ONE ENERGY FEED

When I tell people I have a master’s degree in meteorology, the initial conversation goes one of two ways: they tell me they love the movie Twister and wanted to be a meteorologist when they were a kid, or they ask me what it’s like to get to be wrong half the time and still get paid. Good joke buddy, I’ve never heard that one before.

I usually get the tongue-in-cheek jokes from those people who don’t understand the concept of weather forecasting and the main priorities of a meteorologist. A local TV meteorologist has a large viewing area to forecast for, sometimes with millions of people that count on that information. It would be impossible for them to create a custom spot forecast for every single viewer. The most important responsibility any meteorologist has is to ensure the safety of our citizens. Shoveling two less inches of snow is not as imperative as alerting an emergency manager of impending snowfall so they are able to deploy the salt trucks and snowplows so roadway travel can continue safely. Whether it’s forecasting snowfall, high winds, tornadoes, or hurricanes, meteorologists are constantly looking for indicators that could mean potential for loss of life. Forecasts are getting better every day. Meteorologists are far better today at predicting the 10-day forecast than they were 60 years ago, and 60 years from now they’ll be even better. Today, the 5-day forecast can predict the weather accurately upwards of 90% of the time.

In just a few days it will be February 2^nd, otherwise known in the United States as Groundhog Day. If you aren’t familiar with this day, it is when a large number of grown adults in tuxedos and top hats gather in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to obtain the weather forecast for the next 6 weeks from a well-fed groundhog named Phil. If Phil emerges from his burrow and sees his shadow with clear skies overhead, it means he has forecasted 6 more weeks of winter. If he does not see his shadow, then a celebration commences, because he has forecasted an early spring.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this tradition. For those of us in the Midwest who must live through cold, cloudy winters, it offers the slightest bit of hope (even if it is coming from a groundhog). I do however find it wildly fascinating the number of people in this country who take the word of a rodent over the word of their highly educated local meteorologist. For the record, Phil’s accuracy record is an abysmal 36%, less than that of flipping a coin.

Now, while I may not practice as a weather forecaster, I do use my atmospheric science background extensively to forecast the long-term wind resource for One Energy’s Wind for Industry projects. Project financials rest on my team’s ability to correctly predict the lifetime energy production of our wind turbines, which is directly related to the wind and large-scale weather patterns. We take this responsibility seriously and take great pride in our accuracy. But yes, sometimes, we are slightly wrong. That is important to admit. Predicting the future is hard. Analyzing how wrong we were, and for what reasons, allows us to make our models that much better. That’s how all science should work – continuously validating and updating facts and models with the newest information and always improving upon previous hypotheses and methods.

Science and meteorology are always evolving, and weather forecasts continue to improve tremendously over time. And traditions like Groundhog Day continue to capture the hearts of communities. I just long for the day when meteorologists’ forecasts are anticipated and admired as much as Phil’s is (…with or without the top hats).

Anyways, here’s hoping Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow stays home on Tuesday!

Jessica Grosso is the Head of Project Planning and Technology at One Energy.

Learn more about Jessica and the One Energy team.

I am a lawyer, but as in-house counsel for an energy company and an executive I also hire a lot of lawyers. Many people don’t understand why I do this. They figure one lawyer can handle most things. And when they ask me why I hire so many lawyers, I give them a simple analogy that drives the point home:

If you have cancer, you don’t see a cardiologist or your family doctor. You see the best oncologist you can.

The same concept applies to lawyers. Lawyers specialize. And you need the absolute best of the best to guide your thinking or you are in big trouble.

Why is that? Because a lot is on the line. Companies, like individuals, hire lawyers to do two things: 1) to get them out of big trouble and 2) to prevent them from getting into big trouble in the first place. People hire lawyers to help them on the worst day of their life, and to prevent them from having the worst day of their life.

And yet, while lawyers are responsible for so much, I often find that the lawyers I talk to are inhibited by what most lawyers hate most about the profession: the billable hour.

I probably don’t have to say this, but lawyers are expensive. Most of the lawyers I hire are between $300 and $1,200 an hour.

Yes, $1,200 an hour.

These lawyers typically bill in 6-minute increments. And because they are so expensive, there is a pressure from clients for them to do things as quickly and efficiently as possible.

For some of the more straightforward issues that lawyers deal with daily, this system works. They don’t need a lot of time to process what is in front of them and can skip straight to the work.

But for big, complicated, legal questions and problems that have never been solved, it takes time. Time to gather information from the client. Time to think about it. Time to reflect. Time to apply all of your expertise, as well as the expertise of others. Time to strategize on the best way forward.

For solving the unknown problem, efficiency doesn’t cut it – because constantly striving for efficiency encourages you to give less time to the problem than it may deserve.

So, what is my lesson for the lawyers? Be flexible. Consider setting up monthly retainers where you bill a flat amount every month. Consider contingency fees. Consider setting up your firm so it encourages partners to collaborate with each other as experts and not hog their clients to themselves.

So lawyers, as an in-house counsel and executive, I can say honestly that I don’t need your time. I need your intelligence, your expertise, and your creativity. I need you to help me on the worst day of my company’s life and to prevent that worst day from happening in the first place. I need you to see the problem I don’t see. And I really don’t care what billing mechanism you use. Set up your business and your arrangements with your clients in a way that allows you to solve the unknown problem, and you will be invaluable.

Katie Treadway is the Head of Regulatory Affairs at One Energy.

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