November 1, 2024 • 31 mins
Hear Stormy ask questions about everything, xAI, Outages, Help for seniors, our clean water and more...
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Pulse. Okay,
I got a special guest in the studio, you guys,
for you, I brought him in, will he brought himself in.
Thank you for coming though. It is the CEO and well,
president and CEO of m lg W, Doug McGowan. I'm
(00:24):
doing good. You all right?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Okay? What are your friends call you, mister McGowan?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Around work they call me chief and my friends called
me Doug or anything else.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Well, welcome, thank you for being here. I appreciate you
coming and having this conversation with us on today to
a lot of people in Memphis have questions about everything
that's happening with MLGW right now. So let's, I guess,
start with some simple things. The thing that most recently happened.
I heard about news of even Biden talking about these
(00:57):
lead pipes all across America, and now that's a conversation here,
probably was a conversation before he may you know, talked
about it as well. But tell us about the lead
pipes in Memphis and should we be concerned about them
right now?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, the answer is no. And let me tell you
a little bit about that.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
So first, the drinking water we have in Memphis is
the best in the country, and we aim to keep
it that way. The water is safe from the source
all the way through to your tap. The concern with
lead pipes is what it's made up of, called a
service line. That is the line that goes from the
water main in the street to your home. That is
the smallest part of the system that we have. Those
were installed predominantly before nineteen fifty five. So if your
(01:41):
home's a newer home, you probably don't have anything to
worry about.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
The rest of our system is not made up of
lead at all. I've got, you know, ten water treatment plants.
I've got four thousand miles of distribution lines, I've got
thousands and thousands of pumps, and I've dozens of tanks.
None of that's made of lead. In the older areas
of town, when we didn't know better, we use lead
as the primary source of some of the materials to
(02:06):
use pipes. It was seen as a premium product at
that time. Well as most of our parents tell us,
when you know better, you do better. Yeah, And we
stopped using in nineteen fifty five. MLGW in twenty twelve,
took action before anybody told us to start removing those
from our system, and so we've been removing them. We've
removed nine thousand of them already and we intend to
(02:29):
continue doing that now. This year, the EPA ordered us
to have all of them out in the next ten years,
not just us, but every utility in the country as
an obligation now to remove lead pipes from their system.
There are two sides to that pipe. One that goes
from the water main in the middle of the street
to your water meter, which is typically at your curb,
(02:50):
and the other part goes from the water meter to
your house. Now, the first part is mlgw's responsibility. The
second part is what your builder put in, So it's
the homeowner's responsibility.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So okay, So if i'm if i'm let me get
this straight. So okay. My cousin has an older home, yes,
and if it was built prior to you said.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
About nineteen fifty five, good cut off you.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Okay then, and she maybe should get her pipes may
bee inspected, the ones that stop where you begin into
the house.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
She does not have to get them inspected because we've
already done that. So Okay, I just completed an inventory.
That was one thing that we had to do. We've
inventoried the entire service territory.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
She can go to MLGW dot com backslash water Service
Lines and she can see the inventory on there. She
can type in her address, it will zoom into her home.
There will be a circle with several colors in the circle.
On the left side of the circle will be what
the pipe is made up from the MLGW side from
the water meter. The other half of the circle will
(03:56):
be what the material is made up from the meter
to the home. Now, it might be lead, it might
be galvanized. We will remove both of those on the
MLGW side. It might be unknown. Now, if it's unknown,
we have to come out there and do some more testing.
That's going to be what we are going to do
over the next ten years. We'll remove all of that
(04:16):
from the MLGW side. Now, if your cousin happens to
be age qualified or income qualified, we are going to
put a program in place to help customers who are
in that situation with removal on their side as well.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Oh nice, she is age qualified.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
And nobody's told us we have to do that. It's
just the right thing to do. Thankfully, the federal government
is allocated that fifteen billion you were talking about. Tennessee's
got about two hundred and fifty million. That's our allocation.
We have requested one hundred million of that two hundred
and fifty because we want more than our fair share
in Memphis.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Okay, all right, And we want to lead here.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
We want to be out in front of this. So
that's the funding word to use to replace it on
the private side. So we're excited about this.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
That so that means that means my cousin may not
have to pay for what is or possibly wrong at
a house.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
At least get some assistance. If it doesn't pay the
whole thing, at least get some assistance.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And I think, quite frankly, Stormy, this is the beginning
of some innovative ideas. I think there's going to be
more money from the federal government, the state government. I
think there's going to be some legislation that comes out
talking about, you know, potentially tax credits for people who
make this investment, particularly landlords. That's the hard part is
it's easy if your cousin's a homeowner. Yeah, can get
her permission to replace it. But what if it's a landlord,
(05:34):
and what if that's an LLC and I don't even
know where the owner is and how do I get permission?
So lots more work to do there. But we are
at the beginning of this. We've got ten years to
get it done. Thankfully, we have some money and we
have a plan, and we've been doing this since twenty twelve,
so we know how to do this.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Okay, all right, that's comforting to know because I was
wondering about that as it relates to our older population
and how they deal with that, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Sure, one other thing, I just want everybody to understand.
Reason I can say your water is safe from the
source to your tap. The way that lead gets from
that pipe into your water is through corrosion. And MLGW
has an anti corrosion program. We put an additive into
the water. It's a food great additive called phosphate. It
inhibits corrosion from happening, and so that's your first line
(06:20):
of defense. You've heard about horror stories from other water
utilities around the country. They did not have a corrosion
control plan in place. And that's what caused a lot
of their problems. We've been doing this for decades, so
just know that we are doing everything we can to
protect you. If at the end of the day you're
still concerned, we have a water lab and we're more
than happy to test a customer's water. Request it from us.
(06:44):
We'll send the test kit to your home with instructions
on how to take a sample of water. We'll take
it back, test it and give you the results so
you can have peace of mind knowing that you still
have the best quality of water in the country.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Okay, well, let me get that done from a cousin. Okay,
nine oh one five four four six five four nine,
that's the number, which is basically is that five four
four m l GW.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
That's correct.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Okay, that's easy to dial. I'm I'm gonna go over
to her house get some ha water. She probably gonna
look at me like, what are you doing.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Well, ask us for a kit. We'll send it and
then you can collect them.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Oh, get the kid first, Okay, get the kit, then
do it.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Okay, I need the kit. I will call and I
won't tell her. No, I'm just kidding, but that is
good to know. I'm glad you explained that because I
was wondering and I'm sure that a lot of people
that are listening were wondering about that as well.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And if they forget, I will remind everybody that the
election's about to come to a close this coming Tuesday.
People are tired of getting things in the mail. But
you're going to get one more postcard from MLGW and
thet's blue this time it has MLGW on the front.
