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Volume XVII, Issue 3 March 2017 2017 Washington D.C.

This annual event, held in conjunction with the American Public Power Association s Legislative Rally this year, allows ECA member utilities to meet with Alabama s congressional members to discuss

..1 Huntsville Utilities Boards Name New President/CEO...2 ECA Trivia...2 2017 Annual Meeting Registration Now Open...3 Happenings on Goat Hill...3 Cybersecurity and Social Media.

1 Volume XVII, Issue 3 March Washington D.C. Legislative Rally Highlights Members of Electric Cities of Alabama (ECA) traveled to the nation s capital earlier this month for ECA s 2017 Washington D.C. Legislative Rally. This annual event, held in conjunction with the American Public Power Association s Legislative Rally this year, allows ECA member utilities to meet with Alabama s congressional members to discuss federal issues impacting the public power industry at the local level. Utility managers, directors, IN THIS ISSUE 2017 Washington D.C. Legislative Rally Highlights...1 Huntsville Utilities Boards Name New President/CEO...2 ECA Trivia Annual Meeting Registration Now Open...3 Happenings on Goat Hill...3 Cybersecurity and Social Media Calendar of Events...6 Senator Richard Shelby s staff meets with ECA s member cities during the 2017 Washington D.C. Legislative Rally. Senator Luther Strange speaks to ECA s member cities during the 2017 Washington D.C. Legislative Rally. mayors and city councilmen from across the state gathered on Capitol Hill to be a part of this year s legislative rally. ECA was fortunate to meet with members and staff of the Alabama delegation to discuss a wide range of topics important to Alabama s public power community. The legislative rally concluded with ECA s annual legislative dinner with members and staff from Alabama s congressional districts in attendance. ECA was especially honored to have Congressman Bradley Byrne, Congressman Mo Brooks and Congressman Gary Palmer in attendance. This event would not have been possible without the strong attendance from ECA members and the continued support of the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority, who sponsored this year s dinner. For more information on how you can get involved with next year s Washington DC Legislative Rally, please contact the ECA office for additional details.

Source: Huntsville Utilities News Release by Joe Gehrdes Huntsville Utilities Electric Board and Natural Gas & Waterworks Boards have named Mr.

Following a national search, Wes Kelley, Executive Director of Columbia Power & Water Systems (CPWS) in Tennessee, will lead Huntsville Utilities.

2 Source: Huntsville Utilities News Release by Joe Gehrdes Huntsville Utilities Electric Board and Natural Gas & Waterworks Boards have named Mr. Wes Kelley as the 5th President & CEO of the city-owned, multiservice utility. Following a national search, Wes Kelley, Executive Director of Columbia Power & Water Systems (CPWS) in Tennessee, will lead Huntsville Utilities. Kelley is coming to Huntsville with more than 20 years of utility and municipal government service experience. Prior to serving as the Executive Director for CPWS, he led Pulaski Electric System which serves Giles County Tennessee. A native of Gadsden, Alabama, Kelley holds a bachelor s degree from Hillsdale College in Michigan where he also began his career in Member News Huntsville Utilities Boards Name New President/CEO Wes Kelley named the 5th President & CEO of the city-owned, multi-service utility. the public utility sector. Throughout his two decades as a senior leader within the Tennessee Valley, Wes has served on key boards and committees for the Tennessee Valley Authority Regional Energy Resource Council, Customer Planning Council and the Energy Efficiency & Demand Response Group. Actively engaged with economic development of Maury County, TN, he served as chair of the Chamber of Commerce and numerous community and non-profit boards. Committed to the customers and the economic vitality of the community, Kelley said, It s our job to make sure our utility systems are strong and reliable because we serve as a catalyst for community growth and economic development opportunities. Kelley and his wife, Sundown, are the proud parents of two schoolaged daughters. Huntsville Utilities is a municipally-owned, not for profit utility serving over 182,000 electric, 94,000 water and 52,000 natural gas customers in Madison County, Alabama. ECA Trivia: Win a $25.00 Gift Card! In what year was the first discovery that certain metals produced an electric current when exposed to light? Last month s winner was Chip Rasch of Florence who answered that 1% of the Earth s water is suitable for drinking. Congrats Chip! the correct answer to Andrea Salvador at asalvador@electriccities.org and you could win a $25.00 gift card. March 2017 Electric Cities Connected Page 2

You will not want to miss this opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with fellow member cities, exhibitors, elected officials and key staff.

