Ann Arbor, Mich., City Council Approves Resolution On Public Power Feasibility Study

September 9, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 9, 2021

The Ann Arbor, Mich., City Council on Sept. 7 approved a resolution that asks the Ann Arbor Energy Commission to provide a recommendation on whether or not the Commission believes the city should undertake a feasibility study to understand options related to creating a municipal utility, including traditional and non-traditional models.

Prior to the council’s meeting, Ann Arbor, Mich., Council Member Elizabeth Nelson announced plans to introduce a resolution at the meeting asking the Ann Arbor Energy Commission to consider and vote on the question of a public power feasibility study for the city. She wanted the Energy Commission to vote on the matter at the Energy Commission’s Sept. 14 meeting.

At the city council meeting, Council Member Travis Radina noted that the Energy Commission is scheduled next month to hear from representatives of Boulder, Colo., and Winter Park, Fla., about their experiences related to municipalization.

In November 2020, Boulder voters declined to pursue municipalization for the city. Winter Park formed a public power utility in 2005.

Radina therefore put forth an alternative proposal that provided the Energy Commission with additional time to report back to the council.

But Nelson objected to the notion that her resolution “is somehow overstepping and dismissing the value” of input from the Energy Commission, noting that she has had many conversations with members of the Energy Commission who shared with her the length of time that this has been discussed.

“This is not a big step that I’m asking for,” she said. “I have crafted this resolution very carefully to include the Energy Commission. I would argue that if our community felt very strongly about this, if our community felt a compelling need,” the council could act “without first asking for input from the Energy Commission. My resolution is specifically asking for their input, with the knowledge that they have been discussing this for months.”

Nelson said that “I think that there is a reason to act sooner rather than later, and I know that members of our community are looking ahead to the possibility of this feasibility study informing a potential ballot question for next year and so three months might matter. Pushing this down the road three months – I don’t see any reason. I feel like the Energy Commission could probably give us an answer given that they’ve been talking about this since February.”

The council ultimately voted to ask the Energy Commission to provide a recommendation no later than December 31, 2021 as to whether or not the Commission believes the city should undertake a feasibility study to understand options related to creating a municipal utility, including traditional and non-traditional models.

The American Public Power Association offers a wide range of resources and information related to municipalization on its website.

Ann Arbor, Mich., Council Member To Make Proposal Related To Public Power Feasibility Study
August 24, 2021

August 24, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 24, 2021

Ann Arbor, Mich., Council Member Elizabeth Nelson plans to introduce a resolution at an upcoming city council meeting that will ask the Ann Arbor Energy Commission to consider and vote on the question of a public power feasibility study for the city.

“The recent multi-day power outage has prompted a lot of conversation in our community about improving the reliability of our electricity and the city’s relationship with DTE, specifically,” wrote Nelson in a recent blog posted on her website.

“For some time now, many local leaders have advocated for a public municipal power utility, similar to what already exists in over forty municipalities in Michigan. Arguments in favor of a public utility include: reliability, sustainability, accountability, and affordability,” she wrote.

The city’s Energy Commission is close to concluding what has been many months of discussion about a public utility. In February, the Commission heard a presentation about public power, as well as advocacy from Michigan State Rep. Yousef Rabhi and State Sen. Jeff Irwin.

In July, the Energy Commission heard another presentation on the topic of a municipal utility, including legal advice about how to achieve it in the state of Michigan. At that meeting, the Commission was asked to recommend funding for a feasibility study.

“Because public utilities exist across Michigan, there is a lot that we know already in terms of how it would function in Ann Arbor,” wrote Nelson. “However, a feasibility study is the appropriate first step in exploring this option. There is significant support in the community for a public power utility, but it is also appropriate that Council receive advice from the Energy Commission regarding this feasibility study.”

Nelson said that she will have a resolution on the agenda for the next city council meeting on Sept. 7, 2021, that asks the Energy Commission to consider and vote on the question of a feasibility study.

She wants the Energy Commission vote to be taken at their next meeting on Sept. 14, so that the Ann Arbor City Council can receive their recommendation in time to vote on it at the council’s next meeting on Sept. 20.

Nelson said that a recommendation for a feasibility study does not bring immediate action, “but does push our efforts in a specific direction: establishing the parameters of the study and identifying the appropriate entity to do that study.”

The American Public Power Association offers a wide range of resources and information related to municipalization on its website.

Henderson, Ky., City Commission Rejects Sale of Public Power Utility To Cooperative

July 27, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 27, 2021

The City Commission of Henderson, Ky., recently voted to reject a proposal by Kentucky electric cooperative Big Rivers Electric Corporation to purchase Henderson Municipal Power & Light (HMP&L), the city’s public power utility.

The vote by the Henderson City Commission took place on July 13 and came after the Henderson Utility Commission in June recommended against selling HMP&L.

At the meeting, Henderson City Commissioner Austin Vowels said that “what our consultant told us was you can expect rates in Henderson to increase if you accept this offer and sell” HMP&L. He noted that Big Rivers offered its own analysis related to the cooperative’s offer.

“My fear and the reason I vote against this transaction happening is that I think it ultimately in the end leads to significant rate increases for the people of Henderson,” Vowels said.

Henderson Mayor Steve Austin said that he sees “no pressing reason for the City of Henderson to sell its municipal utility to an outside agency.”

He noted that HMP&L “offers our citizens the lowest household electric rates in the state, provides excellent service and provides steady financial support for the city.”

Big Rivers, which has made previous offers to buy HMP&L, also attempted to buy another Kentucky public power utility, Owensboro Municipal Utilities. “It is very interesting to me that the City of Owensboro turned down Big Rivers’ offer to buy its municipal utility within about 72 hours after the offer was made,” Austin said at the Commission meeting.

Austin went on to say that “municipal utilities across the state have added value to cities and customers in many, many ways.”

Among the provisions of the Big Rivers offer to buy HMP&L was a payment of $90 million to the City of Henderson.

But Henderson City Commissioner Bradley Staton noted that HMP&L has more than $30 million in its reserves and so “if Big Rivers were to purchase HMP&L they would be using that money to go toward the purchase of HMP&L. So the offer was really for a little less than $60 million, not $90 million.”

Earlier this year, Chris Heimgartner, General Manager of HMP&L, made a presentation before a joint meeting of the City of Henderson, Kentucky Board of Commissions and the Utility Commission regarding Big Rivers Electric’s offer to purchase HMP&L. 