I don't want you to throw that one out. Okay,
open that up, because inside that postcarder is going to
have the results of what we found on your property.
(07:51):
Oh we found galvani As.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
We don't know everybody's gonna get one.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Well, if you don't have a problem, you're not going
to get a postcard. So card means you're probably in
good shape. Look at a website just to confirm MLGW
dot com backslash water service lines.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Okay, all right, I'm Stormy and it is the Pulse
and the president and CEO of MLGW is with us today,
Doug McGowan talking about what is going on at MLGW.
You guys are gonna get a postcard, similar to what
a postcard looks like in your mail. Some of you.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
If there is a problem and you need to hold
on to it, take a look at that and you'll
see what the next steps are. A lot of information.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Work, get more information, don't throw it out. Okay, hold
on to it, and I guess follow the instructions.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
That's right. Follow the instructions and you'll see. If the
postcard comes and said you have a lead service line,
m hmm, your reaction is going to be like take
a deep breath. But I want you to understand that
doesn't mean you have lead in your water. Because of
that anti corrosion program that we have. Yeah, yeah, that's
going to keep you safe. There's other things you can
do to keep yourself safe. You can turn the tap on,
run it for fifteen to twenty seconds before you take
(08:59):
a drink of water. That will flush that line out
and you'll be taking fresh, clean water from the main
right into your glass. And certainly we want you to
use cold water for cooking and for drinking, because if
you use hot water, it could be sitting in the
hot water tank for a while. So you can use
a filter water filter like a britta or some other brand.
(09:19):
And then again, if you have a concern, contact us
and we're happy to do a test on your water.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
What if we have a smell in our water.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
If you have a smell, you should tell us that
because that means there's something wrong. And so sometimes discoloration
or a smell can happen. It can happen in the
pipes in your home. Sometimes it happens if upstream from
you there's a water main break or we're doing a repair,
you'll get a little herd in there and it gets
a little discolored. If that happens, just run the water
for a while. It should clear right out. Same thing
(09:46):
with color. But we want to know.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
About that, okay, So if it doesn't clear up, then
then we know we've got a serious problem going on
and we need to call nine oh one five four
four MLGW, which you got a six five four nine. Okay,
good to know because we don't know our bills went up.
Should that be something we should be concerned about soon?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Well, I think nobody likes to pay anymore, right, So
what we want to make sure is that we focus
at MLGW on providing you great value because I want
every cent and every dollar that you pay to provide
value to you and for you. That means that you
can reliably count on us to deliver electric power, water
and gas, and that we keep that water the best
in the country, and that you never have to think
(10:28):
about us. So for years we focused on keeping things
as cheap as possible. That cuts both ways. That means
we didn't have money to invest in the things that
keep your system reliable. One of the things that was
in the news over the last year was tree trimming.
That's the first thing you got to do to prevent
the wind blows and the power goes out. Was because
the trees haven't been cut in a long time. I'm
(10:50):
very pleased to report we had an aggressive program of
tree trimming this last year. We exceeded our goal by
twenty percent in the first year, and the reliability is
already being impacted. It's showing a significant improvement reliability this year.
This has been the best year over the last three years.
It's one of the best in the last six years.
So we're not doing victory laps, Stormy, but we're moving
(11:11):
in the right direction. Yeah, So you never have to
worry about us, because you can move on to other
more important things and worry about all light it's going
to be on. Is the water good? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Have enough gas because people get concerned when it rains,
like I move, my power going to be out? Do
you know what I'm saying? And I know that's not
just a problem locally, But is it true that MLGW
has some of the lowest rates in the country.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
We have the lowest combined utility bill rate when you
combine when you add electric, gas and water together and
you compare us to other cities. And when I say
compared to other cities, like one thousand kilo one hours
of electricity, which is about what a home uses, and
the same volume of gas and the same voluy of water,
so apples to apples comparison, and you add those bills together,
(11:54):
we're the lowest in the country. And that's something that
we are proud of.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
It so even though we had to raise the rates
slightly in order to make those investments and reliability, we
still remained the lowest in the country.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
How concerned should we be about the situation that happened
in Germantown. It was it was very concerning, I know
to the people in Germantown and still praying for the
folks out there. But how concerned should we be about
our water and its protection from things like that?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah? Sure, so we protect it in a number of ways.
But that was a very specific situation that happened with
an overfueling and then some fuel spilling, and then just
the way the generator was placed next to where they
retained the water there and there. You know, it was
just the physical location of that. So we don't have
(12:51):
that situation. We checked all of ours to make sure
that that's not the case. It was a fuel spill
that wouldn't leak into that.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Kind Did that kind of teach you a lesson or
make you think we probably need to check?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Well, I think everybody does that. They learned from everybody else. Yeah,
see something happen, Well, let's make sure we're not vulnerable
to that. So we did check. Obviously, we offered assistance
to the folks in Germantown because there are neighbors, they
have their own water system. But the mayor and I
were a pretty constant communication there to make sure that
we were able to help them recover to the best
of our abilities. That's a tough situation. Because it was
(13:20):
diesel fuel and getting that out is it's just sticky
and it's hard. Took a while for that to get
out of their systems. But yeah, we are We checked
our system and we're not subject to that risk.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Okay, that's good to know. That's good to know. So
anything that we should be the is it the rotten
egg smell that that's a concern if we smell that.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, So that's what you're talking about our gas system.
And this is the other thing that our folks sometimes
don't appreciate. We have. We have the absolutely lowest natural
gas prices in the country here. Wow, though nobody likes
to pay a little bit more when it gets cold
in the winter time, paying much less than everybody else does.
That rotten egg smell is something that we actually add
(14:02):
to the natural gas because natural gas is actually odorless.
We put that smell in there so that you can
actually notice it, and if you do notice that smell,
you should call us. Typically it's called Captain me. Captain
is the name of that chemical has that rotten egg smell.
We put that in at our various gate stations in
and around the city. So we injected in there. That's
(14:24):
our first line of defense because it's odorless. You can't
see it, it's invisible. That smell is what tells us
there might be a leak.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Okay, okay, that's good to know. I do remember, I
guess maybe three weeks or so, you guys warned us
that there may be a smell in some areas because
you were doing some work. Remember that and.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
We'll yeah, and we'll send that notice out, like if
we are doing some kind of maintenance that could release
that mere Captain will let everybody know, Hey, there's nothing
dangerous here. We know about it. We're doing some work,
so we try to give everybody as much heads up
as possible.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, because you step outside and if you smell it,
it's like what the world?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, it's very strong.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Yeah, yeah, you don't want it. No, you don't don't
want to smell it. But if we do smell it.