3 2017 Annual Meeting Registration Now Open Registration for ECA s 17th Annual Meeting and Governmental Affairs Conference is now open! Join us as we head to the beach for ECA s most widely attended event. ECA s Annual Meeting will be held he Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, AL, July 9-11, You will not want to miss this opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences with fellow member cities, exhibitors, elected officials and key staff. ECA will begin this year s Annual Meeting and Governmental Affairs Conference Sunday night with a welcome reception/dinner. Attendees are encouraged to bring family members to this fun and casual event. We also welcome you and your family to attend Monday morning s Chairman s Breakfast where we will honor this year s award recipients. To reserve your spot and to download a tentative conference agenda, go to ECA s website at org and click on the Register Now link under upcoming events. You will have the opportunity to register and pay online. You will also have the option to reserve your room at the Perdido Beach Resort at ECA s room block rate of $234 a night now until June 8, You do not want to miss out on the fun, reserve your room today! Listed below are just a few of the highlights of the 2017 Regular Session that have taken place on Goat Hill so far: March 1 - Representative Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, was elected House Majority Leader. Ledbetter replaces former House Majority Leader Micky Hammon, who stepped down after surviving a vote of no confidence. March 1 - The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would repeal the requirement for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Current law allows for open carry of a holstered pistol but requires a permit to conceal the weapon. March 8 - The House Ways and Means General Fund Committee Happenings On Goat Hill approved a 2018 General Fund budget. The Committee s $1.8 billion budget was largely similar to Governor Bentley s proposal, but it did not include the Governor s recommended 4% raise for state employees. March 14 - The Alabama House passed a budget for the General Fund following hours of debate. The budget would allow $1.84 billion in state spending, which is almost exactly the same as the current year s budget. The allotment for most agencies would remain roughly the same. March 15 -An education budget came out of committee that would spend $6.4 billion from the Education Trust Fund (ETF) on K-12 public schools, community colleges, public universities and other programs. A vote in the full Senate was postponed on Thursday in response to the concerns of several senators who said they had not had enough time to review the bill. March 16 - Legislators adjourned for a two-week break before reconvening on April 4. March 2017 Electric Cities Connected Page 3

4 The following is a guest column by ECA associate member, SecurIT360. Social Media today includes a wide variety of mediums and technologies in which users can generate their own content or comments and broadcast it publicly via internet websites. It is accessible by computers and mobile devices, and in many cases, postings or comments can be made anonymously. Facebook Twitter Myspace LinkedIn Blogs Message Boards Business Networking Business Reviews Dating Sites Gaming Sites Photo /Video Sharing Sites Comment Sections on News Sites Social media represents opportunity and risk to every company. Consider the following statistics. -More than 70% of online adults and 92% of under-30 s use social media sites. -Facebook has more than 1 Billion users! -More than 200 Billion tweets go out each year. Social Media can impact a business in many ways, both positive and negative. The uses and impacts of social media can be complex and far-reaching. Cybersecurity and Social Media When used effectively, it can be a great marketing tool for promoting a company s image and the products and services they sell. Unfortunately, it can also be one of the fastest ways to impact a business in a negative manner. It can be used to organize protests and public relations attacks against a company when a person or group of people dislike something or someone associated with that company. The corporate perspective of social media can be very complex. We will mostly focus on personal use of social media in this article, but these are a few good guidelines to consider in corporate use of social media. Carefully consider if your company will use it in an official capacity. If so, be sure to set policies for use that will reflect the proper messaging from a marketing, image, and public relations perspective. Whether is used in an official capacity or not, you should have HR policies in place to set expectations for employee s social media use that could impact the company. My social media is my business. What does that have to do with my company? While many people consider social media to be a personal thing, our personal use of it can have a tremendous impact on our employers. Our positive or negative use of social media may be linked to our employer or other associations. We see examples every day in which a company is praised or condemned, based on the social media actions of an employee. It is also a good thing to consider for anything we do. Recognition of positive or negative behavior is often broadcast via social media. Like other Cybersecurity issues, there are human behavior and technical considerations to address. - Keep personal and business social media sites very separate. Social media cannot be erased. - Slow Down! Especially if you are angry or highly emotional. - Take a few extra seconds to re-read your posts on social media, just as you do with , to reduce embarrassing errors. - A seemingly simple tweet or Facebook posting about business can have profound consequences for us and for whoever tweeted or posted it. - Know how to set the privacy settings on every social media site before using it. - Learn how to recognize social engineering, such as requests to watch videos, click links or go to websites. - Social media has become a breeding ground for cybercriminals, scams, fraud and identity theft. - Be wary of s that claim to come from any of your social networks. - Many of them are hoaxes and could be malicious. - Assume security will fail, and everyone, including your boss, could see your personal updates and photos. Continued on next page... March 2017 Electric Cities Connected Page 4

Cybersecurity and Social Media (Continued) - While much of the impact is based around image and messaging, there are significant cybersecurity aspects as well.

