newscentral - chretirees.org · 13.07.2018 · ed to start a 380-foot project on delaware avenue in...

VOL 4 NO 45

13JuLy

2018

P U B L I S H E D B Y C E N T R A L H U D S O N rsquo S C O R P O R A T E C O M M U N I C A T I O N S D E PA R T M E N T

New this weekEnergy challenges3Quizzes challenges help customers reduce energy usage

Regular features

E D I T O R C H R I S V A L D E ZP H O N E ( 8 4 5 ) 4 8 6 - 5 2 2 7E M A I L C V A L D E Z C E N H U D C O M

FO R T H E E M P LOYE E S O F C E N T R A L H U D S O N G A S amp E L E C T R I C CO R P O R AT I O N

NewsCentral

Central Hudson

People Power Possibilities

A COMPANY

Employees welcomed8For your information8Letrsquos make a deal8Save the date8

Family Day flier 7

Dutchess County Fair3Volunteers needed to staff Companyrsquos booth Aug 21 to 26

Gas distribution projects improve reliability efficiencyCentral Hudson is on schedule to com-

plete the largest natural gas Distribu-tion Improvement Program in the Com-panyrsquos 100-year history

The Distribution Improvement Pro-gram aims to eliminate aging leak-prone gas mains some of which are more than 100 years old in order to enhance the safety reliability and efficiency of the gas system The aging steel and cast iron pipes are being replaced with high density poly-

ethylene plastic gas mains which offer increased durability and protection from environmental conditions

Central Hudson has budgeted $24 million to replace at least 15 miles of gas mains this year plus up to $8 million contingency for an additional five miles should the opportunity present itself Through the first week of July the Com-

Chief Gas Mechanic Don Trabucco attaches sections of plastic pipe through butt fusion in Highland The gas crew is installing 2440 feet of plastic main and completing 28 services to replace steel that was originally installed in 1931

S E E D I P O N PA G E 2

B2E Zone4Team automates appraisal processtool improves rock boring

Heat wave6Central Hudson systems withstand electric usage spike in early July

VOyA update6Promotionstransfers6

2 J U L Y 1 3 2 0 1 8 N E W S C E N T R A L

pany has installed 16 miles of gas mains completed 1250 services and retired 639 miles of aging leak-prone pipe Central Hudson has spent approximately $15 mil-lion on main installations and $19 million overall

The Company has already completed the Stillwater-Mahopac Line reinforce-ment and distribution upgrades in the Mill Street area of Wappingers Falls and Susan Drive area in the Town of New-burgh There are more than a dozen proj-ects currently in progress including

bull A 4350-foot upgrade in the Roo-sevelt Park area of Kingston

bull A 2440-foot project around Commercial Avenue in Highland

bull A 5244-foot improvement near Hasbrouck Avenue in Cornwall

bull A 1560-foot enhancement near DeWindt Street in Beacon and

bull A more than 20000-foot upgrade in Poughkeepsie

Next week Central Hudson is expect-ed to start a 380-foot project on Delaware Avenue in Kingston and a 1830-foot up-grade on Old Glenham Road in Fishkill Later in the month a 6990-foot improve-ment will commence on Verplanck Ave-nue in Beacon

ldquoWe have such a great appreciation for the day-to-day challenges that our

field crews overcome to efficiently and safely complete these improvement proj-ectsrdquo said Manager of Gas Operations Dave Schultz ldquoWe are on our way toward hitting our maximum target and that is due to the hard work and collaboration of employees throughout the Company We planned our work effectively and are now executing on that planrdquo

Central Hudson accelerated its Distri-bution Improvement Program during the ongoing rate plan and those efforts will continue under the three-year plan will go into effect next July The Company spent $307 million to complete 193 miles of leak-prone pipe elimination in 2017

Approximately 2000 service re-p l a c e m e n t s and 2800 customer re-lights were p e r f o r m e d That amounts to roughly a dozen services and about 650 feet of main installed per day during construction season

Prior to the current rate plan Cen-tral Hudson replaced annu-ally less than a

third of that amount historicallyldquoThe success of the program has much

to do with the collaboration between Gas Distribution Engineering which designs and inspects these neighborhood proj-ects and Gas Operations which plans and constructs these improvementsrdquo said Section Engineer Brianna Peak ldquoSupply Chain Corporate Communications Real Property Services Estimating Commer-cial and New Business have also played significant roles in the expansion of our improvement programrdquo