There have been times, you know, I've been in buildings
that we're like, what's that's you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
So, especially in a building, you don't want to pay
attention to that because that means there might be a
pilot lights out. That might mean you know, I've been
into homes before somebody pumps up against the stove and yeah,
cracks that, you know, the knob slightly and gases coming
out of the stove. And that's why we have that
smell there so you can notice something wrong.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Oh okay, okay, that's good and it's good to know.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Yeah, thank you guys for doing that keeping us safe.
I'm stormy. It is the Pulse again. Thank you for
joining us. If you're just joining us, I'm speaking with
the president and CEO of mlg W, Doug McGowan. Thank
you again for coming in and talking to us. I
think the biggest question, I mean a lot of people
have had recently as far as you guys are concerned,
(15:50):
is x Ai sure. Are you concerned about x Ai
coming to Memphis? Well, they're here being in Memphis.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
When we first learned that they were potentially coming, we
asked a lot of hard questions. We wanted to know
what their requirements were. We want to know from electric,
gas and water what they might be needing. The fortunate
part was for them when the location they chose already
had all the water service they needed, all of the
gas service they needed, and they were requesting a lot
(16:20):
of electric power one hundred and fifty megawatts, which is
a lot of power. We had fifty megawatts available at
that site that we could serve them with, which I
think is what made it attractive for them because they
could come in and get set up. But our obligation
at MLGW is to ensure that before we add any
new customer that I am not going to put my
(16:41):
existing customers at risk. I'm not going to risk your reliability.
I'm not going to risk your availability, and so I
want our customers to know two things first with respect
to reliability, It's like if you have that extension cord
at your house and you plug way too many things
into it power, it gets hot and it blows the
circuit breaker. When you add a new, big customer like this,
(17:04):
that's what you risk in the distribution system. Well, we
studied it, we looked at it, we made the company
make some improvements to the system so that it didn't
get overloaded, and we've eliminated that as a risk. The
second thing is availability of power. That's a lot of
power to use. Now, I just want people to understand that.
(17:27):
In MLGW, to give you a sense of scale, thirty
five hundred three thousand, five hundred megawatts is kind of
our peak. I'm talking about one hundred and fifty megawatts.
On a day like today's stormy, we're only using about
seventeen hundred.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Megawatts because of the temperatures.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
The temperatures down, it's not extreme temperature winter or summer.
So most days of the year pretty easy to provide
one hundred and fifty megawats. TVA can provide it, We
can provide it. It's those five to seven days a
year when it's very very hot or very very cold. Well,
what do we do then? As a precursor for them
(18:04):
getting a contract for power, they have to agree to
be what's called interruptible. In other words, when the grid
reaches that point where demand is reaching supply, I execute
a demand response program, which means that customer XAI gets interrupted.
In other words, they no longer get power from MLGW,
(18:26):
so that I can keep the lights on for everyone else,
got it. So that's a contractual obligation that was important
for us for them to agree to enter into before
we agreed to provide the power.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
How concerned should because I've heard from other residents outside
of Memphis, you know that are concerned about this and
basically saying what the decisions that Memphis makes, it affects
us as well. How concerned are you or how do
they get a say and things like that.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Well, if it's in the MLGW service territory, our job
and our obligation is to protect the interests of all
of our customers, and we'll do that no matter who's
joining the system. I think it's natural for people to
be concerned about the rise of the data centers, and
we've all heard about that. Now this is the second
data center we'll have in Memphis. We were kind of
(19:21):
under data centered, if you will, compared to big cities,
and that maybe why people are attracted because we don't
have that many. I'll give an example in Loudon County, Virginia.
They have one hundred and eighty data centers that consume
almost four thousand megawatts of power just the data center.
So compare that to where we are, and we're just
at the beginning. So we have the opportunity to get
(19:41):
this right at Memphis, like Gas of Water TVA, and
that's what we intend to do. So but it all
comes back to the beginning. I can't add any new
customers without first ensuring I'm not going to adversely affect
my existing customers. And when I do add them, I
got to make sure that they're the first ones that
get interrupted, not the last.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Okay, I like that. So instead of us getting shut.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Off, that's correct. They do it, and it's not just them.
There are if you do it. In terms of megawatts,
there's several dozen companies in Memphis that are subscribed to that,
amounting to two hundred and fifty to three hundred megawats,
which means when the grid gets pressurized, I can turn
that much off to make sure everyone at home's lights
stay on. That doesn't mean I'm not going to tell you, hey,
(20:26):
please conserve power, because you've seen that across the country.
It happens and everybody has to do their part.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, yeah, I think you know, we probably most of
us didn't know that there were other, you know, places
like them Xai in the city.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah, they're just they're not exactly like Xai, but they're big,
you know, users of power. The City of Memphis wastewater
treatment plant uses nearly ten megawatts of power. It's a
very large consumer of power. All of the services that
the city provides if you think about the city of
mephis nearly fifty megawatts of power. All of our industrial
(21:02):
sites at MLGW use thirty megawatts of power, so we're
very large consumers of power too, just to run the organization.
And then there's obviously the fedex'es and the airport and
a lot of other big manufacturers in the area that
use a lot of power.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Okay, So when you bring that all in together, it
makes it I guess it helps me to understand it
a little bit better because if you don't know, and
if you don't ask questions and you don't understand it,
you fear it. And then you listen to people who say, oh,
it's gonna tear us down. Our light's gonna be off
(21:38):
all the time thanks to Elon Muskin and that Xai.
And you know what I'm saying, because I know you've heard.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
It all well, I understand that fear. And look, I
think part of that is enhanced by the fact that, remember,
in twenty twenty three, our lights were off all the time.