Among other things, Heimgartner said in the presentation that the Big Rivers offer was “a very poor proposal” for the City of Henderson and HMP&L’s customers and said it should be declined.

Meanwhile, in early June, PFM Financial Advisors made a presentation before a joint meeting of the City of Henderson, Kentucky Board of Commissions and the Utility Commission regarding Big Rivers Electric’s offer to purchase HMP&L. PFM was hired by the City of Henderson to analyze the offer made by Big Rivers.

The report completed by PFM did not make a recommendation to either sell or retain HMP&L.

In its analysis of impacts on the city as a result of a sale, PFM listed a number of qualitative considerations including, among others, reduced operational and economic synergies with the city and loss of control over an essential service and on its leadership.

Big Rivers is a member-owned, not-for-profit, generation and transmission cooperative (G&T) headquartered in Henderson, Ky., which provides wholesale electric power and services to three distribution cooperative members across 22 counties in western Kentucky.

HMP&L provides electric transmission, distribution, and fiber internet and phone services to the citizens of Henderson.

Maine Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Create Consumer-Owned Utility

July 14, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 14, 2021

Maine Gov. Janet Mills on July 13 vetoed a bill that called for the creation of a consumer-owned utility in the state called Pine Tree Power.

The consumer-owned entity that would be created under the bill would take over the electric service now provided by investor-owned Central Maine Power (CMP) and Versant Power. CMP and Versant Power (formerly known as Emera Maine), are majority owned by Iberdrola of Spain and Emera of Canada, respectively.

The bill called for placing the question of consumer ownership of Maine’s grid on the ballot in November 2021.

Unless the Legislature is able to override the governor’s veto by two-thirds supermajorities in both the House and the Senate, the question of consumer ownership of Maine’s two investor-owned utilities, CMP and Versant, will not be on this year’s ballot.

The Legislature will reconvene on July 19 to vote on the veto, and on all other vetoes Mills has issued since July 1.

In her veto message, the governor said the performance of the state’s investor-owned utilities in recent years “has been abysmal,” citing “inexcusable billing errors, unacceptable delays in restoration of service, inexplicable confusion over the costs of connecting new solar projects to the grid, substantial rate increases, and now a draft audit report that questions Central Maine Power’s management structure.”

The Maine Public Utilities Commission on July 13 received the results of an independent audit of the management structure of CMP and its affiliated service companies, Avangrid Management Company and Avangrid Services Company. The Commission ordered the audit in January 2020 at the conclusion of an investigation into CMP’s rates.

Mills said that it “may well be that the time has come for the people of the State of Maine to retake control over the [utilities’] assets,” but she raised several outstanding concerns about the substance of the bill.

The Maine Legislature on June 30 voted in favor of the bill, casting a bipartisan 77-68 vote in the House to attach an amendment to the bill that they supported two weeks ago. The Maine Senate voted 18-15 to support the new package.

An amendment introduced June 30 revised the bill to require the Pine Tree Power Company to pay property taxes directly to Maine municipalities, while maintaining its nonprofit status. This replaced previous bill language requiring payments in lieu of taxes.

Maine Rep. Seth Berry, sponsor of L.D. 1708, said the amendment spoke directly to the top two concerns of Mills, and concerns voiced by some municipal leaders. “We are pleased that the revised language won back the support needed to send this to Governor Mills, and hope to win her support for our effort as well,” he said in a statement.

Berry discussed the legislation in a recent episode of the American Public Power Association’s Public Power Now podcast.

Stephanie Clifford, campaign manager for Our Power, a group that supports the creation of a consumer-owned utility in the state, previously said that if Mills vetoed the bill, “we will continue our campaign through a citizens’ initiative.”

She said that petition gathering on such a citizen-initiated referendum would begin this summer and would likely put the question on the ballot in November 2022, the same day that Mills and all legislators are up for re-election.

After the news broke that Mills had vetoed the bill, Our Power tweeted that “we’ll take the proposal to replace CMP/Versant with Maine’s own consumer-owned utility directly to the voters.”

Celebrating public power in America series – Part 3: Celebrating Public Power’s Attributes and Addressing Municipalization

July 7, 2021

by APPA News
July 7, 2021

The American Public Power Association concludes our second three-part newsletter by highlighting public power systems that demonstrate a commitment to local communities, ongoing innovation, and resiliency. We conclude the series by exploring how discussions about municipalization and community choice aggregation efforts have touched local communities. 

Public Power’s Local Commitment

Mason County PUD 1 is the first and oldest operating public utility district in Washington State, formed by Washington State Initiative No. 1 in 1934 and began operations in February of 1935. Mason PUD 1 serves water, power and wastewater services to just over 8,300 meters in Mason and south Jefferson Counties along the beautiful Hood Canal. With a lean staff of just 25 total employees and an operating budget of about $11.8 million, Mason PUD 1’s team wears several hats and has a knack for making equipment and infrastructure last as long as they can, which helps reserve budget for prioritized projects.

The PUD has a throwback customer service model; one that is rare to find in 2021 in any industry. While the utility has expanded its digital platforms and presence, especially during the pandemic, the employees still have a special personal connection with their community. Customers knit hats for the workers during the winter months, bake cookies and holiday snacks to drop off to the crews, and can identify the customer service representatives by the sounds of their voices over the phone. Linemen still rescue cats out of trees and hang banners for local service clubs. Many of the utility’s employees grew up in the area and have deep ties in the community.

This special relationship with the public helped Mason PUD 1 navigate some tough challenges at the beginning of the pandemic. Supply chain issues caused shortages for things like PPE, supplies to conduct water system testing, and even basic office supplies to keep the offices open. While the PUD prides itself on its commitment to spend public funds locally whenever feasible, this supply chain interruption had them looking internally toward local vendors and community members to help bridge the gaps. Thanks to newly forged and existing partnerships, homemade masks were donated by community members and hand sanitizer was made by the local distillery who kept bottles just for first responders like the PUD.

Arrangements were made for the fleet to fuel up at small local gas stations along the highway. Local restaurants that were limited to take-out only during the statewide shutdown started delivering lunch to the office each week. The local Costco store took orders for toilet paper, paper towels, and bleach wipes and held them off to the side to be picked up for the office. The community stepped up to help the men and women who always came through for them during storms and outages all year long.

