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Students Driven to Succeed Contents On the cover: Hundreds of students, teachers, 2 Engineering Model parents and others have been Technical savvy and people skills define Tom Burton, the OPPD Soci- impacted by Power Drive. ety of Engineers’ Engineer of the Year. 4 FCS Receives CAL from NRC Serving as another milestone in the road to restart and recovery at Fort Calhoun Station, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a 2 Confirmatory Action Letter to OPPD on June 11. 6 Driven to Success For 13 years, the Power Drive program has given students an outlet to showcase their ingenuity and creativity. 10 Rebuilding the Past In retirement, Dick Varner continues in his role as a caretaker for the land and structures of southeastern Nebraska. 12 Running Wild in Warrior Dash A group of OPPD employees were among the 20,000-plus individu- als who participated in Nebraska’s a first-ever Warrior Dash. 15 Graduate Section An impressive number of OPPD employees and their families made fashion statements in caps and gowns at commencement exercises 12 this summer. 23 People Anniversaries, retirements, deaths, sympathies and club notes. Back cover Flood of Memories The one-year anniversary of the Missouri River flood of 2011 served as a reminder of all the hard work by employees. : Vol. 92, No. 4, July/August 2012 Published bimonthly by the Corporate Commu- Contributing Staff Senior Management nications Division, Flash magazine provides OPPD DJ Clarke Paula Lukowski W. Gary Gates ........................................President employees and retirees with strategic industry- and Django Greenblatt-Seay Lisa Olson Dave Bannister ................................Vice President job-related news, and human-interest articles about Jeff Hanson Althea Pietsch Timothy J. Burke ..............................Vice President associates and their families. Flash is one of several Jeni Hoffman Laurie Zagurski Mohamad Doghman .......................Vice President tools that comprise our communication strategy. Sharon Jefferson Terry Zank Edward Easterlin ..............................Vice President Employees and retirees can access timely OPPD Mike Jones Jon Hansen ......................................Vice President news weekdays via OPPD News online. Sherrye Hutcherson .........................Vice President Reporters Flash Editor .................................... Chris Cobbs Randy Alsman Margine Henry Trudy Prather Board of Directors Creative Director..........................Joe Comstock Tim Ash Ed Howell Pam Price N.P. Dodge Jr .....................Chairman of the Board Kim Barnes Traci Hug Lana Pulverenti John R. Thompson. .... Vice Chairman of the Board Sara Biodrowski Sharon Jefferson Heather Rawlings To contact the Flash editor: Karma Boone Debbie Jensen Kathy Royal Michael J. Cavanaugh ............................. Treasurer phone .............. 402-636-3757 Joanne Brown Terri Kelly Terri Salado Anne L. McGuire ....................................Secretary Cec Christensen Shelley Kendrick Peter Schiltz John K. Green ................................Board Member email .............. [email protected] Jeannie Corey Melinda Kenton Jim Shipman Lloyd Scheve .................................Board Member Sharon Dickman Suzanne Krajicek Jammie Snyder address ............ OPPD, Flash, 3E/EP1 Neal Faltys Becky Kruger Jennifer St. Clair Fred J. Ulrich ..................................Board Member 444 S. 16th St. Kelly Fleming Doug Mickells Kathy Stolinski Del D. Weber .................................Board Member Omaha, NE 68102-2247 Anne Forslund Jamie Moore Clint Sweet Natalie Ging Shawn Moore Vince Timmerman Nancy Goddard Shelly Mruz Dennis Vanek Barbara Gullie Beth Nagel Dawn Varner Jill Hanover Rick Perrigo Line Items General Services Administration The federal courthouse, located at Recognized for Energy Savings 111 S. 18th Plaza in downtown Omaha, has 356,873-square-feet of space. GSA This spring, OPPD officials recognized the General personnel worked with OPPD, as well as Services Administration Region 6 for its commitment to specialized subcontractors Bes-Tech and efficient energy management at the Roman L. Hruska Engineered Controls Inc. on improvements U.S. Courthouse. in the building’s energy systems. GSA’s op- OPPD Vice President Sherrye Hutcherson presented erations and maintenance contractor LB&B a check for $48,800 to Mary Kosmicki, Director, GSA also played a critical role in the project Nebraska Office. The check represents energy savings that because of their knowledge of the building. the GSA realized at the facility as a result of several energy By taking these steps, the GSA reduced commissioning and optimization projects. Built in 2000, annual HVAC chilled water consumption by the six-story building has become a model for how to get 33.5 percent, steam consumption by 24.4 the most from energy management systems. percent, electricity consumption by 13.6 “GSA will see an actual utility cost savings of $173,670 percent and electricity demand by 17.7 annually at the courthouse, based on 12 months of utility percent, based