We had a terrible year off weather. It was the
worst year on record for us because of we had
eight what we call named storms that came through. We've
never had more than three in any one year prior
(22:05):
to that, so it was all those those terrible thunderstorms
that came through with no notice. So people were already
on edge about that. Yeah, so I understand it's natural
for that, but a lot of people to understand that
we do have programs to protect that. We are also
improving just day to day reliability. When I talked about
our rates before, we didn't have money to invest to
(22:26):
do that, things like tree trimming, preventative maintenance. It's already
gotten so much better because of those investments. We're going
to continue to make them so that the reliability continues
to improve, so that you don't have that fear that
your life are going to go out all the time.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Are you guys going to stay in Memphis Memphis.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Like gas Water?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Absolutely, Memphis. Like Gas and Water's not going anywhere. We're
always going to be a Memphis based company. And so
my commitment to the mayor and city councils our headquarters
is going to stay downtown. So I think it's appropriate
for our headquarters to stay there.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
But we had I know there was some talk of
that in the you know, was it this year. Last
year early last year.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Ago, there was a talk about moving our Engineering and
Operations center from to a place that is more resilient
and we've kind of outgrown it, so we need a
new site there, and there was some discussion about a
building that was available at the time and said, well,
there's lots of room here, so you know, the downtown
office is kind of old. Couldn't you move everything out
there for efficiency? So we really didn't even get into
(23:23):
the conversation. People said, no, you can't leave downtown. So
we you know, again, Mike committed to the mayor and
City Council. Is our headquarters is downtown. There's Engineering and
Operations out near covering the Pike. We have a facility
out in Brownsville on Brunswick Road. Excuse me, we have
facilities in Hickory Hill. So all over the service territory.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Okay, okay, sounds good. Thank you, absolutely, but staying at home,
we appreciate that certainly.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Not moving to Nashville.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
I know that's right, that's right, because we're watching down No,
I'm just kidding. But again, thank you for coming in
and sharing all of this information with us. This is
my first time having the opportunity to interview you, and
I appreciate you stopping.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Through glad to come back anytime.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
So yeah, okay, all right, tell him Earthla. I'm holding
to it feet to the five God's is but it
is the President and CEO Doug McGowan of MLGW, and
I am storming with you. Guys. Thank you so much
for joining us for the show. Now before you go,
are there anything Is there anything that you want us
(24:30):
to know, the citizens to know that we need to
know about what's happening with MLGW right now? Maybe one
of your biggest questions other than next AI, other than
the power going out and things like that, another big one. Yeah, well, I.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Hope there's a couple of things. Number One, we just
finished the transition of all the streetlights to LED so
I think everybody's noticing that the lights are much brighter
than they were. So we've done that faster than any
other city in America and we put one of the
biggest deployments ever. So the street lights are a big thing,
and it saves us a lot of inner we're just
talking about it, save seven megawatts of electricity just by
(25:04):
transition to LEDs and that energy savings is how we're
paying for it.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So wow, So that mean we'll get more street lights
because it's kind of dark around in some spots were
we will.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
After they're all one hundred percent operational. Because there's still
some things we're working out. We can do a street
light study. If there's a particularly dark area, we can
do a study to say do we need another light there.
We've just completed that and somebody made a request said
my street's kind of dark. Yeah, we did a study
and said, yes, you need two more street lights. And
so we've done that. So if somebody has a request,
they can send that to us. Our team will go
(25:36):
out and look at it.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And it's all our aim to try to serve everybody
a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Okay, So if we have a request, yes, where do
we send the request?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Can just call that? You can either email us or
you can call that number five four four MLGW.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Okay, and what's your email because we want that too.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Well, everybody knows my email. It's Doug dot McGowan at
MLGW dot org.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
What I could have emailed you a long time ago.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Well, I think you must be the only one that
doesn't have it.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
So dot McGowan al how they gonna email you.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
That's okay, just get ready for it. There is a
spot on the website if you have information or questions,
you can chat, you can do whatever. But look, our
aim is to continue to keep your rates affordable. Our
aim is to ensure that reliability is their reliability. Job
one for us. That you never have to worry about
us because you got life to live. Yeah, you shouldn't
have to worry about whether the lights are going to
(26:32):
come on with you, and we need to be clean
and and so that's that's the best compliment we can
be paid, is that we never have to think about you. Now,
I want you to think about me once a month
when you're writing that check to make sure you get
that bill paid. But other than that, you know, we
understand how important this is for our customers, and we
understand how hard it can be sometimes. So we also
(26:54):
have assistance programs for our customers should they hit a
hard spot, and we provide that to several thousand customers
every year, and so you can also see that assistance
on our website. You can request assistance, you a payment plan,
and we'll refer you to a number of providers should
you need that assistance.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I saw one of those machines at one of the
community centers. Yeah. It was a machine to request for yeah,
something like that.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
And you can also request for utilities.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, I was. I think I saw it at was
it ed Rice?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Probably that's one of the one of the that's one
of the newest communities you have. So we've partnered up there.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, awesome. Okay, street say that again. MLGW dot com
backslash street light outage. Okay, mlg W dot com backslash
street light outage. And there you'll find information about our
(27:54):
led light system too. Okay, this is good. So I'm excited. Okay,
because so you Ms McGowan, you've calmed some of my fears.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Well good, I'm glad to do that, and we're happy
to come back. People have other questions about what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
I told you you'll be back. Do you get me
to sleep?
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah, I mean when I go to bed, I sleep
like a baby. That doesn't mean it's for very long,
but absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
When our lights out, do you sleep well?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Usually not for the first forty eight hours or so
till I know we have all in hand and our
whole team. We have teams that work and we have
dedicated That's the one thing that I'd like to also mention.
We have great people at MLGW. These are folks that
are dedicated to doing a good job. They wake up
every day trying to serve their friends and neighbors as
equally as they possibly can. And you know, when there's
(28:51):
an outage, our alignment are out there. They work sixteen
hours straight, take an eight hour break, and come back
God blessing hours. It doesn't matter how cold, how at
doing this work, and they don't stop until it's restored.
Our job in leadership is to make sure they have
all the resources they need to get the job done,
(29:13):
and then to communicate to you what's happening. And that's
one area we've really tried hard to improve is I
understand that people hate it when things go wrong and
things don't work, but what they really hate is when
they don't know why, they don't know when it's going
to be fixed, or worst of all, do they even
know about this. So we think communicating with customers every
channel we can get through the radio, through TV, through print,
(29:37):
press releases, social media, say here's what's going on, and
here's what you should expect, and so it's usually a
busy first day or two. We're doing that until we
get things well underway. You know, look, I was talking
earlier today to someone who said, it's great we only
had a couple hundred outages during this severe storm. It's like, yeah,
(29:58):
we can celebrate that unless you're one of the hundred people,
and then it matters, right, So every single one matters,
just like if you had a delayed bill that matters
to you, Yeah, the only one. If you're the only
one that needs utility assistance, that matters to you. So
that's the stuff that keeps me up at night is
how do people who are impacted by what we do?
How do I make sure that they can navigate through this?
(30:19):
Because you know, there's some young moms out there, maybe
young single moms, who are struggling to figure out how
do I pay the rent? Yeah? Do I pay the
utility bill? How do I put food on the table?
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Sick people, elderly people, people.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Eulderly people, fixed income people. Power goes out, they use
that food in the refrigerator. Yeah, that's going to cost
more than five bucks a month on your electric bill.
So we feel that pretty deeply, and that's why we're
dedicated to improving reliability because that can have a pretty
big effect on everybody individually.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Okay, nine O one five four four six five four nine.
That's get a kit or any questions that you have,
you can call that number. Yes, ma'am nine O one
five four four sixty five for nine. Okay, thank you again.
It is the pulse. I am Stormy. We keep our
(31:08):
fingertips on the pulse of our community around here. President
and CEO Doug McGowan, chief is in the building. Thank
you for being here. We'll see you guys next week,
same time, same station. God bless you have a great week.
