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Easton Utilities Awarded $3.5 Million To Close County’s Broadband Gap

August 3, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 3, 2022

Maryland public power utility Easton Utilities has been awarded a $3.5 million grant to finish building out broadband infrastructure in Talbot County, Md.

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development awarded the grant in response to a solicitation to which Easton Utilities responded to earlier this year.

The grant is being used to extend broadband to the remaining unserved locations in Talbot County, specifically in the western part of the county including parts of St. Michaels, Bozman, McDaniel, Neavitt, Sherwood, Tilghman, and Wittman, as well as several other isolated areas in Easton and Oxford.

The grant will enable Easton Utilities to extend broadband service to the remaining 8 percent of the Talbot County population that do not yet have broadband service, Easton Utilities spokeswoman Kelly Simonsen said.

When the Connect Talbot project is completed, expected in 2026, it will provide broadband service to some unserved 3,600 locations throughout the county.

“Throughout this initiative, we have focused on securing funding to ensure all residents without access to broadband service will have the opportunity to obtain high-speed internet if desired,” Hugh Grunden, president and CEO of Easton Utilities, said in a statement.

In 2017, the Maryland General Assembly established the Task Force on Rural Internet, Broadband, Wireless and Cellular Service to help address broadband inequities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and in other rural parts of the state. Gov. Larry Hogan appointed Easton Utilities’ Grunden to serve on the task force.

Around the same time, the Talbot County Council issued a solicitation to help close the gap on broadband access. In December 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its ReConnect Program with $600 million in funding for broadband. Easton Utilities applied and in July 2020, USDA awarded Easton Utilities a $13.1 million grant to fund the extension of broadband into underserved portions of Talbot County.

An additional $13 million of funding for the project came from a combination of funding from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the State of Maryland, and Talbot County.

The state of Maryland contributed about $6.2 million. Talbot County contributed $3 million in matching funds and in March the county contributed another $1.75 million to the project, which eliminated funds that were originally slated to come from the project’s newly served customers. Easton Utilities is contributing a total of $4.25 million to the Connect Talbot project.

Easton Utilities has offered cable service to customers in its greater Easton metropolitan service territory since 1984 and began offering broadband service in 1998. Easton created Easton Velocity in 2016 with the merger of Easton Cable and Easton Online. Easton Velocity now serves 4,600 cable customers, more than 9,000 internet customers, and 1,600 digital voice customers. 

In addition to providing the basis for internet service to an underserved community, the Connect Talbot project will also allow for Easton Velocity to offer services to new subscribers.

Separately, Easton Utilities is converting its current subscriber base in Easton to fiber optic cable, using $5 million of the Town of Easton’s American Rescue Plan funds and $10 million of its own funds to bolster the backbone of its broadband service and bring fiber optic cable from the curb to customers’ houses.

Anthony Cannon Installed As Chair of APPA’s Board of Directors

June 15, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
June 15, 2022

Anthony Cannon, general manager and CEO of Greenville Utilities Commission in Greenville, North Carolina, on June 15 was installed as chair of the American Public Power Association Board of Directors during APPA’s National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

David Osburn, general manager of Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority in Edmond, Oklahoma, is chair-elect for 2022-2023. Nicholas Lawler, general manager of Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments in Littleton, Massachusetts, is vice chair. Colin Hansen, CEO and general manager of Kansas Power Pool in Wichita, Kansas, is immediate past chair. Layne Burningham, president and CEO of Utah Municipal Power Agency in Spanish Fork, Utah, is treasurer.   

Cannon chose five members of the board to serve with the officers on the APPA Executive Committee.

They are: Daniel Beans, electric utility director of Roseville Electric Utility in Roseville, California; John Haarlow, CEO and general manager of Snohomish County PUD in Everett, Washington; Jonathan Hand, executive director of Electric Cities of Alabama in Montgomery, Alabama; Thomas Kent, president and CEO of Nebraska Public Power District in Columbus, Nebraska; and Michael Peters, president and CEO of WPPI Energy in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.  

Newly elected to the APPA board this year are: Jason Grey, director of utilities of Danville Utilities Department in Danville, Virginia; Roy Jones, CEO of ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina; Beatrice Limtiaco, assistant general manager of administration of Guam Power Authority; Debra Smith, general manager and CEO of Seattle City Light in Seattle, Washington; and Brian Solsbee, executive director of the Tennessee Municipal Electric Power Association in Brentwood, Tennessee. 

Seven board members were re-elected to new three-year terms: Ellen Burt, general manager of Stowe Electric Department in Stowe, Vermont, John Haarlow, CEO and general manager of Snohomish County PUD in Everett, Washington; Thomas Kent, president and CEO of Nebraska Public Power District in Columbus, Nebraska; Nicholas Lawler, general manager of Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments in Littleton, Massachusetts; Russell Olson, CEO of Heartland Consumers Power District in Madison, South Dakota; Michael Peters, president and CEO of WPPI Energy in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; and David Walters, general manager of Grand Haven Board of Light and Power in Grand Haven, Michigan.

