We heard from Brian Swett, the newly appointed Chief Climate Officer of Boston. Brian is new to this Administration but not new to the role and the City is brighter with his involvement. Brian emphasized the need to upgrade the grid to reach Boston’s goal to be net carbon neutral. Decarbonization, resilience, and energy transition are their priorities of climate action driving this. He reported that Boston requires 8-12 new substations but determining where to put them is the factor. The City will prioritize low income, and then critical corridors and constrain points. He also noted the abundance of incentives and rebates available, which means big opportunities for ECs. His full presentation can be found here: View the Boston’s Climate Initiatives Presentation here.

 

There was also a panel discussion on Grid Modernization and Sustainability with Jim Hunt from Eversource Energy and Nicola Medalova from National Grid. Two of the City’s brightest minds and collaborators. They discussed the $75 Billion that is over the next five years for energy transition in the U.S. across transmission and distribution. They shared their energy needs and are anticipating a 2.5 increase in the amount of demand between now and 2050. The stressed the challenges is that there isn’t space for this increased load, so we need new innovations and technologies. Nicola cautioned that it can’t be more poles, wires, and substations only, we have to consider more innovative options to be different. Siting and permitting will be critical to success. Both utilities have developed a preferred contractors list and increased visibility to the business plans. The goal is strategic relationships with contractors. Including our NECA Contractors to invest in tools and people to know what work is coming.

IBEW Local 103’s Business Manager Lou Antonellis and NECA Boston’s Kristen Gowin discussed the opportunities and challenges we tackle and how the NECA Contractors work with our IBEW partners towards solutions. They focused on business development efforts to be aware of and their joint role to ensure the City achieves its goals.

 

Lastly, we are pleased to share that the ELECTRI Council was presented with nine research projects, including a proposal that was presented by NECA Boston’s Representative, Matt Guarracino of JM Electrical. As a reminder, last year NECA Boston and IBEW Local 103 expanded our 4 day/10-hour work week language to allow for “all or a portion of the crew” to work this schedule. We have been eager to expand on the proven success through research on the topic. Thanks to Matt’s presentation, the Council voted to fund the project - Examining the 4x10 Work Week: Benefits, Challenges, and Data Insights by Hala Nassereddine.

In addition, the also Council voted to fund:

  • Forecasting Absenteeism in the Electrical Construction Industry Through Historical Data Analysis and Proactive Employee Engagement - Ashrant Aryal
  • Managerial Strategies for Improving Project Level Cash Flow and Payment Terms
    • John Killingsworth

 

To access all of ELECTRI’s Research and reports, please visit their website which is free to access to all NECA members.  https://electri.org/research-overview/