5 Cybersecurity and Social Media (Continued) - While much of the impact is based around image and messaging, there are significant cybersecurity aspects as well. From a technical perspective, it is important to understand that your social media accounts can be hacked like any other account. The key thing about a social media hack is that it can be used to publicly ruin your reputation. If your social media account has been hacked or compromised, take Source: al.com, Mike Cason The special counsel overseeing the impeachment investigation of Gov. Robert Bentley plans to issue a written report to the House Judiciary Committee on April 7 and said that report will be made public. Special Counsel Jack Sharman said the report will be followed by committee hearings, a response from the governor, and a report to the House of Representatives on May 4. these steps immediately. - Change your password and make it very strong. - Reset all sharing and make it the most restrictive you can. - Notify anyone who may have received rogue messages that your account was comprised. - Temporarily revoke access to all apps and add-ons associated with the compromised account. - At home: Scan your computer with up-to-date, reputable antivirus The timeline is tentative, Sharman said in a press release and in a March 23 letter to the governor s lawyers. Ross Garber, the lawyer representing the governor s office in the proceedings, said in a letter to Sharman that the steps in Sharman s timeline do not follow directives given to Sharman by the committee, House rules and court mandates requiring that the governor receive due process. Twenty-three House members signed an impeachment resolution against Bentley in April 2016, accusing the governor of willful neglect of duty and corruption in office and alleging there was credible evidence of probable cause that Bentley misused state resources. The attorney general s office is also investigating the governor. The Associated Press reported that the Ethics Commission is software. - At work: Contact IT Security Immediately. As always, develop a cyberdefense mindset to protect yourself AND your company. If you would like to learn more about Cybersecurity and how to protect your company, contact David Burns Account Manager, SecurIT360 dburns@securit360.com Bentley Impeachment Report Coming April 7; Vote Expected in May preparing to issue the results of its investigation of ethics complaints filed against the governor last year. If commission finds probable cause that Bentley broke the law, it would turn the matter over to state prosecutors. The commission s next regular meeting is April 5. The Judiciary Committee s report on the impeachment investigation will be submitted to the full House. It would take 63 votes in the 105-seat House to consider it. It would take a majority, 53 votes, to impeach the governor. That would send the matter to the Senate for an impeachment trial. Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey would assume the duties of the governor s office upon impeachment by the House. To that end, Bentley could only return to office if acquitted by the Senate. March 2017 Electric Cities Connected Page 5

THE INFORMATION SOURCE OF THE ELECTRIC CITIES OF ALABAMA P.O. Box 1550 Montgomery, AL 36102-1550 770 Washington Ave.

October 16-18, 2017 Engineering & Operations Conference Ross Bridge Hoover, AL October 15, 2017 Board of Directors Meeting Ross Bridge Hoover, AL THE ELECTRIC CITIES OF ALABAMA IS A COALITION OF THE

6 THE INFORMATION SOURCE OF THE ELECTRIC CITIES OF ALABAMA P.O. Box 1550 Montgomery, AL Washington Ave., Suite 164 Montgomery, AL Phone: Fax: Calendar of Events July 9-11, 2017 Annual Meeting & Governmental Affairs Conference Perdido Beach Resort Orange Beach, AL October 16-18, 2017 Engineering & Operations Conference Ross Bridge Hoover, AL October 15, 2017 Board of Directors Meeting Ross Bridge Hoover, AL THE ELECTRIC CITIES OF ALABAMA IS A COALITION OF THE STATE S MUNICIPALLY OWNED AND OPERATED ELECTRIC SYSTEMS. ALABAMA S ELECTRIC CITIES SERVE APPROXIMATELY ONE MILLION CONSUMERS IN 36 CITIES THROUGHOUT ALABAMA. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: JONATHAN HAND - JHAND@ELECTRICCITIES.ORG DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING: ANDREA SALVADOR - ASALVADOR@ELECTRICCITIES.ORG Electric Cities of Alabama Annual Meeting & Governmental Affairs Conference July 9-11, 2017 Perdido Beach Resort Orange Beach, AL March 2017 Electric Cities Connected Page 6

Electric Cities of Alabama

Volume XXV, Issue 5 July/August 2016 ECA s 2016 Annual Meeting Highlights Electric Cities of Alabama (ECA) member cities, vendors and elected officials from across the state met in July for ECA s 16th