APPA board members are chosen to represent 10 regions across the country.

Twenty-Three Individuals, Eight Utilities Win National Public Power Awards

June 14, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
June 14, 2022

Twenty-Three individuals and eight utilities were recognized for service to the American Public Power Association (APPA) and the public power industry during APPA’s National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee on June 14.

The individuals and utilities recognized at the ceremony were: 

Alex Radin Distinguished Service Award

This award is the highest award granted by the American Public Power Association. The award recognizes exceptional leadership and dedication to public power.

James D. Donovan Individual Achievement Award

This award recognizes people who have made substantial contributions to the electric utility industry, with a special commitment to public power. 

Alan H. Richardson Statesmanship Award

This award recognizes public power leaders who work to achieve consensus on national issues important to public power utilities.

Larry Hobart Seven Hats Award

This award recognizes managers of small utilities serving fewer than 2,500 meters. These managers have a very small staff and must assume multiple roles.

Harold Kramer-John Preston Personal Service Award 

This award recognizes individuals for their service to the American Public Power Association.

Spence Vanderlinden Public Official Award

This award recognizes elected or appointed local officials who have contributed to the goals of the American Public Power Association.

Robert E. Roundtree Rising Star Award

This award is a scholarship presented to future leaders in public power. The recipient receives a stipend to travel to an APPA conference or training program to advance their education and development in public power.

Mark Crisson Leadership and Managerial Excellence Award 

This award recognizes managers at a utility, joint action agency, or state or regional association who steer their organizations to new levels of excellence, lead by example, and inspire staff to do better.

E.F. Scattergood System Achievement Award

This award honors American Public Power Association member systems with outstanding accomplishments.

Sue Kelly Community Service Award

This award recognizes utilities for their “good neighbor” activities that demonstrate commitment to the local community.

Energy Innovator Award

APPA’s research program, Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED), nurtures innovation in public power. Each year, the program recognizes innovative utility projects with this award.

Group Says Ann Arbor, Mich., Municipalization Study RFP Falls Short

June 6, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
June 6, 2022

A group that supports municipalization efforts in Ann Arbor, Mich., recently said that a request for proposals (RFP) for a municipalization feasibility study falls short on several fronts.

In January, the Ann Arbor City Council took action to require the completion of a municipal electric utility feasibility study. In response, city staff recently issued an RFP.

In response to the RFP, Ann Arbor for Public Power (A2P2) noted that it supports a thorough and unbiased municipalization feasibility study. “However, this RFP is flawed, and could lead to a study that does not provide the information to accurately determine the technical and economic feasibility of an Ann Arbor municipal electric utility,” the group said.

“We are disappointed that the city rejected our requests to provide public comment prior to the release of this RFP, which could have prevented these flaws,” the group said.

To ensure the completion of a reliable feasibility study, it asked that an A2P2 representative be appointed to the proposal selection committee as an external collaborator, and that the proposal selection process be conducted with public transparency. The group wants its representative to be present at contractor interviews (if needed), at negotiations, and at selection committee meetings.

A2P2 said that the city must thoroughly evaluate both the potential costs and the potential benefits of municipalization to determine feasibility.

The group said that this task is typically performed in two steps. The first phase typically takes a modeling approach, based mainly on Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state regulatory filings, presenting various scenarios to determine if a more rigorous follow up engineering-based study justifies the added expense, it said.

A2P2 noted that it advocated for an affordable preliminary feasibility study similar to those recently conducted by Pueblo, Colorado and Chicago, Illinois, each of which cost about $120,000.

“The scope of work of section 2 of this RFP is so extensive that we expect bids for this portion alone to come in many times higher.” The city has allocated $250,000 for the RFP, and the group believes that this funding amount will still be severely inadequate to fund the scope of work.

In addition, A2P2 said that the RFP requires exhaustive evaluations of the costs, concerns and risks of municipalization without a correspondingly complete assessment of its potential benefits.

The group quoted Ursula Schryver, American Public Power Association Vice President of Strategic Member Engagement & Education, as saying that overall, “it seems a bit biased negatively toward the municipalization option.”

She also noted that the RFP deliverables should have included estimates of municipal benefits, such as the potential value to the city of owning the distribution assets. These might include the ability to improve service reliability, to generate cash reserves, and the potential to improve overall city services by integrating the electric utility.

The group noted that more than 1,300 Ann Arbor residents signed petitions supporting a city-funded feasibility study, “and they deserve an efficiently conducted study that delivers a sound, unbiased answer. Tax dollars should be spent on a fiscally responsible and open feasibility study process, one that reliably evaluates the municipalization option.”

