News

Vickery Selected USA Director – Procurement Systems

Author: USA Communication

Brad Vickery, who currently serves as the USA Project Manager for the Material Cost Reduction (MCR) project, has been selected by Utilities Service Alliance (USA) to serve as its Director – Procurement Systems. In this role, Brad will report to John Christensen, USA’s President & CEO.  He will be responsible for identifying and driving cost-savings...

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USA Board of Directors Update – November 2019

Author: USA Communication

The USA Board of Directors (BOD) met November 5th in conjunction with the INPO CEO Conference and approved moving forward on several 2020 activities. 2020 Projects and Focus Areas were discussed but the list was not finalized so we will provide an update in December when the final list is approved.  The following activities/areas were...

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Executive Spotlight – November 2019

Author: John Christensen

As we look back at 2019, I think it’s safe to say that we have plenty of things to be thankful for in our USA family, and we’ve never been stronger or more aligned.  We just completed our second year under our new USA Business Model, and I’m happy to report that we seem to...

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Xcel Energy flexible operations work with renewables

Author: USA Communication

Looking ahead to a carbon-free future, Xcel Energy’s nuclear plants are in the process of moving from full-power baseload production to more flexible operations that can work with the fluctuations in renewable energy production. “The goal is to keep our renewables running at full power without any curtailment,” said Nate Bibus, project lead of the...

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Energy Northwest receives honor for military employee support

Author: USA Communication

Nuclear Security Officer and Marine Staff Sgt. Christopher Clouse nominated Energy Northwest for the Washington state Above and Beyond award. This award is one of the highest recognitions given to Washington state employers for their support of employees who serve in the National Guard or Reserve. CEO Brad Sawatzke and Sid Morrison, executive board chair,...

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STP – Recognizing Hazards as One Team

Author: USA Communication

Hazard recognition is the most important tool to protect workers from workplace hazards; help avoid injuries, illnesses, and incidents; minimize or eliminate safety and health risks; and help employers provide workers with safe and healthful working conditions. We must look out for each other regardless of work group, department, or company. Look for safety hazards, plant...

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USA Plants work together to improve Plant Status Control

Author: USA Communication

USA has completed four plant status control assessments resulting in the identification of five strengths and twelve recommendations for improvements.  These ideas and the help provided were driven by the outstanding industry and host peers we have had on the assessment teams.  Tim Borgen of Xcel started us off by acting as host peer at...

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Process improvements yielded successful valve work by Crane Nuclear during Spring 2019 USA outages

Author: USA Communication

Working closely together and implementing improvements based on past lessons learned, Crane Nuclear and the USA plants carried out very successful valve work during the Spring 2019 Outage Season.  Columbia, Comanche Peak, and Cook all had Spring Outages using the USA Agreement with Crane Nuclear for valve services.  Each plant was able to save thousands...

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Executive Spotlight – August 2019

Author: Jim Kitchens

As summer draws to a close and we look forward to fall outages, the USA Supply Chain Team continues with a full slate of activities and initiatives. In addition to wrapping up our Maintenance and Mods contracting initiative the SCM Team will be actively moving forward with the Engineer of Choice (EOC) initiative as well...

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Ken Peters Re-elected USA Board Vice-Chair

Author: USA Communication

During the recent Utilities Service Alliance (USA) 2019 Executive Summit hosted in San Antonio, TX, its Board of Directors announced the election of Vice Chairman Ken Peters, Chief Nuclear Officer at Luminant Generating Company’s Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant.  Mr. Peters will serve a two-year term, effective immediately. “USA is honored to have Ken agree...

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