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Pulse. Okay,
I got a special guest in the studio, you guys,
for you, I brought him in, will he brought himself in.
Thank you for coming though. It is the CEO and well,
president and CEO of m lg W, Doug McGowan. I'm
(00:24):
doing good. You all right?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Okay? What are your friends call you, mister McGowan?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Around work they call me chief and my friends called
me Doug or anything else.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Well, welcome, thank you for being here. I appreciate you
coming and having this conversation with us on today to
a lot of people in Memphis have questions about everything
that's happening with MLGW right now. So let's, I guess,
start with some simple things. The thing that most recently happened.
I heard about news of even Biden talking about these
(00:57):
lead pipes all across America, and now that's a conversation here,
probably was a conversation before he may you know, talked
about it as well. But tell us about the lead
pipes in Memphis and should we be concerned about them
right now?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Well, the answer is no. And let me tell you
a little bit about that.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
So first, the drinking water we have in Memphis is
the best in the country, and we aim to keep
it that way. The water is safe from the source
all the way through to your tap. The concern with
lead pipes is what it's made up of, called a
service line. That is the line that goes from the
water main in the street to your home. That is
the smallest part of the system that we have. Those
were installed predominantly before nineteen fifty five. So if your
(01:41):
home's a newer home, you probably don't have anything to
worry about.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
The rest of our system is not made up of
lead at all. I've got, you know, ten water treatment plants.
I've got four thousand miles of distribution lines, I've got
thousands and thousands of pumps, and I've dozens of tanks.
None of that's made of lead. In the older areas
of town, when we didn't know better, we use lead
as the primary source of some of the materials to
(02:06):
use pipes. It was seen as a premium product at
that time. Well as most of our parents tell us,
when you know better, you do better. Yeah, And we
stopped using in nineteen fifty five. MLGW in twenty twelve,
took action before anybody told us to start removing those
from our system, and so we've been removing them. We've
removed nine thousand of them already and we intend to
(02:29):
continue doing that now. This year, the EPA ordered us
to have all of them out in the next ten years,
not just us, but every utility in the country as
an obligation now to remove lead pipes from their system.
There are two sides to that pipe. One that goes
from the water main in the middle of the street
to your water meter, which is typically at your curb,
(02:50):
and the other part goes from the water meter to
your house. Now, the first part is mlgw's responsibility. The
second part is what your builder put in, So it's
the homeowner's responsibility.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So okay, So if i'm if i'm let me get
this straight. So okay. My cousin has an older home, yes,
and if it was built prior to you said.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
About nineteen fifty five, good cut off you.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Okay then, and she maybe should get her pipes may
bee inspected, the ones that stop where you begin into
the house.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
She does not have to get them inspected because we've
already done that. So Okay, I just completed an inventory.
That was one thing that we had to do. We've
inventoried the entire service territory.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
She can go to MLGW dot com backslash water Service
Lines and she can see the inventory on there. She
can type in her address, it will zoom into her home.
There will be a circle with several colors in the circle.
On the left side of the circle will be what
the pipe is made up from the MLGW side from
the water meter. The other half of the circle will
(03:56):
be what the material is made up from the meter
to the home. Now, it might be lead, it might
be galvanized. We will remove both of those on the
MLGW side. It might be unknown. Now, if it's unknown,
we have to come out there and do some more testing.
That's going to be what we are going to do
over the next ten years. We'll remove all of that
(04:16):
from the MLGW side. Now, if your cousin happens to
be age qualified or income qualified, we are going to
put a program in place to help customers who are
in that situation with removal on their side as well.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Oh nice, she is age qualified.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
And nobody's told us we have to do that. It's
just the right thing to do. Thankfully, the federal government
is allocated that fifteen billion you were talking about. Tennessee's
got about two hundred and fifty million. That's our allocation.
We have requested one hundred million of that two hundred
and fifty because we want more than our fair share
in Memphis.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Okay, all right, And we want to lead here.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
We want to be out in front of this. So
that's the funding word to use to replace it on
the private side. So we're excited about this.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
That so that means that means my cousin may not
have to pay for what is or possibly wrong at
a house.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
At least get some assistance. If it doesn't pay the
whole thing, at least get some assistance.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And I think, quite frankly, Stormy, this is the beginning
of some innovative ideas. I think there's going to be
more money from the federal government, the state government. I
think there's going to be some legislation that comes out
talking about, you know, potentially tax credits for people who
make this investment, particularly landlords. That's the hard part is
it's easy if your cousin's a homeowner. Yeah, can get
her permission to replace it. But what if it's a landlord,
(05:34):
and what if that's an LLC and I don't even
know where the owner is and how do I get permission?
So lots more work to do there. But we are
at the beginning of this. We've got ten years to
get it done. Thankfully, we have some money and we
have a plan, and we've been doing this since twenty twelve,
so we know how to do this.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Okay, all right, that's comforting to know because I was
wondering about that as it relates to our older population
and how they deal with that, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Sure, one other thing, I just want everybody to understand.
Reason I can say your water is safe from the
source to your tap. The way that lead gets from
that pipe into your water is through corrosion. And MLGW
has an anti corrosion program. We put an additive into
the water. It's a food great additive called phosphate. It
inhibits corrosion from happening, and so that's your first line
(06:20):
of defense. You've heard about horror stories from other water
utilities around the country. They did not have a corrosion
control plan in place. And that's what caused a lot
of their problems. We've been doing this for decades, so
just know that we are doing everything we can to
protect you. If at the end of the day you're
still concerned, we have a water lab and we're more
than happy to test a customer's water. Request it from us.
(06:44):
We'll send the test kit to your home with instructions
on how to take a sample of water. We'll take
it back, test it and give you the results so
you can have peace of mind knowing that you still
have the best quality of water in the country.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Okay, well, let me get that done from a cousin. Okay,
nine oh one five four four six five four nine,
that's the number, which is basically is that five four
four m l GW.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
That's correct.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Okay, that's easy to dial. I'm I'm gonna go over
to her house get some ha water. She probably gonna
look at me like, what are you doing.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Well, ask us for a kit. We'll send it and
then you can collect them.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Oh, get the kid first, Okay, get the kit, then
do it.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Okay, I need the kit. I will call and I
won't tell her. No, I'm just kidding, but that is
good to know. I'm glad you explained that because I
was wondering and I'm sure that a lot of people
that are listening were wondering about that as well.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And if they forget, I will remind everybody that the
election's about to come to a close this coming Tuesday.
People are tired of getting things in the mail. But
you're going to get one more postcard from MLGW and
thet's blue this time it has MLGW on the front.
I don't want you to throw that one out. Okay,
open that up, because inside that postcarder is going to
have the results of what we found on your property.