APPA’s Ursula Schryver Highlights Local Control As Key Benefit Of Public Power

May 15, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 15, 2022

Local control over decision making in areas such as renewable energy or reliability offers a key advantage for public power communities, Ursula Schryver, Vice-President of Strategic Member Engagement & Education at the American Public Power Association (APPA), said during a recent event related to public power.

Schryver was joined in the discussion by Maine State Rep. Seth Berry and Darren Springer, General Manager for Vermont’s Burlington Electric Department.

The three participated in a virtual event on public power around the country and lessons learned for Ann Arbor, Mich., whose City Council earlier this year unanimously adopted a resolution initiating a feasibility study for a public power utility.

Schryver said that local decision making “is the overarching tenet of public power.” She noted that communities with public power have local control over “the decisions that they make, how the utility is run, the utility’s priorities, and so that allows the city and the community to set its own priorities,” whether that’s keeping rates low, investing in system upgrades or adding renewable energy to their portfolio.

“More and more, we’re seeing communities that are pursuing the public power option” because of an interest in renewable energy, she said.

At other times, communities have pursued the public power option for other reasons, such as reliability or rates, Schryver noted.

While renewable energy may be the driving force now for communities to pursue public power, “twenty years down the road it may be some other issue that your community is interested in but having the local utility with local governance allows you to” make changes and address the issues that are important to the community, she said.

Schryver also said that public power utilities are in a solid position to address the needs and challenges of the 21st Century.

She said that there a number of public power utilities across the U.S. that are “great examples of utilities that are doing innovative things.”

Public power utilities address the issues that are of importance to their communities and “they have the ability to adapt and change,” she said.

Berry, who has been a key advocate for bringing public power to Maine, said that public power is “a superior business model” if a community wants to achieve 100 percent renewable energy supplies.

He pointed out that two California public power utilities – SMUD and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power – are “leading in the race to one hundred percent renewables.”

In Maine, a group called Our Power is working to create a statewide, consumer-owned utility.

Meanwhile, Springer provided an overview of Burlington Electric Department and detailed the utility’s key initiatives that it is pursuing.

Among other things, Springer discussed the City of Burlington’s net zero energy by 2030 goal and provided details on a $20 million net zero energy revenue bond. The bond will allow Burlington Electric Department to continue and expand green stimulus incentives that have helped Burlington residents switch to electric vehicles (EVs) and cold-climate heat pumps.

OPPD Employees Organize Collection To Assist Ukrainian Refugees

May 12, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 12, 2022

Omaha Public Power District’s (OPPD) employee resource group, OPPD Global Connections, recently organized a collection to assist local Ukrainian refugees in need.

OPPD Global Connections is committed to promoting, supporting and advancing a workforce that embraces inclusive diversity through respectful interactions.

The group works to build a greater OPPD workforce by welcoming all immigrants, refugees, and interested employees to connect with and educate one another through diverse skills, expertise and cultural values resulting in opportunities for better career pathways and professional growth.

Collection boxes were setup at seven different OPPD locations and OPPD employees were encouraged to purchase LED light bulbs since they are more energy-efficient and longer lasting, but any light bulbs were acceptable.

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Oleg Lys, OPPD Global Connections president, and Lili Solsky, president-elect, pose with donated bulbs. Lys is originally from Ukraine.

A total of 326 light bulbs were collected and on May 10, the light bulbs were dropped off to Lutheran Family Services to be given to local Ukrainian refugees.

Voters in Barton Village, Vt., Decide Not To Sell Public Power Utility To Cooperative

May 11, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 11, 2022

Voters in Barton Village, Vt., elected not to sell Barton Electric to Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) in a ballot vote on May 10.

The decision allows Barton Village to continue owning and operating the public power utility that serves more than 2,000 customers in Barton, Brownington, Charleston, Irasburg, and Westmore. 

“I’d like to thank the Barton Village residents for the commitment they’ve shown to their municipal electric utility,” said Ken Nolan, Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA) General Manager.

“Over the past several weeks, voters dedicated themselves to learning as much as possible about the electric utility industry so they could make an informed decision,” he said. “Please know that VPPSA stands ready to assist the community as you move forward and explore the options for serving residents and customers of Barton Electric.”  

Barton Village Trustees first announced their recommendation to sell the electric utility to VEC in March. Two informational meetings were held prior to the vote on May 10. 

For more than 40 years, VPPSA has assisted Barton Electric with services and solutions to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable electric service, VPPSA noted. 

VPPSA is a joint action agency. Its membership includes 12 consumer-owned municipals in Vermont and the Authority has broad statutory powers that enable it to provide such services as may be required in support of the activities of its member municipal utilities and to market its services to non-member utilities as it deems appropriate.