When conducting this work crews are in these neighborhoods for several months at a time so communication with residents and municipal officials is vital Central Hudson uses letters in-person meetings and its website to keep all in-terested parties informed of the ongoing work

The Company also coordinates its work with the municipalitiesrsquo repaving schedules when possible If work is being done on a road that needs to be repaved Central Hudson will finish its project first and then use a temporary patch to cover a trench This saves the Company money and minimizes the community disrup-tion

ldquoWe are doing a great job of proac-tively communicating with customers and municipal officials so everyone is on the same pagerdquo said Gas TampD Superintendent Tom Palmer ldquoOur customers have shown tremendous patience and we are forming lasting relationships with our partnersrdquo

D I P F R O M PA G E 1

Gas Mechanics 2C Cody Connelly left and Phil McCready dig a trench near the intersection of Robert Road and Sheldon Drive on July 10 for a distribution improvement in the Town of Cornwall The crew is installing 5244 feet of main

Chief Gas Mechanic Welder Jim Romaine left and Gas Mechanic 1C Special Bob West check the temperature of an iron before it is used to fuse the plastic main The Kingston crew is installing 4350 feet of new pipeline in the Roosevelt Park area

C E N T R A L H U D S O N G A S amp E L E C T R I C J U L Y 1 3 2 0 1 8 3

Quizzes challenges help customers reduce energy usage expensesCentral Hudson has introduced new

customer quizzes and energy saving challenges that will help My Account us-ers develop action plans to reduce their energy usage carbon footprint andor electric expenses

The short quizzes through CenHub Insights are quick and easy ways to learn more about customersrsquo homes and enable the Energy Transformation and Solutions team to provide users with more accu-rate recommendations The home profile quizzes will lead to personalized ldquoenergy challengesrdquo that will help customers find everyday opportunities to save

The energy challenges are essentially action plans that adhere to goals expressed in answers to the quiz such as the desire for more savings in energy or on utility bills The actions may include setting a water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or wrapping water pipes

The success of the challenges are measured according to a customerrsquos ex-pressed goals For instance if a customerrsquos objective is carbon emission reduction the challenges will be measured by the amount of trees saved

Customers will be able to earn points by taking the quizzes The points can be redeemed for a variety of prizes including gift cards to the CenHub Store Amazon Home Depot and many others

ldquoThis is part of our revamped home profile experience that will give customers a more personalized experience within CenHub and provide them with a tangible plan to accomplish their goalsrdquo said As-sistant Analyst of Digital User Experience Danielle Antenucci ldquoIn the end we hope this experience will influence our My Ac-count customers to be more engaged and participate in our energy efficiency pro-gramsrdquo

The quizzes will cover six topics

bull ldquoThe Basicsrdquo provides relevant comparison information offers and personalized tips

bull ldquoHome Sweet Homerdquo gives cus-tomers common areas where a house leaks energy

bull ldquoWater Usagerdquo teaches customers about impactful steps they can take to conserve water

bull ldquoLighting amp Electronicsrdquo identi-fies ldquovampirerdquo drains

bull ldquoYour Lifestylerdquo describes aspects of customersrsquo lifestyle that influ-ence their energy use and

bull ldquoAppliancesrdquo identifies which de-vices consume the most energy

There are 12 groups of challenges

such as appreciate every drop set to save and bright ideas Each category has its own group of challenges and savings accu-mulated by accomplishing them Through a future enhancement customers will be able to participate in the program without signing into My Account but they will not receive points to earn rewards Cen-tral Hudson will also release more dynam-ic actions and enable users to build their own challenges and plans

These new CenHub featured were launched two weeks ago and will be pro-moted to My Account users in the near fu-ture They will be featured at the Dutchess County Fair Aug 21 to 26 to encourage customers to sign up for My Account and complete the quizzes and challenges

CenHub

My Account users can take new quizzes and accomplish energy challenges through CenHub that will help them develop action plans to reduce their usage carbon footprint andor electric expenses Log into My Account and visit CenHub Insights to participate