(07:51):
Oh we found galvani As.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
We don't know everybody's gonna get one.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Well, if you don't have a problem, you're not going
to get a postcard. So card means you're probably in
good shape. Look at a website just to confirm MLGW
dot com backslash water service lines.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Okay, all right, I'm Stormy and it is the Pulse
and the president and CEO of MLGW is with us today,
Doug McGowan talking about what is going on at MLGW.
You guys are gonna get a postcard, similar to what
a postcard looks like in your mail. Some of you.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
If there is a problem and you need to hold
on to it, take a look at that and you'll
see what the next steps are. A lot of information.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Work, get more information, don't throw it out. Okay, hold
on to it, and I guess follow the instructions.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
That's right. Follow the instructions and you'll see. If the
postcard comes and said you have a lead service line,
m hmm, your reaction is going to be like take
a deep breath. But I want you to understand that
doesn't mean you have lead in your water. Because of
that anti corrosion program that we have. Yeah, yeah, that's
going to keep you safe. There's other things you can
do to keep yourself safe. You can turn the tap on,
run it for fifteen to twenty seconds before you take
(08:59):
a drink of water. That will flush that line out
and you'll be taking fresh, clean water from the main
right into your glass. And certainly we want you to
use cold water for cooking and for drinking, because if
you use hot water, it could be sitting in the
hot water tank for a while. So you can use
a filter water filter like a britta or some other brand.
(09:19):
And then again, if you have a concern, contact us
and we're happy to do a test on your water.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
What if we have a smell in our water.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
If you have a smell, you should tell us that
because that means there's something wrong. And so sometimes discoloration
or a smell can happen. It can happen in the
pipes in your home. Sometimes it happens if upstream from
you there's a water main break or we're doing a repair,
you'll get a little herd in there and it gets
a little discolored. If that happens, just run the water
for a while. It should clear right out. Same thing
(09:46):
with color. But we want to know.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
About that, okay, So if it doesn't clear up, then
then we know we've got a serious problem going on
and we need to call nine oh one five four
four MLGW, which you got a six five four nine. Okay,
good to know because we don't know our bills went up.
Should that be something we should be concerned about soon?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Well, I think nobody likes to pay anymore, right, So
what we want to make sure is that we focus
at MLGW on providing you great value because I want
every cent and every dollar that you pay to provide
value to you and for you. That means that you
can reliably count on us to deliver electric power, water
and gas, and that we keep that water the best
in the country, and that you never have to think
(10:28):
about us. So for years we focused on keeping things
as cheap as possible. That cuts both ways. That means
we didn't have money to invest in the things that
keep your system reliable. One of the things that was
in the news over the last year was tree trimming.
That's the first thing you got to do to prevent
the wind blows and the power goes out. Was because
the trees haven't been cut in a long time. I'm
(10:50):
very pleased to report we had an aggressive program of
tree trimming this last year. We exceeded our goal by
twenty percent in the first year, and the reliability is
already being impacted. It's showing a significant improvement reliability this year.
This has been the best year over the last three years.
It's one of the best in the last six years.
So we're not doing victory laps, Stormy, but we're moving
(11:11):
in the right direction. Yeah, So you never have to
worry about us, because you can move on to other
more important things and worry about all light it's going
to be on. Is the water good? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Have enough gas because people get concerned when it rains,
like I move, my power going to be out? Do
you know what I'm saying? And I know that's not
just a problem locally, But is it true that MLGW
has some of the lowest rates in the country.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
We have the lowest combined utility bill rate when you
combine when you add electric, gas and water together and
you compare us to other cities. And when I say
compared to other cities, like one thousand kilo one hours
of electricity, which is about what a home uses, and
the same volume of gas and the same voluy of water,
so apples to apples comparison, and you add those bills together,
(11:54):
we're the lowest in the country. And that's something that
we are proud of.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
It so even though we had to raise the rates
slightly in order to make those investments and reliability, we
still remained the lowest in the country.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
How concerned should we be about the situation that happened
in Germantown. It was it was very concerning, I know
to the people in Germantown and still praying for the
folks out there. But how concerned should we be about
our water and its protection from things like that?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah? Sure, so we protect it in a number of ways.
But that was a very specific situation that happened with
an overfueling and then some fuel spilling, and then just
the way the generator was placed next to where they
retained the water there and there. You know, it was
just the physical location of that. So we don't have
(12:51):
that situation. We checked all of ours to make sure
that that's not the case. It was a fuel spill
that wouldn't leak into that.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Kind Did that kind of teach you a lesson or
make you think we probably need to check?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Well, I think everybody does that. They learned from everybody else. Yeah,
see something happen, Well, let's make sure we're not vulnerable
to that. So we did check. Obviously, we offered assistance
to the folks in Germantown because there are neighbors, they
have their own water system. But the mayor and I
were a pretty constant communication there to make sure that
we were able to help them recover to the best
of our abilities. That's a tough situation. Because it was
(13:20):
diesel fuel and getting that out is it's just sticky
and it's hard. Took a while for that to get
out of their systems. But yeah, we are We checked
our system and we're not subject to that risk.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Okay, that's good to know. That's good to know. So
anything that we should be the is it the rotten
egg smell that that's a concern if we smell that.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, So that's what you're talking about our gas system.
And this is the other thing that our folks sometimes
don't appreciate. We have. We have the absolutely lowest natural
gas prices in the country here. Wow, though nobody likes
to pay a little bit more when it gets cold
in the winter time, paying much less than everybody else does.
That rotten egg smell is something that we actually add
(14:02):
to the natural gas because natural gas is actually odorless.
We put that smell in there so that you can
actually notice it, and if you do notice that smell,
you should call us. Typically it's called Captain me. Captain
is the name of that chemical has that rotten egg smell.
We put that in at our various gate stations in
and around the city. So we injected in there. That's
(14:24):
our first line of defense because it's odorless. You can't
see it, it's invisible. That smell is what tells us
there might be a leak.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Okay, okay, that's good to know. I do remember, I
guess maybe three weeks or so, you guys warned us
that there may be a smell in some areas because
you were doing some work. Remember that and.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
We'll yeah, and we'll send that notice out, like if
we are doing some kind of maintenance that could release
that mere Captain will let everybody know, Hey, there's nothing
dangerous here. We know about it. We're doing some work,
so we try to give everybody as much heads up
as possible.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Yeah, because you step outside and if you smell it,
it's like what the world?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, it's very strong.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Yeah, yeah, you don't want it. No, you don't don't
want to smell it. But if we do smell it.