The Mason PUD 1 administrative team also worked tirelessly to secure CARES Act funding for customer bill arrearages, having to go to great lengths to convince statewide county leaders that sharing the funds with public utility districts was not only an allowable use of the funds, but the proper intent of the Act to support households struggling financially due to the pandemic. The PUD also partnered with several community organizations to connect customers with financial assistance for utility bills, rent and food. Thanks to their efforts, they were able to apply over $57,000 in CARES Act funds to customer bills in addition to thousands of dollars of assistance through community action councils and other private and nonprofit agencies.

To celebrate their 85th anniversary of public service in 2020, they reimagined their annual customer appreciation BBQ into a drive through event to stay within the parameters of the statewide restrictions on gatherings. The PUD typically hosts 300-400 customers during this annual event, but in 2020 they had nearly double the number of visitors drive through their campus for the free PUD gift bags, burgers and hot dogs, conservation kits and to show their support during public power week. Many customers thanked the PUD for not giving up on the event, saying it was the first time since the pandemic started that they had ventured out of their homes for anything other than doctors appointments or to pick up groceries. The volume of visitors was a reflection of the high esteem in which the community held their public utility district and the value of the PUD to Mason County. The employees and commissioners of Mason PUD 1 felt the same way about the customers they serve.

Public Power Systems are Innovative

CDE Lightband offers electricity, internet, video and voice services with speed and superior performance and the convenience of 24/7 local support to the City of Clarksville, Tennessee. The service area, consisting of 100 square miles within the municipal boundaries, includes 971 miles of power lines and 1,045 miles of fiber optic cable. Their world-class fiber optic network keeps electric costs low and allows CDE Lightband to deliver exceptional products and constant innovation. As a result, the network provides savings of over $10 million annually in operating costs and over $5 million annually in income for electrical grid improvements, resulting in half as many large-scale power outages compared to peer cities.

Currently, CDE Lightband has 65,594 residential electric accounts and 8,760 commercial electric accounts while broadband has 24,679 residential accounts and 1,857 commercial accounts. 

Additionally, access to a nationally recognized network increases home values by 3% (or an average of over $5,000) according to the Fiber to the Home Council. Based on access to the superior digital products provided by CDE Lightband, Clarksville has been designated as a first 50 “Next Century City.” 

CDE Lightband staff includes over 200 full-time employees, a management team with over 100 years of combined industry expertise, and governance provided by a board of five local business leaders.

CDE Lightband built a robust fiber-to-the-premise network in early 2007 to develop and expand their meter data management system, remote meter management and their SCADA system for improved electric service reliability, faster restoration, and for operational efficiencies. Also, in 2007, CDE Lightband entered the broadband business, delivering high-speed Internet, voice over IP phone services and IPTV services, all via the active Ethernet fiber to the premise network.

From its inception, the broadband division of CDE Lightband faced a great many challenges in access to capital, technology restrictions, and growing pains as they worked to get the network performing and the customer base growing. To foster the needed growth and capital-intensive equipment needs, the broadband division borrowed $17 million from the electric division with a loan agreement requiring annual payments and interest charges.  

The management and staff at CDE Lightband put an “all hands on deck” approach to developing and growing the broadband business. A focus on product development, marketing, sales training and incentives for sales staff helped to grow the business and the customer base exponentially. Further focus on processes, equipment and product offering changes, and a significant focus on the network itself, fostered the development of a network and product offering unsurpassed in the region. CDE Lightband has been recognized nationally and within the state as one of the top three fastest Internet providers. CDE Lightband has risen to the position of being one of the most competitive service providers, offering speeds from 250 Mbps up to 10 Gig, a new streaming product for video services and phone services for businesses that provides premier products in Hosted PBX services. 

As the electric division of CDE Lightband owns and maintains the fiber network, the broadband division must pay annual lease payments, loan payments and shared cost allocations totaling upwards of $10 million annually. This has allowed the electric division to build and/or upgrade six substations for a total of $29 million plus an over $16 million campus upgrade and remodel, all out of cash funds rather than take these large investments to the bond market. Other electric grid improvements funded by broadband include grid automation, AMI and right-of-way for a total of $10 million annually.  

Fourteen years later, CDE Lightband broadband boasts a penetration rate over 30% within the market with over 25,000 customers and growing. They are the preferred primary provider for two local governments, the school system, hospital and university along with many other enterprise level customers and small businesses.  The revenues driven by solid residential and business growth over the past years have positioned CDE Lightband broadband ahead of many peers in achieving financial independence from their electric brother to include a complete pay-off of the $17 million interdivision loan 17 years earlier than projected. This initial investment has paid huge dividends to the electric division with a calculated return on investment over the life of the loan of over $74 million. A solid investment decision that led to success for both entities and a leap of faith that helped CDE Lightband soar. Now, with the successful launch of Smartband, powered by Plume, CDE Lightband offers customers a revolutionary home WiFi system, bringing in over $28,000 a month in additional revenue.

This high level of performance has not gone unnoticed. The energy services team recently received two major awards from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s “EnergyRight” program: Top Performer and Innovator of the Year. CDE Lightband was also designated as APPA’s Smart Energy Provider, one of only two utilities in the Tennessee Valley Authority territory to receive this designation, and received the highest achievable Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) designation once again, the Diamond Level, for providing reliable and safe electric service. CDE Lightband joins over 275 public power utilities nationwide that hold the RP3 designation.

Public Power Communities are Resilient

The public power business model has embodied an American tradition deeply rooted in local communities. In our small town revitalization series last week, Colin Hansen, Chair of APPA’s Board of Directors and Executive Director of the Kansas Municipal Utilities, spoke to one of the defining characteristics of public power utilities: resiliency. Or just plain grit

At the 2021 APPA National Conference, he shared an example from Kansas with attendees. It embodies the spirit of public power dating back to 1881: local communities coming together to provide an essential service, rather than go without. Even in modern times. 

Greensburg, Kansas is a small town. At 9:45pm on the night of May 4, 2007 it was struck by a violent, 1.7-mile wide EF-5 category tornado. It killed 11 people, injured 63 others, and destroyed 95% of the town. It left 90% of Greensburg’s 1,383 residents homeless and had caused some $250 million in damages. 

Hansen said, “It was on that day that this small town was quite literally blown off the face of the earth.” 

But public power mobilizes when tragedy strikes. Even with an outpouring of public power assistance arriving on scene, “we quickly realized that…there was simply nothing left to connect to,” he said. 

Undeterred, the City of Greensburg found the grit to reinvent itself.  Hansen said they “put the ‘green’ in Greensburg. They created the nation’s first model green community from the ground up – 100% renewable wind energy, first city in the U.S. to use all LED streetlights, and home to the most LEED buildings per capita in the country.” This resiliency and rebirth later collected numerous awards and recognition, including from both former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. 

