Flashback Friday: Baking cookie samples

The Public Service Building's model kitchen in 1931. Home economists at our predecessor company, The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co., baked sample cookies in the model kitchen at the Public Service Building in downtown Milwaukee in 1931. The company invited garden clubs, church groups and lodge auxiliaries to spend afternoons watching Home Service Bureau demonstrations in a effort to expand acceptance and use of electric appliances.

Are you hungry for more holiday cookies? So are we!

Although our annual Cookie Book is released around the holidays, planning for the book is a year-round project. It’s mid-January and we’re already looking for recipes for our next book.

Customers of We Energies are again being asked to submit recipes for the company’s 2013 Cookie Book. Original recipes can be submitted online. Recipes will be considered for the 2013 Cookie Book and possibly future editions.

The We Energies Cookie Book dates back to 1928, featuring hundreds of delicious recipes passed down from generation to generation. Past issues featured recipes from former and current employees -- until last year, when customer recipes were included for the first time. The response was great, and the company is again asking customers to submit their family favorites. Customers also are encouraged to share the history behind their recipes.

Submit recipe

The 2013 We Energies Cookie Book will be unveiled in November, with major distribution events at Miller Park in Milwaukee and Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium (Timber Rattlers stadium) in Appleton. Customers who submit recipes will be notified in advance if their recipe is selected for this year’s book.

Fox6 report

Flashback Friday: 1890s electric streetcar

Beginning in the 1860s, horse-drawn streetcars moved people around Milwaukee, but on April 3, 1890, the Wells-Wisconsin line of the West Side Railroad Co. became the city's first line to use electric streetcars.

West Side Railroad later merged into the Milwaukee Street Railway Co., which became The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co. in 1896. The company was a predecessor of Wisconsin Electric Power Co. -- now doing business as We Energies.

Flashback Friday: Freezing fires

In 1945, we added a mobile carbon dioxide fire extinguisher to our power plant safety equipment.

The extinguisher contained 750 pounds of carbon dioxide that created a smothering effect at very low temperature. When the container was opened, the carbon dioxide expanded to form a gas in the atmosphere. Because the gas was heavier than oxygen, it created a "blanket" around the burning fuel and displaced the oxygen surrounding the fuel to extinguish a fire.

Carbon dioxide fire extinguishers were invented by the Walter Kidde Co. in 1924 and are still used today.

Flashback Friday: Women join workforce in WWI

World War I opened many nontraditional jobs for women. Between 1914 and 1917, more than 600 "Electric Company" employees entered the military. Most of their jobs were filled by women.

Across the U.S., about 1.6 million women joined the workforce between 1914 and 1918, filling positions in government, transportation, factories, post offices, businesses and agriculture. Many worked in munitions factories, which employed as many as 950,000 women.

While many women worked to provide for their families while their men were at war, others worked just to help the nation succeed in the war. Women also bought Liberty bonds, and observed days for conserving food, as well as abiding by numerous laws to aid the war effort.

Pipeline inspection project reaches milestone

We recently completed a major milestone in a natural gas pipeline inspection project, having inspected nearly 139 miles of high-pressure pipeline in the our most populated, urban service areas.

Mandated by the federal government in 2004, owners of natural gas pipelines are required to assess the integrity of their pipelines in areas where a rupture to the line could cause the most harm, endangering customer safety and disrupting system reliability. We met the mandate’s deadline – to complete and report on the assessments by Dec. 17, 2012.

The federal mandate was issued prior to the natural gas-related explosion in 2010 in San Bruno, Calif.

“While we have consistently performed leak surveys and other safety checks on our system, the work associated with this requirement is much more comprehensive as we dig up and physically look at the pipeline,” said Russ Ackerman, supervising engineer – gas operations. “Developing and executing a proactive plan to meet the requirement helps us identify potential problems and address them immediately.”

Use of “smart pig” technology greatly aided the inspection process. The pigs – large pieces of equipment that move along the inside of a pipeline at about 3 to 5 mph – check the physical condition of a pipeline for corrosion, debris and geometric shape. The smart pigs were used to inspect nearly 25 percent of our gas transmission mains as part of the integrity management program.

As a result of the comprehensive inspection project, various components in the natural gas pipeline system were replaced and improved. Throughout the multiyear process, customer service was not disrupted.

Employees deliver holiday spirit to local families in need

Employees from our Pewaukee Customer Care Center and Wholesale Energy and Fuels department brought the holiday spirit to families in need this season through the Adopt-a-Family programs of the Salvation Army of Waukesha and Journey House Center for Family Learning and Youth Athletics, respectively.

Our Pewaukee employees “adopted” a mother and her three children, while the Wholesale employees “adopted” two separate families, each with two adults and three children. Pewaukee employees have participated in the Salvation Army’s program for the past nine years, and Wholesale employees have participated in Journey House since 2008. Employees purchased gifts from the families’ lists, such as clothing and toys, or donated money for the purchase of gifts.

An excerpt from the profile of one of the families benefiting from this employee generosity highlights the need:

“I am Lucero’s teacher. She came to Journey House eight years ago when she was first married. Her husband was in a fatal car accident. I remember the funeral. She did not return to school until this year. She is married with three children. She will complete her GED in Spanish by June 2013. She is very smart and determined to make a good life for herself and children. She is in my English language class and is an excellent student.

“She recently found out that her son has autism, but this does not deter her from her goals.

“She also cleans an office every night for three hours @ $8 per hour.”

In a separate activity, employees from our various locations in Pewaukee collected food to stock the shelves of the Food Pantry of Waukesha County. The team collected 10 large boxes and six large bags of food. In addition, a $260 donation was made that the food pantry used to purchase more items.

Journey House is a community-based opportunity oasis where men, women and children on Milwaukee’s diverse Near South Side can build vital academic, employment and life skills to reach their goals.

Salvation Army is an action-oriented Christian church and social service organization that was founded in London, England, in 1865. For the past 110 years, Salvation Army has demonstrated its ability to "meet human need at the point of need" through various programs in Waukesha.

Food Pantry of Waukesha County advocates to increase awareness of hunger in the community and promotes collaborative action to provide food to those in need.