7EA Users Group

In the very late 1980’s, there was a well-established users group called The Northeast Frame 6 Users Group. By the early 1990’s there were several 7EA Units generating electricity in the northeastern portion of the United States (NY, NJ, RI, etc.) and a plant in Quebec, Canada. As the number of operating 7EA Units continued to grow, we eventually split-off from The Northeast Frame 6 Users Group and formed our very own, Northeast Frame 7EA Users Group. Our first Chairman of The Northeast Frame 7EA Users Group was John Snell from Linden Cogen. The 7EA fleet leader for fired hours in the mid-1990’s was a 4-unit 7EA generation facility (Ocean State Power, in RI), which eventually took over the Chairmanship of The Northeast Frame 7EA Users Group. During the late 1990’s Chairman Lane Watson organized a Conference every 6 months for the Northeast Frame 7EA Users Group and began a new question/answer exchange, which was an entirely emailed system in real-time to all Users, as information was provided. By the early 2000’s the group had continued to grow dramatically in numbers world-wide (Europe, Africa, Middle East) with 7EA Users coming to the United States twice per year for our Conference. In the early 2000’s we changed our name to the 7EA Users Group and solicited the help of Gregory Carvalho to create our web-based Forum exchange (questions/answers/emergency forums) and to also help us organize what became just an annual Conference. Fast forward to today…We are now part of Power Users Group, Inc.

7EA Users Group Steering Committee

2025 Conference at the Hilton Minneapolis 
Front row, left to right: Lane Watson, Tracy Dreymala, Tony Ostlund, and Matthew McCafferty
Back row, left to right: Shane Rouse, Walt Steimel, and Mike Vonallmen
Not in photo: Dale Anderson

2026 STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Dale Anderson, East Kentucky Power Cooperative – JK Smith Station, Member since 2017

Tracy Dreymala, Ethos Energy Group – San Jacinto Peakers, Member since 2013

Matthew McCafferty, Golden Pass LNG, Member since 2024

Tony Ostlund – 2026 Co-Chair, Puget Sound Energy – Frederickson, Crystal Mountain, Member since 2011

Shane Rouse, East Texas Electric Cooperative, Inc., Member since 2023

Walt Steimel, Shell Project and Engineering Services – Shell Global Solutions US, Member since 2024

Mike Vonallmen – 2026 Co-Chair, Clarksdale Public Utilities, Member since 2017

Lane Watson, Senior Account Engineer, FMm Member since 1995

Past 7EA Steering Committee Members:
Guy LeBlanc – 2011 – 2023
Joshua Coots – 2021 – 2023
Jeff Hansen – 2021 – 2024
Tyler Wensel – 2024

Mission Statement of the 7EA Users Group

7EA Users Group LLC is organized to provide an open forum through conferences and technological aids to the Owners/Operators of 7EA Combustion Turbine generator systems for effective communication, discussion, and information dissemination regarding the operation, maintenance, inspection, troubleshooting, and repair of such systems to maximize equipment performance and reliability. These purposes will be achieved through providing an opportunity at meetings, conferences, company email, and website for the open exchange of ideas between owner / operators and owner / operators with vendors.

2026 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

June 22-25, 2026
Omni Oklahoma City Hotel
100 Oklahoma City Blvd
Oklahoma City, OK 73109

Open Conference Details

Contact: SV Events
Email: Planning.Team@SV-Events.net