Municipalization

Early municipal utilities were built on public power’s core values — affordability, reliability and sustainability. Today, these values are prompting other communities to explore what it would take to transfer ownership of the electric utility to the community from an incumbent shareholder-owned utility. Known as “municipalization,” this long and arduous process often involves perfect timing, dedicated communication with stakeholders, and a delicate balancing act with the demands of the incumbent utility.  

Many communities have and continue to float the idea of becoming public power and while some have tabled or abandoned their efforts, 88 communities have successfully municipalized since APPA began tracking this data in 1973, including 20 since 2000.

The reasons communities explore the public power or the municipalization option vary from year to year and amongst communities. Ultimately, it’s about having local control over a community’s energy future. Communities pursue public power to reduce rates, increase reliability, or to provide better customer service.

In recent years, many communities have pursued public power to have more environmentally friendly options — such as an increase in renewable energy or greater access to energy efficiency programs.

The City of Winter Park, Florida, formed a public power utility in 2005 to improve reliability. Winter Park’s effort was sparked by persistent problems with the incumbent investor owned utility. The private utility’s franchise was nearing expiration and included a clause allowing the city to buy the distribution system at the end of that period. In 2003, residents turned out in droves and voted overwhelmingly – by 69% – in favor of the city’s plan to form a municipal electric utility. The utility began operations in 2005 and committed to use all revenues from its electricity sales – except for a contribution it agreed to make to the city’s general fund – for capital improvements. The city committed to undertake a strong program to improve electric service reliability, in part by putting a significant portion of the power lines underground.

The City of Hermiston, Oregon, formed Hermiston Energy Services in 2001 following a four-year effort

that began because the local investor-owned utility closed its local customer service office, and citizens determined that the company’s service levels were declining. Customers can now pay bills and address service concerns in person at the local office.

Not all municipalization efforts result in the formation of a public power utility. However, simply evaluating the possibility ensures that community leaders have a better understanding of their energy needs and the evaluation process often garners concessions from the incumbent utility.

For the residents of Boulder, Colorado, local control meant knowing where their electricity came from and having a plan to increase renewable resources. At first, the focus was on renegotiating the city’s franchise agreement with investor-owned Xcel Energy, which was due to expire in 2010. However, when they felt their needs could not be met with a new franchise agreement, the city began efforts to separate itself from Xcel in earnest in 2011. When Boulder began its effort, Xcel’s generation portfolio was heavily dependent on fossil fuels. The city and Xcel initiated discussions to explore different options to reach its energy goals as Xcel began moving away from fossil fuels and has since pledged to have zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. In 2020, the city and Xcel entered settlement discussions, though there are off ramps to municipalization in the future if the city’s needs are not met.

Wichita, Kansas began looking at the public power option because of increasingly high electric rates from the incumbent utility. In February 2001, the city released a municipalization feasibility study showing it could save as much as $654 million in electricity costs over the next 20 years. The feasibility study gave Wichita the leverage it needed: six months later, $28 million in electric rate relief was headed for Wichita. The rate cut ordered by the Kansas Corporation Commission gave electric utility customers in the city about 85% of the rate relief that a consultant’s study said the city could achieve if it were to take over the power system.

While communities have been exploring the municipalization option for decades, APPA has seen increased interest in the public power option in recent years.

In Maine, lawmakers passed legislation on June 30 (in a 77-68 bipartisan vote) that would create a consumer-owned utility called Pine Tree Power. If L.D. 1708 becomes law, Mainers would vote on the question of consumer ownership at the ballot box in November.

The envisioned entity would take over the electric service now provided by Central Maine Power and Versant Power (formerly known as Emera Maine), which are majority owned by Spain’s Iberdrola and Canada’s Emera, respectively. In a recent editorial, Maine’s Portland Press Herald said it supports the bill. “The new utility would be governed independently, use no state funds and the taxpayers would not be on the hook for any of its debt. We don’t need to be scared about a different business model, especially when the one we have now is not working,” the editorial said.  Research conducted by SurveyUSA, for local proponents, showed public opinion polling with 75% of registered voters from across the state supporting the idea of replacing Central Maine Power and Versant with a local non-profit consumer-owned utility.  

Community Choice Aggregation

A newer type of municipal control has more recently emerged in which local entities, where applicable, form community choice aggregators (CCAs) to buy generation resources on behalf of local consumers.  The CCAs generally form to secure more control over the local energy mix (such as to procure more renewables) and/or to lower costs for consumers from incumbent investor-owned utilities. Eight states have enacted legislation enabling the formation of CCAs, with California’s CCA movement especially prolific. Whereas public power utilities are traditionally vertically-integrated utilities – providing all or some combination of generation, transmission, and distribution services plus localized public benefit programs – CCAs are typically formed to buy generation resources and utilize incumbent infrastructure. 

Realizing the nexus between traditional public power utilities and the nascent CCAs, APPA created a new CCA membership category in 2018 to extend resources to this emerging industry segment.

The American Public Power Association is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide.  We celebrate our members that strengthen their communities by providing superior service, engaging citizens, and instilling pride in community-owned power.

Celebrating public power in America series – Part 2: Celebrating the Modern Public Power Utility

July 6, 2021

by APPA News
July 6, 2021

The American Public Power Association is pleased to present the second in-depth, three-part Public Power Current newsletter series to celebrate public power’s past, present, and future.

Yesterday we described how local leaders began what would become the nation’s oldest continuously operated public power utility, in Butler, Missouri.  Today, the Butler Electric Department is a modern utility: it owns Missouri’s first utility-scale solar farm, has emergency-only generators, a fully remodeled and upgraded power plant, and is studying the addition of wind power to help meet the needs of a growing town.

Today we share how three public power utilities have adapted to changing times and local needs.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) – Memphis, Tennessee

Although MLGW has existed since 1939, its parent companies started over 100 years ago. Memphis was 26 years old when the Memphis Gas Light Company, the first of MLGW’s division companies, began in 1852. The City of Memphis was about three-square miles with approximately 10,000 residents. In 1887, a group of Memphians incorporated the Memphis Light and Power Company to supply electricity to the city and, on March 18, 1887, drillers tapped into the artesian water supply beneath the city. The Artesian Water Company was formed, and Memphians stopped using water from the Wolf River. After a series of purchases, mergers, and negotiations over the next half century, Memphis had a three-service utility company. On March 9, 1939, the governor of Tennessee signed an amendment to City’s charter creating the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division and a board of Light, Gas and Water Commissioners, who were sworn in on March 22, 1939.