There have been times, you know, I've been in buildings
that we're like, what's that's you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
So, especially in a building, you don't want to pay
attention to that because that means there might be a
pilot lights out. That might mean you know, I've been
into homes before somebody pumps up against the stove and yeah,
cracks that, you know, the knob slightly and gases coming
out of the stove. And that's why we have that
smell there so you can notice something wrong.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Oh okay, okay, that's good and it's good to know.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Yeah, thank you guys for doing that keeping us safe.
I'm stormy. It is the Pulse again. Thank you for
joining us. If you're just joining us, I'm speaking with
the president and CEO of mlg W, Doug McGowan. Thank
you again for coming in and talking to us. I
think the biggest question, I mean a lot of people
have had recently as far as you guys are concerned,
(15:50):
is x Ai sure. Are you concerned about x Ai
coming to Memphis? Well, they're here being in Memphis.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
When we first learned that they were potentially coming, we
asked a lot of hard questions. We wanted to know
what their requirements were. We want to know from electric,
gas and water what they might be needing. The fortunate
part was for them when the location they chose already
had all the water service they needed, all of the
gas service they needed, and they were requesting a lot
(16:20):
of electric power one hundred and fifty megawatts, which is
a lot of power. We had fifty megawatts available at
that site that we could serve them with, which I
think is what made it attractive for them because they
could come in and get set up. But our obligation
at MLGW is to ensure that before we add any
new customer that I am not going to put my
(16:41):
existing customers at risk. I'm not going to risk your reliability.
I'm not going to risk your availability, and so I
want our customers to know two things first with respect
to reliability, It's like if you have that extension cord
at your house and you plug way too many things
into it power, it gets hot and it blows the
circuit breaker. When you add a new, big customer like this,
(17:04):
that's what you risk in the distribution system. Well, we
studied it, we looked at it, we made the company
make some improvements to the system so that it didn't
get overloaded, and we've eliminated that as a risk. The
second thing is availability of power. That's a lot of
power to use. Now, I just want people to understand that.
(17:27):
In MLGW, to give you a sense of scale, thirty
five hundred three thousand, five hundred megawatts is kind of
our peak. I'm talking about one hundred and fifty megawatts.
On a day like today's stormy, we're only using about
seventeen hundred.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Megawatts because of the temperatures.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
The temperatures down, it's not extreme temperature winter or summer.
So most days of the year pretty easy to provide
one hundred and fifty megawats. TVA can provide it, We
can provide it. It's those five to seven days a
year when it's very very hot or very very cold. Well,
what do we do then? As a precursor for them
(18:04):
getting a contract for power, they have to agree to
be what's called interruptible. In other words, when the grid
reaches that point where demand is reaching supply, I execute
a demand response program, which means that customer XAI gets interrupted.
In other words, they no longer get power from MLGW,
(18:26):
so that I can keep the lights on for everyone else,
got it. So that's a contractual obligation that was important
for us for them to agree to enter into before
we agreed to provide the power.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
How concerned should because I've heard from other residents outside
of Memphis, you know that are concerned about this and
basically saying what the decisions that Memphis makes, it affects
us as well. How concerned are you or how do
they get a say and things like that.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Well, if it's in the MLGW service territory, our job
and our obligation is to protect the interests of all
of our customers, and we'll do that no matter who's
joining the system. I think it's natural for people to
be concerned about the rise of the data centers, and
we've all heard about that. Now this is the second
data center we'll have in Memphis. We were kind of
(19:21):
under data centered, if you will, compared to big cities,
and that maybe why people are attracted because we don't
have that many. I'll give an example in Loudon County, Virginia.
They have one hundred and eighty data centers that consume
almost four thousand megawatts of power just the data center.
So compare that to where we are, and we're just
at the beginning. So we have the opportunity to get
(19:41):
this right at Memphis, like Gas of Water TVA, and
that's what we intend to do. So but it all
comes back to the beginning. I can't add any new
customers without first ensuring I'm not going to adversely affect
my existing customers. And when I do add them, I
got to make sure that they're the first ones that
get interrupted, not the last.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Okay, I like that. So instead of us getting shut.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Off, that's correct. They do it, and it's not just them.
There are if you do it. In terms of megawatts,
there's several dozen companies in Memphis that are subscribed to that,
amounting to two hundred and fifty to three hundred megawats,
which means when the grid gets pressurized, I can turn
that much off to make sure everyone at home's lights
stay on. That doesn't mean I'm not going to tell you, hey,
(20:26):
please conserve power, because you've seen that across the country.
It happens and everybody has to do their part.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, yeah, I think you know, we probably most of
us didn't know that there were other, you know, places
like them Xai in the city.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah, they're just they're not exactly like Xai, but they're big,
you know, users of power. The City of Memphis wastewater
treatment plant uses nearly ten megawatts of power. It's a
very large consumer of power. All of the services that
the city provides if you think about the city of
mephis nearly fifty megawatts of power. All of our industrial
(21:02):
sites at MLGW use thirty megawatts of power, so we're
very large consumers of power too, just to run the organization.
And then there's obviously the fedex'es and the airport and
a lot of other big manufacturers in the area that
use a lot of power.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Okay, So when you bring that all in together, it
makes it I guess it helps me to understand it
a little bit better because if you don't know, and
if you don't ask questions and you don't understand it,
you fear it. And then you listen to people who say, oh,
it's gonna tear us down. Our light's gonna be off
(21:38):
all the time thanks to Elon Muskin and that Xai.
And you know what I'm saying, because I know you've heard.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
It all well, I understand that fear. And look, I
think part of that is enhanced by the fact that, remember,
in twenty twenty three, our lights were off all the time.