White House Aims To Help Rural Communities Access New Federal Programs

April 29, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
April 29, 2022

The Biden Administration last week launched a program to place federal field staff in more than 25 rural communities in multiple states, Tribal Nations and territories where they will help local leaders navigate and access resources made available by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Rural Partners Network (RPN) is being funded and led by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) but is a whole-of-government effort that includes several federal agencies and regional commissions participating in the Rural Prosperity Interagency Policy Council, among them the departments of commerce, education, energy, health and human services, interior, labor, transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The aim of the Rural Partners Network is to “help rural communities create economic opportunity by leveraging resources from all federal departments and agencies.” In support of that effort, 13 federal agencies are dedicating a Washington, D.C. based point person or team to serve as a “front door for RPN staff and communities.”

RPN staff will work with local leaders in government, business, and community organizations; federal agency field offices and existing federal efforts such as Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization, the Justice40 Initiative, and with regional commissions to identify challenges preventing rural communities from accessing federal support and to inform the work of the Rural Prosperity Interagency Policy Council, which is tasked with ensuring rural places are prioritized in Washington.

The American Rescue Plan, also known as the COVID-19 Rescue Package, provides billions of dollars to rural workers, local governments, and small businesses to rebuild from the pandemic. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, provides funding for broadband, drinking water, electric infrastructure, and roads and bridges for rural communities.

The Biden administration hopes to have the first cohort of the RPN program in place by the end of May in rural locations in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and New Mexico.

The first cohort locations were selected by the USDA based on quantitative and qualitative factors, including levels of economic distress and readiness of the communities and local stakeholder organizations to participate in RPN program.

The RPN program will expand to Nevada, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Tribal communities in Alaska in a second cohort that would launch by the end of August, if Congress approves the appropriations in the Biden administration’s fiscal year 2023 budget.

Eventually, the administration sees the RPN program expanding to serve all 50 states, as well as more Tribal Nations and territories.

Colorado Springs Utilities To Operate, Maintain Fort Carson’s Electric And Gas Infrastructure

March 28, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 28, 2022

Colorado Springs Utilities will begin operating and maintaining Fort Carson’s electric and natural gas infrastructure outside of buildings in early 2023 under an agreement announced March 16.

Col. Nate Springer, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson, and Aram Benyamin, CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities, signed the pact, known as an Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA), during a utilities board meeting at Colorado Springs Utilities.

“Because Colorado Springs Utilities is so much larger than our base operations contractor, it immediately makes us more resilient,” Springer said.

Army leaders and utilities board members indicated that the agreement for Colorado Springs Utilities crews to operate and maintain outdoor infrastructure has been in the works for close to three years and that it will allow the Mountain Post to harness the local utility’s means, methods, supply chain and network.

The partners said it will not impact other utility customers and that it should be a seamless process for Fort Carson.

“We have staff, a warehouse system and bigger buying power that we can leverage to support (Fort Carson), which will help keep costs minimal as well as lower costs in some areas,” said Travas Deal, chief operations officer, Colorado Springs Utilities.

This IGSA is slated to begin in January 2023 and last for 10 years, with one-year renewal options.

Springer explained that it’s just one of many energy projects and efforts that the post has planned for the near future.

Kansas City Board of Public Utilities Pandemic Response Recognized

March 25, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 25, 2022

The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) was recently named the winner of the PR News 2022 Nonprofit Awards in the social responsibility category for its on-going efforts to assist and help customers and the community manage challenges during the pandemic.

These national awards recognize organizations, individuals, and initiatives in the nonprofit sector that work to better their communities and the world around them.

BPU noted that COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted Wyandotte County, Kansas, over the last 24 months, both from a health perspective and economically, with many experiencing lost income and wages, food insecurity and psychological strain.

“As a socially responsible partner in the community, BPU undertook a variety of initiatives and programs and educational efforts during that period to assist customers, including those experiencing financial hardship and/or difficulty managing their utility payments, helping them access or utilize all of the various resources available,” the public power utility said.

 This included campaigns to promote and connect the community to various local, state, and federal programs and resources to assist, including the state-managed KERA program, direct financial assistance and relief from BPU in concert with the United Way (more than 600 families assisted in last 12 months), enactment of temporary disconnection moratoriums, remote opportunities for bills payment/questions in order to be safe, and much more.

These communications efforts included the use of direct mailers, website and other customer service enhancements, flyers and media promotions to help the community be safe and more easily access the resources they required.

This latest award is one of several BPU has received in recent months for its on-going commitment to the community and its COVID response efforts, which included being named a local Corporate Champion by Ingram’s magazine at the 2021 Philanthropist of the Year Awards in December of 2021.

BPU has been serving Wyandotte County for more than 100 years, and was recently highlighted on the PR News 2022 Nonprofit Awards webpage, along with other award recipients.