Memphis sits on the banks of the Mississippi River in the southwestern corner of Tennessee. It is now the second largest city in Tennessee with a population of 651,073. Memphis also sits within Shelby County, which has a population of nearly one million residents. Today, MLGW is the nation’s largest three-service municipal utility, serving over 436,000 customer locations throughout Shelby County’s municipalities and unincorporated areas. MLGW’s mission is to safely deliver services that create and sustain superior customer experiences. Their vision is to be the trusted provider of exceptional customer value in the communities they feel privileged to serve. Their values – also known as The MLGW Way – are safety, integrity, ownership, inclusion and compassionate service.

The future is bright. MLGW is in the midst a five-year service improvement plan to update city infrastructure. The Division will deploy and commission more than 1,100 distribution automation system devices during the planning period, over 2,500 wood poles will be replaced, 1,000 sites will receive 5G telecommunications equipment and we’re replacing 5,000 lead service lines. The MLGW cast iron replacement project will be completed in 2021. This is a 30-year project that began in 1992. The Division is also replacing 17 miles of underground cable and 1,000 water lead lines.

MLGW is supplied with electricity by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a federal agency that sells electricity on a non-profit basis. MLGW is TVA’s largest customer, representing 11% of TVA’s total load. MLGW’s natural gas distribution network, which measures more than 4,650 miles in length, delivers natural gas to homes and businesses in Shelby County— nearly 40 billion cubic feet annually. And Memphis water is derived from one of the largest artesian well systems in the world. The aquifer beneath Shelby County contains more than 100 trillion gallons of water that fell to earth more than 2,000 years ago.

Service to the community extends beyond utilities. MLGW employees donate more than $1 million annually in goods and services and countless corporate and personal volunteer hours to make a positive impact. MLGW’s Public Education Program also educates Memphians on the utility industry through a variety of forums such as newsletters, community presentations, Careers-on-Wheels participation, Water Pumping Station tours, and more.

Keys Energy Services (KEYS) – Key West, Florida

KEYS, headquartered in Key West, serves the Lower Florida Keys, providing electricity from Key West to the Seven-Mile Bridge, and serves over 28,000 customers.

The City of Key West purchased the utility in 1943.  The City Council created a Utility Board to oversee what is now known as KEYS.  In 1969, the Florida State Legislature passed a new enabling act for the governing of KEYS, which is still in effect today, and calls for the popular election of five Utility Board members serving four-year terms.  Through the Utility Board, KEYS’ customers have a say in their municipal electric utility.  

In 2017 the Utility Board successfully lobbied the Legislature to update its governance to ensure representation from both within and outside the City limits.  Initially, KEYS only provided electric service to the City of Key West.  In 1953, the utility expanded its service area to the Seven-Mile Bridge.

In those early years, electricity was produced via local diesel generation.  In the late 1970’s, the Utility Board studied alternative power supplies and decided to construct a transmission line (or TIELINE) to interconnect to the mainland power grid. On May 8, 1987, KEYS interconnected the TIELINE with the mainland power grid and KEYS’ operations changed dramatically.

KEYS currently imports nearly all of its power supply and uses local generation for emergency back-up only. The utility relies on power from the mainland because it is far less expensive than local generation and offers greater fuel diversity. As a member of the Florida Municipal Power Agency’s All Requirements Project, KEYS pools its power resources with other public power utilities in Florida.  Together, the public power utilities enjoy greater efficiencies and economies of scale.  Most recently, KEYS joined two Florida Municipal Solar Projects to offer utility-scale solar to its customers.

Today, KEYS is a nationally recognized Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) by the American Public Power Association.  The Utility Board’s strategic plan focuses on reliability, customer service, reasonable rates, a highly effective workforce and reducing its reliance on fossil fuels through solar, electric vehicles and general customer education.  KEYS maintains a highly respected position within its local community and KEYS customers look forward to receiving the annual conservation calendar illustrated by local elementary school students and picking up a shade tree during the bi-annual Tree Giveaway.

Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) – Rochester, Minnesota  

RPU was formed in 1894 as Rochester’s first municipally owned utility, initially to provide street lighting.  Today, RPU serves a peak load of approximately 270 MW in a service territory of over 60 square miles.  In the late 1970’s, RPU along with 17 other Minnesota municipal utilities joined together and formed Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) to provide low-cost, reliable energy to its members.

RPU’s 200 employees work to ensure the availability of safe, reliable and efficient electricity and potable water to Rochester’s 110,000 citizens.  RPU’s electric utility serves 52,000 residential and 5,000 commercial customers.  Businesses in Rochester constitute about 60% of RPU’s electric utility revenues. 

RPU owns a fleet of generation facilities which includes natural gas-fired peaking plants and a small hydroelectric facility.  In addition, RPU retired their coal-fired generation in 2015, and that facility now runs on natural gas and is used to serve steam to a commercial customer.  In the near future, RPU is planning to add additional solar to their energy portfolio.

RPU’s motto is “We Pledge, We Deliver” and their mission is to “set the standard for service.”  Providing exceptional service to their customers drives everything they do.  To ensure that they are meeting those expectations, RPU surveys customers on a quarterly basis.  RPU’s strategic plan, which is refreshed every three years, centers on what they call the “five R’s”:  Rates, Reliability, Reputation, Relationships, and Responsibility.  RPU consistently maintains over 99% system reliability, and rates that are competitive with other utilities in southeast Minnesota.

Because energy and water are so crucial to economic development, RPU maintains representation on a number of boards and commissions, including, the Rochester Energy Commission, the Rochester Area Economic Development Board, the Climate Smart Municipalities Initiative through the University of Minnesota, and the Rochester Sustainability and Resiliency Task Force.  They also encourage employees to participate in community organizations to maintain connections with the community and assist customers with achieving their goals.

For RPU, “Responsibility” means maintaining commitments to customers today, and generations yet to come.  For years, RPU has met and exceeded energy conservation targets, and every January RPU partners with neighboring utilities to provide the latest in efficiency rebate information to vendors and contractors.  In April, for their annual Arbor Day celebrations, RPU combined a tree giveaway with fun activities for Rochester’s fourth graders.  In 2011, RPU was the first Minnesota utility to install EV chargers across the RPU service territory to better provide access for those with EVs and to provide visibility for RPU customers interested in learning more about EVs.