We had a terrible year off weather. It was the
worst year on record for us because of we had
eight what we call named storms that came through. We've
never had more than three in any one year prior
(22:05):
to that, so it was all those those terrible thunderstorms
that came through with no notice. So people were already
on edge about that. Yeah, so I understand it's natural
for that, but a lot of people to understand that
we do have programs to protect that. We are also
improving just day to day reliability. When I talked about
our rates before, we didn't have money to invest to
(22:26):
do that, things like tree trimming, preventative maintenance. It's already
gotten so much better because of those investments. We're going
to continue to make them so that the reliability continues
to improve, so that you don't have that fear that
your life are going to go out all the time.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Are you guys going to stay in Memphis Memphis.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Like gas Water?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Absolutely, Memphis. Like Gas and Water's not going anywhere. We're
always going to be a Memphis based company. And so
my commitment to the mayor and city councils our headquarters
is going to stay downtown. So I think it's appropriate
for our headquarters to stay there.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
But we had I know there was some talk of
that in the you know, was it this year. Last
year early last year.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Ago, there was a talk about moving our Engineering and
Operations center from to a place that is more resilient
and we've kind of outgrown it, so we need a
new site there, and there was some discussion about a
building that was available at the time and said, well,
there's lots of room here, so you know, the downtown
office is kind of old. Couldn't you move everything out
there for efficiency? So we really didn't even get into
(23:23):
the conversation. People said, no, you can't leave downtown. So
we you know, again, Mike committed to the mayor and
City Council. Is our headquarters is downtown. There's Engineering and
Operations out near covering the Pike. We have a facility
out in Brownsville on Brunswick Road. Excuse me, we have
facilities in Hickory Hill. So all over the service territory.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Okay, okay, sounds good. Thank you, absolutely, but staying at home,
we appreciate that certainly.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Not moving to Nashville.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
I know that's right, that's right, because we're watching down No,
I'm just kidding. But again, thank you for coming in
and sharing all of this information with us. This is
my first time having the opportunity to interview you, and
I appreciate you stopping.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Through glad to come back anytime.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
So yeah, okay, all right, tell him Earthla. I'm holding
to it feet to the five God's is but it
is the President and CEO Doug McGowan of MLGW, and
I am storming with you. Guys. Thank you so much
for joining us for the show. Now before you go,
are there anything Is there anything that you want us
(24:30):
to know, the citizens to know that we need to
know about what's happening with MLGW right now? Maybe one
of your biggest questions other than next AI, other than
the power going out and things like that, another big one. Yeah, well, I.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Hope there's a couple of things. Number One, we just
finished the transition of all the streetlights to LED so
I think everybody's noticing that the lights are much brighter
than they were. So we've done that faster than any
other city in America and we put one of the
biggest deployments ever. So the street lights are a big thing,
and it saves us a lot of inner we're just
talking about it, save seven megawatts of electricity just by
(25:04):
transition to LEDs and that energy savings is how we're
paying for it.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So wow, So that mean we'll get more street lights
because it's kind of dark around in some spots were
we will.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
After they're all one hundred percent operational. Because there's still
some things we're working out. We can do a street
light study. If there's a particularly dark area, we can
do a study to say do we need another light there.
We've just completed that and somebody made a request said
my street's kind of dark. Yeah, we did a study
and said, yes, you need two more street lights. And
so we've done that. So if somebody has a request,
they can send that to us. Our team will go
(25:36):
out and look at it.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And it's all our aim to try to serve everybody
a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Okay, So if we have a request, yes, where do
we send the request?
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Can just call that? You can either email us or
you can call that number five four four MLGW.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Okay, and what's your email because we want that too.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Well, everybody knows my email. It's Doug dot McGowan at
MLGW dot org.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
What I could have emailed you a long time ago.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Well, I think you must be the only one that
doesn't have it.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
So dot McGowan al how they gonna email you.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
That's okay, just get ready for it. There is a
spot on the website if you have information or questions,
you can chat, you can do whatever. But look, our
aim is to continue to keep your rates affordable. Our
aim is to ensure that reliability is their reliability. Job
one for us. That you never have to worry about
us because you got life to live. Yeah, you shouldn't
have to worry about whether the lights are going to
(26:32):
come on with you, and we need to be clean
and and so that's that's the best compliment we can
be paid, is that we never have to think about you. Now,
I want you to think about me once a month
when you're writing that check to make sure you get
that bill paid. But other than that, you know, we
understand how important this is for our customers, and we
understand how hard it can be sometimes. So we also
(26:54):
have assistance programs for our customers should they hit a
hard spot, and we provide that to several thousand customers
every year, and so you can also see that assistance
on our website. You can request assistance, you a payment plan,
and we'll refer you to a number of providers should
you need that assistance.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
I saw one of those machines at one of the
community centers. Yeah. It was a machine to request for yeah,
something like that.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
And you can also request for utilities.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, I was. I think I saw it at was
it ed Rice?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Probably that's one of the one of the that's one
of the newest communities you have. So we've partnered up there.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, awesome. Okay, street say that again. MLGW dot com
backslash street light outage. Okay, mlg W dot com backslash
street light outage. And there you'll find information about our
(27:54):
led light system too. Okay, this is good. So I'm excited. Okay,
because so you Ms McGowan, you've calmed some of my fears.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Well good, I'm glad to do that, and we're happy
to come back. People have other questions about what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
I told you you'll be back. Do you get me
to sleep?
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah, I mean when I go to bed, I sleep
like a baby. That doesn't mean it's for very long,
but absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
When our lights out, do you sleep well?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
Usually not for the first forty eight hours or so
till I know we have all in hand and our
whole team. We have teams that work and we have
dedicated That's the one thing that I'd like to also mention.
We have great people at MLGW. These are folks that
are dedicated to doing a good job. They wake up
every day trying to serve their friends and neighbors as
equally as they possibly can. And you know, when there's
(28:51):
an outage, our alignment are out there. They work sixteen
hours straight, take an eight hour break, and come back
God blessing hours. It doesn't matter how cold, how at
doing this work, and they don't stop until it's restored.
Our job in leadership is to make sure they have
all the resources they need to get the job done,
(29:13):
and then to communicate to you what's happening. And that's
one area we've really tried hard to improve is I
understand that people hate it when things go wrong and
things don't work, but what they really hate is when
they don't know why, they don't know when it's going
to be fixed, or worst of all, do they even
know about this. So we think communicating with customers every
channel we can get through the radio, through TV, through print,
(29:37):
press releases, social media, say here's what's going on, and
here's what you should expect, and so it's usually a
busy first day or two. We're doing that until we
get things well underway. You know, look, I was talking
earlier today to someone who said, it's great we only
had a couple hundred outages during this severe storm. It's like, yeah,
(29:58):
we can celebrate that unless you're one of the hundred people,
and then it matters, right, So every single one matters,
just like if you had a delayed bill that matters
to you, Yeah, the only one. If you're the only
one that needs utility assistance, that matters to you. So
that's the stuff that keeps me up at night is
how do people who are impacted by what we do?
How do I make sure that they can navigate through this?
(30:19):
Because you know, there's some young moms out there, maybe
young single moms, who are struggling to figure out how
do I pay the rent? Yeah? Do I pay the
utility bill? How do I put food on the table?
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Sick people, elderly people, people.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Eulderly people, fixed income people. Power goes out, they use
that food in the refrigerator. Yeah, that's going to cost
more than five bucks a month on your electric bill.
So we feel that pretty deeply, and that's why we're
dedicated to improving reliability because that can have a pretty
big effect on everybody individually.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Okay, nine O one five four four six five four nine.
That's get a kit or any questions that you have,
you can call that number. Yes, ma'am nine O one
five four four sixty five for nine. Okay, thank you again.
It is the pulse. I am Stormy. We keep our
(31:08):
fingertips on the pulse of our community around here. President
and CEO Doug McGowan, chief is in the building. Thank
you for being here. We'll see you guys next week,
same time, same station. God bless you have a great week.
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