DuTCHESS COuNTy FAIRCentral Hudson is recruiting volunteers to staff the Companyrsquos booth at the Dutchess County Fair which takes place Aug 21 to 26 at the fairgrounds in Rhinebeck

The Company has exciting things planned this year The booth will focus on encouraging customers to interact digitally and reduce their carbon footprint It will promote the newest features of CenHub ndash home profile quizzes and personalized energy challenges ndash and showcase the new Chevy Bolt electric vehicle and home EV charging stations Customers will also be able to sign up for the Carbon Reduction Sweepstakes for chances to win a free home energy audit and energy-efficient upgrades

This year Central Hudson will also have a second booth location ndash a CenHub Store Pop-Up Shop ndash featuring $1 LEDs sold in 10-packs bundled with a free desk lamp and a $10 advanced power strip


The three-month and six-month ap-praisal process used for evaluating

new classified employees will be updated to a more efficient automated system by the end of July

When new classified employees are hired they are put on a six-month pro-bation period Supervisors group heads and directors evaluate the new employ-ees during the appraisal process which occurs after three and six months of em-ployment At the end of this evaluation period the new employees can be official-ly placed on regular status

The Bridge to Excellence project aims to increase the efficiency of the apprais-al process by eliminating paperwork that needs to be distributed to the various par-ties within the Company The old cum-bersome process will be replaced with an electronic system through OnBase

The new automated system will al-low the Human Resources Department to send the forms electronically to all par-ties that need to review the forms These forms can be filled out on the computer and sent back electronically The new on-line forms will decrease the amount of time spent transporting the documents to interested parties provide an audit trail for enhanced tracking and help supervi-sors meet their deadlines more efficiently

ldquoUtilizing OnBase for this process will benefit all employees involvedrdquo said Supervisor of Accounts Payable and Fi-nancial Records Sean Manna who led the project with Employment Coordina-tor Diane DrsquoAlessandro ldquoThe majority of the Company is already familiar with On-Base so integrating three- and six-month

appraisals should be relatively seamlessrdquoThe current system requires physical

forms to be delivered to supervisors and directors for review and signatures The three-month appraisal form is emailed to the supervisor printed and then routed back to Human Resources via inter-office mail The six-month process is even more cumbersome because there are multiple parties involved The forms need to be completed by hand and physically passed to the next reviewer There is no audit trail for the form so it is difficult to know where the form is or who still needs to sign it at any given time

The B2E idea to improve the process through OnBase came from Operations Project Manager Jeff Cito Director of La-bor Relations Alison Cobb is the projectrsquos

sponsorThe Company has been using On-

Base in accounts payable so there wasnrsquot a high cost associated in purchasing the software Manna who had already been using OnBase to approve invoices helped teach the other B2E team members how to use the program Because DrsquoAlessandro is responsible for sending out emails and tracking down forms that needed to be completed she is able to provide insight on how to improve the process

ldquoOverall this a great opportunity for Human Resources to start changing their manual processesrdquo DrsquoAlessandro said ldquoThis B2E idea touches almost every su-pervisor in the organization I hope this project can act as a stepping stone for more changesrdquo

Appraisals of new classified hires to be automated

B2E ZonE A MonTHLy SECTIon kEEPIng yoU InFoRMED ABoUT

THE BRIDgE To ExCELLEnCE

A Bridge to Excellence team led by Employment Coordinator Diane DrsquoAlessandro left and Supervisor of Accounts Payable and Financial Records Sean Manna is automating the three- and six-month classified appraisal process The upgrade will allow forms to be completed electronically provide an audit trail to improve tracking and save time The idea was submitted by Project Manager Jeff Cito and is sponsored by Director of Labor Relations Alison Cobb


BRIDGE TO ExCELLENCE

A list of your coworkers who submitted a B2E idea in June

James gauthier Andrew Salemo

Beth Allen Tim Scott

Chris Dailey Danielle Antenucci

Robert StefanoJames Jolly

Joseph Schrowang karen Shaver

Emily Reis nicholas Pinto Ugo DrsquoAmato

Jill kirkMonica Roberti

Line crews benefit from rock boring toolAs part of a research and development

initiative Central Hudson invested in an innovative tool that enables line crews to more efficiently bore through layers of rock when setting poles

