility appears to be operating on a day-to-day basis and unable to handle the number of reported concerns or amount of work required. The assessment results did not show the utility employs leading best practices to maintain and improve system operations.
Vegetation management was of immediate and serious concern and cannot be managed by the existing workforce. Reliability is already being significantly impacted due to lack of vegetation management at substations and the distribution system.
Removal of vegetation in contact with energized conductors poses a potential safety hazard, given the relative inexperience of many crew members. A qualified vegetation management consultant or qualified person in the role of general manager was recommended to address vegetation concerns.
No oil samples were being taken to assess transformer viability – a serious concern.
Substation maintenance was a third serious and immediate concern. Currently, substations are not being maintained, including routine inspections.
Transformer failure can cause serious damage to many components in the station. HSUD does not stock replacement transformers. Replacing transformers is a lengthy process.
Vegetation present in all five substations is a fire hazard leading to possible outages. Old and damaged equipment from previous failures is left in the substation and needs to be addressed.
Details that should be addressed are listed in the report for each of the five substations. The descriptions were detailed and specific to each substation and corrective measures were recommended.
System losses were not shown to be calculated.
A system planning study has not been performed since 2009. Areas where there are capacity problems, voltage issues and need for substation enhancements are not available.
A detailed report of issues at each of the five substations are included in the report but is not included in this article because of its length. Some substation issues were covered in the executive summary published in prior issues of The South Reporter.
Financial Health and Fiscal Management
This portion of the assessment is deferred to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s ongoing investigation and subsequent results of HSUD’s financial health and fiscal management.