As noted above, a majority of RPU’s power supply comes from SMMPA and that contract is set to expire in March of 2030.  This gives RPU a unique opportunity for self-determination in meeting their energy needs. After extensive customer engagement, the RPU Board voted to approve two future resource plan scenarios resulting in 100% renewable energy by 2030 through a combination of wind, solar, and other renewable resource options.  The main difference between the plans is how to meet RPU’s capacity obligations, through either a simple-cycle natural gas turbine or batteries. 

As with every other industry across the world, the utility industry was greatly affected by the pandemic over the last 15 months.  RPU’s dedication to its customers continued throughout the pandemic as they adjusted safety protocols, but the delivery of reliable electric and water services never waned.  RPU partnered with the City of Rochester, Olmsted County, and local non-profits to provide assistance for those Rochester residents and business owners in need of resources.  CARES Act funding totaling $749,856 to Rochester businesses and $123,701 to qualifying residential customers was distributed.  Aside from normal business calls received, RPU Customer Care representatives assisted over 5,000 additional callers between May and December 2020 interested in benefits and resources available.

RPU’s strategic planning and steadfast focus on safe, reliable delivery of services to its customers hasn’t gone unnoticed.  RPU is very proud to be included in the elite four percent of all public utilities in the country to receive the American Public Power Association’s Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) Diamond Award, the industry’s highest honor for providing safe and reliable electricity for customers.

Even Better Together – Celebrating Joint Action Agencies

Public power utilities form “joint action agencies” to serve multiple public power utilities in a region or a state where economies of scale can be helpful to meet energy supply and other needs.  Today, there are nearly 60 of these organizations nationwide.  

Over 50 years ago, APPA, with federal encouragement and the steadfast support of public power leaders, embarked on an effort to promote the formation of joint action agencies.  These initial ventures were often intended to correct expensive and unreliable wholesale power rates being charged by private utilities.  They would allow individual municipal utilities to participate in power pools, to buy wholesale power as a group, and to jointly finance power plants and major transmission systems.  Later, services evolved to help individual utilities meet new electric reliability standards, evolving public policies, resource planning, power management, programmatic administration and regulatory compliance, contract negotiations, workforce development, and more.  Where all participants – especially smaller utility systems – can be helped with remaining competitive in an increasingly complex electricity market.

In Part 3, tomorrow, we will explore how municipalization efforts have touched local communities.  And how the public power business model continues to embrace innovation, local commitment, and power strong communities – even in the face of the most challenging of circumstances.

Maine lawmakers pass amended bill that would create state consumer-owned utility

July 1, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 1, 2021

The Maine Legislature on June 30 voted in favor of a bill that would create a consumer-owned utility in the state called Pine Tree Power, casting a bipartisan 77-68 vote in the House to attach an amendment to the bill that they supported two weeks ago. The Maine Senate voted 18-15 to support the new package.

An amendment introduced June 30 revised the bill to require the Pine Tree Power Company to pay property taxes directly to Maine municipalities, while maintaining its nonprofit status. This replaced previous bill language requiring payments in lieu of taxes.

Maine Rep. Seth Berry, sponsor of L.D. 1708, said the amendment spoke directly to the top two concerns of Maine Gov. Janet Mills, and concerns voiced by some municipal leaders. “We are pleased that the revised language won back the support needed to send this to Governor Mills, and hope to win her support for our effort as well,” he said in a statement.

The bill now heads to Mills’ desk. If she signs the bill or allows 10 days to pass without either her signature or a veto, the bill will become law. This would put the question of consumer ownership of Maine’s grid on the ballot in November 2021.

If Mills chooses to veto the bill, “we will continue our campaign through a citizens’ initiative,” said Stephanie Clifford, campaign manager for Our Power, a group that supports the creation of a consumer-owned utility in the state.

“Petition gathering on such a citizen-initiated referendum would begin this summer and would likely put the question on the ballot in November 2022, the same day that Mills and all legislators are up for re-election,” she said.

The consumer-owned entity that would be created under the bill would take over the electric service now provided by Central Maine Power and Versant Power. Central Maine Power Company and Versant Power (formerly known as Emera Maine), are majority owned by Iberdrola of Spain and Emera of Canada, respectively.

Celebrating public power in America series – Part 1: Celebrating America’s Public Power History

July 1, 2021

by APPA News
July 1, 2021

The American Public Power Association is pleased to present this in-depth, three-part Public Power Current newsletter series to celebrate public power’s past, present, and future. Thank you to the utility systems for their contributions about public power’s founding and evolution (Part 1), the benefits of modern public power systems (Part 2), and how public power’s best attributes, and discussions about municipalization and community choice aggregation, have touched local communities (Part 3). 

The public power business model has embodied an American tradition deeply rooted in local communities: neighbors working together to provide an essential local service. A service that must be reliable, where rates are reasonable and cost-based, and electricity is distributed on a not-for-profit basis under the fiduciary oversight of local governing boards. Just like your local school or fire department, public power utilities belong to a local or regional governmental structure that effect the day-to-day lives of 49 million people today. This is our story.

The Founding Days of Public Power

The very first public power utility was established 141 years ago. Shortly after 8pm on the evening of March 31, 1880, mechanics in the farming community of Wabash, Indiana hitched a threshing machine engine to the west wall of the Wabash County Courthouse, sending motive power to a generator in the basement. Lights atop the courthouse bathed downtown Wabash in a brilliant light within minutes. One eyewitness account described the nighttime scene as follows:

“People stood overwhelmed with awe, as if in the presence of the supernatural. The strange, weird, light, exceeded in power only by the sun, rendered the square as light as midday. Men fell on their knees, groans were uttered at the sight and many were dumb with amazement. We contemplated the new wonder in science as lightning brought down from the heavens.” – Museum of Electricity, citing an excerpt from a newspaper account in Men and Volts: The Story of General Electric 

The Wabash City Council’s decision to own (instead of franchise) its new electric lighting system created America’s first municipal utility – a model that still thrives today. Wabash later relinquished the title of America’s oldest public power community to Butler, Missouri, when it sold its utility to a private company.  

The City of Butler prides itself as “electric city.” A local delegation including Captain F.J. Tygard had attended the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition featuring the Corliss Centennial Steam Engine at the world’s fair. The Brush Electric Light and Power Company was later formed in Butler, with local financing.