Central Hudson has nine Gator Rock Bit Inc Rok Away augers spread among the districts They are core boring tools used for digging holes through rock The augers save time and improve produc-tivity because they can bore a hole into rock in about four hours which is half the time that it took the previously used techniques

The digging conditions for setting poles are varied throughout the Central Hudson service territory Much of the area has rocky conditions that make dig-ging the holes for poles difficult The typ-ical 45-foot pole requires a 65-foot hole

In years past techniques were slow and labor intensive The Company used jack hammers dynamite and pressure diggers to drill through rock Most of the rock holes are drilled by a contractor that has specialized equipment capable of drilling a rock hole in 15 to 20 minutes

The Rok Away augers are predom-inantly used when a contractor is not

available or in off-road areas that the rock contractorrsquos equipment cannot access The new drill bits were not purchased to replace the contractor Contractors are still used for larger projects that require multiple holes to be dug in one day but the Rok Away augers are useful for emer-gency pole sets when the contractor is not available

The Rok Away augers are not used exclusively by a single crew they can be attached to any Derrick Digger This is a useful utility and saves time for crews that need to finish a hole that has rock in its last two to three feet eliminating the need for a second trip and allowing the crew to finish the project

Senior Director of Electric District Operations Mike Englishby conducted a RampD project on the effectiveness of core boring tools for rock digging and helped implement the change Englishby received help from Kingstonrsquos Regional Director of Electric TampD Operations Mike Lennon Fishkillrsquos Regional Director of Electrical TampD Operations Basil Stewart and vari-ous crews that tested the equipment

Englishby learned about the Rok Away auger while at a trade show in 2014

and purchased it along with another au-ger made by Terex Corp Both augers were moved around to various parts of the Company for testing before a final de-cision was made

Rok Away augers have been in use since July of 2015 and have significantly increased the Companyrsquos rock hole drill-ing capabilities

Central Hudson purchased Rok Away augers to bore through thick layers of rock without the help of a contractor when setting utility poles


Joe DallVechia was promoted from Su-pervisor of Accounts Payable and Finan-cial Records to Director of Treasury and Risk Effective July 2018

Sean Manna was promoted from Ac-counting Software Specialist to Super-visor of Accounts Payable and Financial Records Effective July 2018

Mason Mullamphy was promoted from Engineering Technician to Assistant Engi-neer Effective June 2018

Eric Palmatier was promoted from Tes-ter 2C to Meter Foreman Effective June 2018

Bryan Schoonmaker was promoted from Commercial Representative Meter Reader to Maintenance Worker 1C Ef-fective June 2018

Ryan Burnett transferred from System Dispatch Control Supervisor to Associate Service Supervisor Effective July 2018

Ed Ortlieb transferred from Manager of Treasury and Risk to Manager of Finan-cial Planning and Analysis Effective July 2018

Promotions amptransfers

SAVINGS INCENTIVEThe VoyA Stable Value Interest Rate (previously known as the Ing Stable Value Interest Rate) will be 252 percent for the period July 1 through Sept 30

The VoyA Stable Value Fund is an investment option within the Companyrsquos Savings Incentive Plan

In addition the 2018 IRS maximum employee contribution limit is $18500

Electric usage spiked but grid persisted during heat waveLooking for respite from the heat and

humidity Central Hudsonrsquos cus-tomersrsquo electric usage soared during the Mid-Hudson Valleyrsquos recent heat wave

At the start of July the region was in the grips of a heat wave with daily heat advisories from the National Weather Ser-vice for nearly a week Temperatures sur-passed 90 degrees and the heat indexes mdash an estimate of how hot it feels when air temperature and humidity are combined mdash reached 110 degrees

In an effort to find comfort and keep cool customers cranked their air condi-tioners and fans This demand put a strain on the electric grid but the Company avoided major outages or incidents The system did experience however several cases of overloaded transformers over-heated connections and burned down wires Line crews worked extended hours to address these issues that occurred due to the high demand

In order to be prepared for potential issues on Independence Day the Com-pany scheduled two crews to work from each area in order to respond more quick-ly and effectively