on 12 months of utility data. data,” said Sherrye. “The results speak for themselves, but Roman L. Hruska U.S. Courthouse. The building has achieved ENERGY STAR OPPD applauds the GSA for its good stewardship of reducing energy status with a rating of 87 percent. This the fourth consecutive ENERGY demand and cutting its energy bill, thus saving taxpayer dollars. The STAR award for the courthouse. project serves as a successful example to others.” OPPD Team to Carry United Way Torch OPPD’s 2012 United Way cam- paign, with a theme linked to the Olympic Games in London, is sched- uled to run from Monday, Sept. 10, through Friday, Sept. 21. A kick-off breakfast is scheduled : for Thursday, Sept. 6, featuring this year’s chairman Bill Lenagh, division manager of Customer Sales & Service, and others on the United Way team. The OPPD goal for 2012 is $355,000, with a stretch goal of $360,000. Last year’s goal was $350,000 with a stretch goal of $355,000. As usual, anyone contributing to the campaign will be eligible for raffle prizes, including gift cards for area entertainment and restaurants. Prizes are being donated. “Thanks for all your support in the past, it will be needed again to reach our goal and help make our community a better place,” said Bill. “The team that is working on this will do all we can to carry the torch of the United Way spirit in our 2012 campaign.” Oh, my, this ceremony is flying by. They're already on the "C's" and it's only been a week. July/August 2012 Flash 1 Engineer of the Year ENGINEERING MODEL Technical savvy and people skills define Tom Burton, the OPPD Society of Engineers’ Engineer of the Year for 2012. He is regarded as a role model for younger employees and a beacon of excellence among OPPD’s 430 engineers. Tom Burton’s involvement with the was and is a devoted father to three sons and a North Omaha Station Coal-Handling daughter (Ben, Christopher, Peter and Angela), Upgrade Project in 2000 illustrates with an extended family that now includes six many of the qualities that led to grandchildren. Tom also is a deacon at Holy his selection as the OPPD Society Cross Catholic Church. of Engineeers’ Engineer of the “Tom is a highly committed, high-integrity, Year for 2012. His contribution common-sense engineer,” said Jon. “All of that, to that project also contains in one neat package. He’s a great role model for the DNA of his current work others at OPPD.” on proposed federal air quality Modest in the extreme, Tom jokingly said, regulations at fossil plants. “What were they thinking?” of his selection as For the coal-handling project, Tom Engineer of the Year. In a serious vein, he also served as project manager on a $10 said he was deeply honored and flattered by the million overhaul that included upgrad- award. ing all coal belts, chutes and drive motors, The OPPD Society of Engineers Board and a se- replacing the stockout structure and rail car lection committee of five engineers involving dif- thawing equipment, changing to comput- ferent areas of the company selected Tom from a erized controls and making changes to the field of eight nominees, said Mike Herzog, senior rail tracks to accommodate longer trains transmission planning engineer and chairperson on site. of the OPPD Society of Engineers. Following are Even while working to develop the tech- some of the criteria used in the selection process: nical solution for an aging plant, Tom also • Significant achievement in the engineering was listening to concerns of plant operators field and maintenance staff to make certain he • Behaviors that create and support the OPPD had a grasp of their concerns. Equal empha- ideal culture sis on both the technical and subjective sides • Innovative solution to solve a technical of engineering are at the core of Tom’s ap- problem where attributes of the ideal utility proach, and have been since he came to OPPD are displayed in 1980. • Community involvement “It was an important modification that • Continuing competence modernized the system and gave us the abil- ity to move coal faster,” said Jon Hansen, vice “Tom has demonstrated he is a go-to engi- president, Energy Production & Marketing, who neer,” said Mike. “There is no doubt he will get served as operations manager during the North the job done. He is also very good at working Omaha project. “Despite all the work involved, with young engineers. There are 430 engineers at it didn’t affect production or operation of any OPPD, and we wanted to recognize someone for units.” others in the company to emulate.” In the midst of the massive project, Tom still In addition to Tom, the following individuals found time for volunteering two nights a month were nominated for the OSE Engineer of the Year at the Stephen Center homeless shelter, a role award: in which he continues to serve. Above all, he Joel Haskins, Senior Design Engineer, T&D Operations 2 Flash July/August 2012 Landy Jacobson, Manager of T&D Projects, OPPD ideal culture. “As a manager, my role is to Substation Operations make sure people can learn to do my job some- John Mayhan, Principal Transmission day to help keep the company going,” Tom said.