Butler became the first city west of the Mississippi River to have electricity when, on the evening of December 6, 1881, an electric lighting plant powered four burners atop the copula of the Butler Courthouse, illuminating the town square and the buildings surrounding it. Reportedly, people would take the train from Kansas City just to see the Butler Courthouse lights. (Note that Thomas Edison’s commercial Pearl Street Station in New York did not become operational until nearly a year later, in September 1882.) Tygard later became Butler’s mayor and, in 1900, the city acquired the lights and the power plant. 

Today, the Butler Electric Department is America’s oldest continuously operated public power utility. 

“For the Benefit of the People”

The New York Power Authority was an early experiment in large-scale public power. In 1907, New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes first declared that the state’s undeveloped run-of-the-river waters “should be preserved and held for the benefit of the people and should not be surrendered to private interests.” Ultimately, it would take 25 years and then-Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt to gain public and political support for a Power Authority “to give back to the people the waterpower which is theirs.” On April 27, 1931, Roosevelt signed into law the Power Authority Act, declaring, “It is my earnest hope that this is the forerunner of cheaper electricity for the homes and farms and small business people of the state.” It led to the development of what is today known as the St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project and the Niagara Power Project.

The Public Power Model Spreads Nationwide

Public power utilities were being formed at a rapid pace in the early 20th century. The “golden days” came in the early 1920’s, when more than 3,000 municipal utility systems were in operation, according to David Schap in “Municipal Ownership in the Electric Utility Industry: A Centennial View.”  

Several factors led to the establishment of so many municipal utilities. In some communities, it was a practical decision made by local leaders who wanted to better the lives for local citizens. Smaller communities were simply not viewed as attractive, compared with the profit potential in larger cities, to private electricity companies. When the private sector failed to meet their needs, these communities took the task upon themselves. As a result, public power became a real threat to private electricity companies. The number of municipal utilities then shrank under the pressures of an aggressive private industry and rapidly changing technologies. By 1930, the number of public power utilities fell nearly 40%, to approximately 1,900, according to Schap. Still, public power utilities were able to survive in frequently unfavorable political and economic environments.  

This downward spiral was reversed in the early 1930’s. By the end of that decade there were approximately 2,000 community-owned and operated electric utilities – a number that still stands today and is a continuing testament to the value of public power. Several factors contributed to this more modest wave of municipal ownership. The development of diesel technology made small-scale municipal generation more efficient. But the growing resentment against private utilities, with excessive rates and absentee owners who exported profits at the expense of the utility systems, also stood out.

The Federal Government Embraces “Public Power”

Increasingly active federal involvement also played a major role in promoting public power. In his famous “Portland Speech,” on September 21, 1932, now-President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that inexpensive public power would serve as a yardstick against which to judge private utilities.

“The very fact that a community can, by vote of the electorate, create a yardstick of its own, will, in most cases, guarantee good service and low rates to its population. I might call the right of people to own and operate their own utility something like this: a ‘birch rod’ in the cupboard to be taken out and used only when the ‘child’ gets beyond the point where a mere scolding does no good.” – President Franklin D. Roosevelt

With the backdrop of a nation suffering from the Great Depression – especially in the hard-hit Tennessee valley – the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was created by congressional charter in 1933 to improve the quality of life of valley residents by modernizing a rural economy. In the 1940’s, with the world now engulfed in war, TVA embarked upon one of the largest hydropower construction programs ever created, providing desperately needed jobs along with the electricity necessary to power new industries. 

Public power’s strong ties to hydropower development – and economic advancement across America – had extended west as well. 

What is now known as Hoover Dam was dedicated on September 30, 1935, spurring significant growth across the southwest. The United States Congress had authorized the “Boulder Canyon Project Act,” signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge in 1928, after significant advocacy efforts by local public officials, including with the City of Los Angeles, which had founded its own utility in 1902. Hoover Dam was completed in 1936 and was the largest hydroelectric plant in the world until 1948. From 1936 to 1987, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power along with a collection of other power utility companies ran the dam’s power generators under contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Today, those units supply hydropower to predominantly public power and tribal contractors across Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. 

The Future Is Bright

Public power utilities in the 20th century were integral parts of the nation’s electric utility infrastructure. Now they have capitalized on new techniques and technologies to provide low-cost, superior service to their communities. As President Franklin D. Roosevelt had envisioned nearly 90 years ago, public power systems have consistently served as the yardstick by which the performance of other utilities have been measured.

In Part 2, we will explore public power’s many successes to date – how the business model has continued to adapt to changing times while maintaining traditional “public good” values. Through the ongoing efforts of dedicated public power boards and city councils, employees, citizen owners, and advocates, public power utilities must continue to lead the industry by acting in the best interests of their customers, reflecting the needs of the communities they serve, and remaining strongly competitive. This continued competition benefits all electric customers, not just those served by public power.

Small town revitalization series – Part 3: Beautification

June 29, 2021

by Tanya DeRivi, Paul Ciampoli
APPA News
June 29, 2021

The American Public Power Association (APPA) is pleased to introduce the first in-depth, three-part Public Power Current newsletter series this week, on small town revitalization. Thank you to all the small utility systems across America who were eager to share their stories towards promoting economic development initiatives (Part 1), employee recruitment and retention efforts (Part 2), and beautification plans (Part 3). 

Part 1 of our series provided an overview of the types of projects and programs small utility systems have undertaken to promote economic development – or redevelopment – in their communities, while in part 2 of the series, public power utilities detailed their retention and recruitment strategies.

In Part 3, 0ur series concludes with efforts to beautify America’s small towns and the roles public power utilities play.

Small Is Beautiful

Small towns have embraced beautification projects to enhance the quality of life for residents and to help attract tourism – many with support from their local public power utility. Utilities we spoke with have actively supported enhancements at local public spaces (including installing new LED streetlights and undergrounding infrastructure in downtown historic tourist areas), educational efforts in conjunction with local art associations, and economic development-minded beautification projects to help enhance local and regional tourism. 

Utility Artwork

Kentucky’s City of Paducah – which locals call a hidden tourism gem – offers that “small town feel” within easy driving distance of the cities of St. Louis, Memphis, Louisville, and Nashville.  Affordable housing options and a lower cost of living draw tourists and many retirees to this picturesque small town with a vibrant arts and food scene. 

Paducah Power System worked with the city’s parks department for an “Art in the Park” competition. 

“Twelve winning designs were selected, and the winners painted the designs on special power boxes we have installed at the park for providing electricity for our Christmas lighting event there,” said Andrea Underwood, Director of Human Resources and Community Relations at the utility. 