That decision proved wise as thunder and lightning storms and high winds came through the service territory causing trees to take down wires and poles During the Independence Day celebration a minor thunderstorm passed through the south-ern areas of Putnam and Orange counties knocking power out to about 1000 cus-tomers in Cornwall and Philipstown This required about 25 Linemen to respond on the holiday to make the necessary repairs

ldquoOverall the system handled the heat very wellrdquo said Senior Director of Electric District Operations Mike Englishby ldquoWe appreciate the dedication and work ethic

of our Linemen who worked around the clock and sacrificed time with their fam-ilies to restore service to our customersrdquo

The electric usage during the heat wave was

bull July 1 Peak load of 1066 MW at 6 pm and a 24-hour load of 19859 MW

bull July 2 Peak of 1114 MW at 6 pm and a 24-hour load of 21601 MW


bull July 4 Peak of 996 MW at 3 pm and a 24-hour load of 19547 MW and


Despite the high usage there were no system or transmission level issues and relatively few localized distribution issues due to heat

ldquoOverall both our transmission and distribution systems held up very well during the recent hot weatherrdquo said Man-ager of Electric Energy Services Hal Turn-er ldquoAlthough Central Hudson engineering plans for the load levels associated with both normal and extreme weather con-ditions similar to what was experienced over the past week planning is not an ex-act science so it is always a relief when the system performs as expectedrdquo

Electric usage soared during the re-cent heat wave but it was far from setting a Central Hudson record The Companyrsquos all-time hourly peak was 1295 MW on Aug 2 2006 The 24-hour record on that same day was 25609 MW One megawatt of electricity is typically sufficient to pow-er 800 to 1000 homes



CHIEFS OF POLICE RAFFLEThe Mid-Hudson Association of

Chiefs of Police is hosting its annual raffleRaffle tickets cost $20 with prizes of

$4000 $1500 and $500 Contact any Se-curity Investigator to purchase a ticket

Proceeds will help the nonprofit offset meeting and training costs The Mid-Hud-son Association is part of a statewide agency that aims to achieve professional recognition uniformity of operation and the advancement of the general welfare of the police profession through the educa-tion of its members according to its web-site

E M P LOY E E E V E N T S E TC FYI

Central Hudsonrsquos retirees family members and friends are invited to the annual retiree picnic on July 18

The luncheon starts at noon at the Rifton Training and Recreational Facility Hamburgers hot dogs salads and desserts will be served

Attendance is $8 per person Reser-vations are due by July 10 Call Rose Dia-mond at (845) 687-9138

R E T I R E E LU N C H E O NSave the date

APARTMENT FOR RENTClean and bright two-bedroom apart-

ment for rent Hardwood floors were re-cently refinished Efficient natural gas heat and hot water Near the Walkway Over the Hudson

Asking $1050 per month Call or text (845) 625-4662

make a dealLetrsquos

NewsCentral submission guidelinesbull For NewsCentralrsquos ldquoFor your

informationrdquo and ldquoLetrsquos make a dealrdquo features employees are invited to submit items for sale or items wanted Services cannot be listed

bull The deadline is 5 pm Friday of the week prior to publication

bull NewsCentral accepts no ads that involve the sale or purchase of firearms personal services alcohol or alcohol-related products andor any items deemed in conflict with Central Hudson policies and standards

bull newsCentral will only publish fundraisers that are directly tied to nonprofits Personal fundraising initiatives are prohibited

bull Submissions should be sent through interoffice mail to Chris Valdez in Corporate Communications or emailed to cvaldezcenhudcom

bull Item descriptions should be brief (about 50 words or less)

bull Contact information for all listed items must be outside of Central Hudson business hours and operations

bull Ads appear for two consecutive weeks Should the item fail to sell and yoursquod like to run it again please resubmit it Any questions contact Editor Chris Valdez

Gary Hendricks joined the Company as an Mainframe Database Administrator on July 9 He works out of the Poughkeepsie office and reports to Director of Technical Support and Communications Rick McGowan

Hendricks has six years of experience as a database administrator while working for the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of Americarsquos College Retire-ment Equities Fund in Arizona He also worked at Nissan Motor Acceptance Cor-poration for 10 years as a database admin-istrator

Hendricks is a native of Kingman Ariz and graduated from Kingman High School He currently resides in Highland He and his wife Eva have three children 32-year-old Megan 29-year-old Jennifer and 22-year-old Taylor Hendricks is a fan of golf and football

Patrick OrsquoMalley joined the Company as a Utility Worker on July 9 He works out of the Catskill district and re-ports to Gas Foreman John DeGregoria

