Hello Everyone- My name is Jim Kitchens and I serve as the Director of Contracts, Supplier Relations and Events for the Utilities Service Alliance. 2024 is flying by, isn’t it? The older I get the faster the time seems to go by. My entire career has been spent in the nuclear industry. My dad was an electrical engineer and project manager with Bechtel and helped me get my first job in the industry a “hundred years ago.” I remember him asking me to put a bumper sticker on my car supporting defeat of California Proposition 15 when I was in high school. Prop. 15 sought to limit new nuclear power construction and phase out existing plants in California, though I had no idea what any of it was about. Guess what? We won that initiative! Maybe I was an influencer before influencers were a “thing!” Must have been the sight of that pro-nukes bumper sticker on the back of my sweet, dark green ’68 Firebird as I drove around southern California. Man- I loved that car!
Continuing down memory lane for a moment- I was reflecting on my career recently and can clearly remember a time not so long ago when I was concerned that the nuclear power industry would not survive until the time I was ready to ride off into the sunset and that I would need to find something else to do. I really love this industry and believe, as probably all of you do, that it has gotten a bad rap over the years. In addition to providing me with a way to take care of my family, I have had the opportunity to work with lots of really smart, dedicated people and make lifelong friendships while doing something I enjoy and believe is very important by producing clean electricity that has a direct and positive impact on our economy and the quality of life enjoyed by all of our citizens.
Isn’t it wonderful that a new day has dawned for our industry? The theme of our Executive Summit in 2022 was “Nuclear’s Next Wave” and it was fascinating to learn from numerous industry leaders about what is going on in the industry at large and the tremendous investment and innovation that continues to unfold. Last year we focused on keeping our fleet viable through excellence and innovation and next month we’ll gather around topics pertaining to nuclear resilience. You won’t want to miss it! If you haven’t registered to attend, there is still time to sign up.
The Supply Chain world continues to provide a thrill a minute! The extreme cost increases and supply disruption of the last several years have eased somewhat, however it’s anybody’s guess as to whether we will ever return to the good old days of near zero inflation we enjoyed for the previous decade or so. The continuing economic uncertainty only emphasizes the importance of our mission at USA and the need for increased cooperation and collaboration between members and supplier-partners. By working together toward increased efficiency, controlling costs and implementing solutions that benefit all parties, we will survive and thrive because we are smarter together than we are as individuals. We recently wrapped up our 21st Annual Member & Supplier-Partner Winter Conference in Charleston, SC, with our largest attendance ever while facilitating nearly 400 individual meetings and breakout sessions over three days. 92% of survey respondents said the conference was “an excellent or good value for the investment of their time and resources.” USA members and supplier-partners alike recognize the challenges and urgency we’re all facing and it’s very gratifying to me to see folks roll up their sleeves and continue to push for new and innovative ways to work together, provide value and reduce costs. Other key Supply Chain activities in 2024 include strategic expansion of our agreement portfolio, active support of the Parts Quality Initiative, Supplier Fairs at Comanche Peak, Fermi and Cook, our second annual Maintenance & Mods Review Meeting, Key Supplier Meetings and, of course, the Executive Summit just around the corner.
2023 was a banner year for the Alliance! In the savings arena we had our best year ever, documenting more than $60M including more than $14M through USA Programs and Projects, and nearly $46.5M in Supply Chain thanks to member use of the roughly 50 Agreements we have in place with our Supplier-Partners. At the Executive Summit next month, we’ll be recognizing our Suppliers of the Year for 2023 as voted on by our members as well as the Optimizer award which goes to the USA member with the highest overall return on their USA investment.
Collaboration in all areas remains at the core of USA and foundational to the benefit derived by our members and supplier-partners. While it is often difficult to quantify, I cannot overstate the value of working together. Our members all have strengths and challenges in different areas and having input from a such diverse group is even better than other Fleets that are all from the same company and tend to think and act alike. We make sure to allow significant time for open discussion of best practices and challenges on all our team calls and at face-to-face meetings and we also utilize a formal system for benchmarking and sharing of information using our action item system. The support and contributions from our Supplier-Partners play a huge part in our success by providing outstanding value while identifying new ideas as well as solutions to our challenges. It’s a great team all around!
I mentioned our annual Nuclear Generator & Supplier Executive Summit earlier and want to close with just a little more information about that. This will be our 28th annual Summit and is shaping up to be another great one. We’re meeting June 25 – 28 in Naples, Florida. The theme is “Nuclear Resilience in the Digital Revolution” and John Christensen has assembled an outstanding slate of presenters and topics. As usual, we’ll feature the Supplier Solutions Showcase with dozens of supplier booths and great food and beverage. The entire week is packed with value as well as family fun and activities. I hope you’ll bring your family and stay a few extra days for an unforgettable vacation!
You can Click Here to visit the Summit Registration Website. Please contact us at USA Conferences with any questions or assistance needed.
Thank you so much for your support and for being the reason USA can do what we do and continue to grow. We can’t wait to connect with you soon. In the meantime, if you have any questions about USA or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