OrsquoMalley worked as an apprentice electriciangenerator technician for one year at Jones Services in Goshen While there he repaired and installed generators He graduated from Goshen High School before attending Orange-Ulster BOCES and earning an associate degree in Inte-grated Energy Systems from the State Uni-versity of New York at Delhi

OrsquoMalley is a native of Goshen and continues to live there He enjoys fishing and watching sports in his free time

N E W E S T E M P LOY E E SWelcome

Hendricks

OrsquoMalley


pany has installed 16 miles of gas mains completed 1250 services and retired 639 miles of aging leak-prone pipe Central Hudson has spent approximately $15 mil-lion on main installations and $19 million overall

The Company has already completed the Stillwater-Mahopac Line reinforce-ment and distribution upgrades in the Mill Street area of Wappingers Falls and Susan Drive area in the Town of New-burgh There are more than a dozen proj-ects currently in progress including

bull A 4350-foot upgrade in the Roo-sevelt Park area of Kingston

bull A 2440-foot project around Commercial Avenue in Highland

bull A 5244-foot improvement near Hasbrouck Avenue in Cornwall

bull A 1560-foot enhancement near DeWindt Street in Beacon and

bull A more than 20000-foot upgrade in Poughkeepsie

Next week Central Hudson is expect-ed to start a 380-foot project on Delaware Avenue in Kingston and a 1830-foot up-grade on Old Glenham Road in Fishkill Later in the month a 6990-foot improve-ment will commence on Verplanck Ave-nue in Beacon

ldquoWe have such a great appreciation for the day-to-day challenges that our

field crews overcome to efficiently and safely complete these improvement proj-ectsrdquo said Manager of Gas Operations Dave Schultz ldquoWe are on our way toward hitting our maximum target and that is due to the hard work and collaboration of employees throughout the Company We planned our work effectively and are now executing on that planrdquo

Central Hudson accelerated its Distri-bution Improvement Program during the ongoing rate plan and those efforts will continue under the three-year plan will go into effect next July The Company spent $307 million to complete 193 miles of leak-prone pipe elimination in 2017

Approximately 2000 service re-p l a c e m e n t s and 2800 customer re-lights were p e r f o r m e d That amounts to roughly a dozen services and about 650 feet of main installed per day during construction season

Prior to the current rate plan Cen-tral Hudson replaced annu-ally less than a

third of that amount historicallyldquoThe success of the program has much

to do with the collaboration between Gas Distribution Engineering which designs and inspects these neighborhood proj-ects and Gas Operations which plans and constructs these improvementsrdquo said Section Engineer Brianna Peak ldquoSupply Chain Corporate Communications Real Property Services Estimating Commer-cial and New Business have also played significant roles in the expansion of our improvement programrdquo

When conducting this work crews are in these neighborhoods for several months at a time so communication with residents and municipal officials is vital Central Hudson uses letters in-person meetings and its website to keep all in-terested parties informed of the ongoing work

The Company also coordinates its work with the municipalitiesrsquo repaving schedules when possible If work is being done on a road that needs to be repaved Central Hudson will finish its project first and then use a temporary patch to cover a trench This saves the Company money and minimizes the community disrup-tion

ldquoWe are doing a great job of proac-tively communicating with customers and municipal officials so everyone is on the same pagerdquo said Gas TampD Superintendent Tom Palmer ldquoOur customers have shown tremendous patience and we are forming lasting relationships with our partnersrdquo

D I P F R O M PA G E 1

Gas Mechanics 2C Cody Connelly left and Phil McCready dig a trench near the intersection of Robert Road and Sheldon Drive on July 10 for a distribution improvement in the Town of Cornwall The crew is installing 5244 feet of main

Chief Gas Mechanic Welder Jim Romaine left and Gas Mechanic 1C Special Bob West check the temperature of an iron before it is used to fuse the plastic main The Kingston crew is installing 4350 feet of new pipeline in the Roosevelt Park area



















CenHub









































































































Hendricks

OrsquoMalley



















CenHub









































































































Hendricks

OrsquoMalley





































































































Hendricks

OrsquoMalley

newscentral - chretirees.org · 13.07.2018 · ed to start a 380-foot project on delaware avenue in...

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