“Twice in the past five years, we’ve received the Paducah Civic Beautification Board’s Business Award for the appearance and maintenance of our property,” she added.

Streetscape Improvements

Like Paducah Power System, which partnered with the city to replace all the city’s streetlights with LED fixtures, the City of Forsyth, Georgia, has embarked on downtown streetscape improvement projects too.  This includes utility box art and several downtown murals. 

Forsyth has had to increase its Façade Grant Program given the popularity of these projects amongst local businesses over the last several years. 

Recently, Tammie Pierson, the city’s Economic Development Coordinator, worked with the local Historical Society to help improve their location.  She noted that “they have done a ‘180’ on improving their building and signage.  Once the ball started rolling, they kept it going.  Sometimes you just need a little push.”

Alabama’s Sheffield Utilities powers a town located along the Tennessee River. 

The utility is installing LED lighting along a walking trail currently under construction and recently installed LED streetlights across the city’s downtown area, the O’Neal Bridge, and in the historic “The Village” area. 

The Village, a registered national historic landmark, was constructed by the federal government in 1918 during World War I.  This unique village of 85 bungalows, a school, and officer barracks was laid out in a Liberty Bell design – complete with a roadway acting as the famous bells’ crack – which housed personnel for a nearby ammunitions facility. 

It was owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority from 1933-1949 to house their employees, until the houses were sold at auction and the school and park given to the city in 1949. 

Historic Preservation

In Thomasville, Georgia, the West Jackson Streetscape project, the final element of the Creative District Vision plan, brought the Ritz Amphitheater, a community trail trailhead, and a revitalized historic district known as The Bottom. 

Sheryl Sealy, Thomasville’s Executive Director of Marketing and Customer Service, said, “This has been an award-winning project that was centered on public outreach and engagement.  We are continuing to invest in this community with a history walk that highlights the historical significance of this area, which was the business district for Jewish and African Americans prior to integration.” 

From the early 1900’s through the 1970’s, blocks of West Jackson Street were known locally as “The Bottom,” at the heart of Thomasville’s Black community.  At its peak, it was a mix of Black-, Greek-, and Jewish-owned businesses that formed a special, close-knit community. 

“One of the most important elements requested in the design of the streetscape was to highlight the history of the district,” said Christy Owens, Main Street and Events Manager. 

“Sidewalk plaques to honor the notable businesses of the area have been installed in the 300 block of West Jackson Street, and plans for a commemorative wall and storyboards at the amphitheater are in the works,” added Owens.

In Spring City, a town located in the geographic center of Utah with about 1,000 residents, the local public power system has been integral both historically to the town’s lore and its financial development. 

In the early 1900’s, the city contracted with a milling company to provide enough power from a small generator to illuminate candlepower lights strung down the main street – plus enough power for late night dances and wedding parties so residents could have streetlights when returning home.

During the 1930’s, Spring City constructed and began operating its own hydroelectric plant that, after 90 years in operation, still meets about 20 percent of the city’s normal load. 

And, in 2000, Spring City Power leased a portable, one-megawatt, trailer-mounted diesel generator to help supply California with desperately needed power during the Western electricity crisis, ultimately selling enough power to pull the city’s books out of the red.

Spring City is a member of the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS).

Councilmember Chris Anderson and his wife are now actively involved in the town’s revitalization.  

As with many small towns, Spring City became much less visible and accessible when a local highway bypassed the town.  With a peak population of 1,150 residents at the turn of the 20th century, it dwindled to about 400 by 1970. Anderson said that as people moved away and many of the historic homes were abandoned, “there was little new construction to change the character of the hamlet.  As a result, Spring City became the best-preserved example of a Mormon Pioneer settlement.” 

Spring City Power has upgraded its system and extended distribution lines – recently surpassing 600 service connections – all done within its annual operating budgets, and never having to bond or incur any debt for the city or its customers.  In 2019, it placed within the top 3% nationwide on system reliability for comparably sized towns.  

New residents later led an effort to conduct a historic survey that ultimately resulted in Spring City being designated as a National Historic District – one of only a few towns in America (including Williamsburg, Virginia) to achieve that designation. 

Anderson added that as artists and historic preservationists purchased and restored homes, the town “recognized the value of capitalizing on the historic heritage, as a way to attract visitors and provide a unique setting for our residents.” As the town was rediscovered, the old homes and affordable land appealed to artists who appreciated its pastoral setting and Utah’s beautiful Sanpete Valley.   

Park Improvements

The City of Thomasville, Georgia just reopened the beloved Francis Weston Park in May after completing a major renovation project there.  Improvements included a new one-third mile lighted walking track, resurfaced basketball courts, improved parking at both entrances, WiFi installation thanks in part to contributions from a local bank, and a comprehensive landscaping plan to ensure that it continues to be a destination for community gatherings. 

Sheryl Sealy, Thomasville’s Executive Director of Marketing and Customer Service, said that this park is very important to the community, in particular the African American community where the park is located.  “Our community has been very passionate about the project and anxious for the renovation to be completed,” she said.  “This was a multi-year project, based on public engagement to help set our master park plan.  It was a celebration for our entire community when we were able to officially reopen the park and bring these improvements to the neighborhood, who were so invested in the evolution of the project.” 

Utah’s Monroe City has made numerous investments in local parks and recreational facilities for the community. 

Councilmember Erica Sirrine shared how local funds have been used for new lighting at soccer fields, additional WiFi capabilities at their library and Lion’s Park, splash pad additions, benches and picnic tables, bleachers for sports activities, and landscape improvements at area parks. 

She said the City will be hosting a variety of baseball/softball tournaments through September, with most new regional tournaments that had not been previously hosted in their area. 

At Lion’s Park, Monroe City hosted a community get-together during the Red Rock Paraglider Fly-In, complete with live entertainment, cobbler, and guest speakers from the paragliding community.  Every other Monday through October, the City hosts food trucks, a farmer’s market, and live entertainment there as well. 

Monroe City is also a member of UAMPS.

Holiday Light Displays

In Kentucky, the City of Madisonville’s Electric Department was crucial in making the city’s “Deck the Park” event possible in 2020.  City officials commended utility staff for the many long hours in assembling the event in a mere 11 days. 

“No matter the project, they are always willing to go above and beyond to make it happen,” Sara Lutz, Public Relations Director, said. 

The event at the Madisonville City Park featured Liquid Fireworks by Waltzing Water, Inc., lights, a 30-minute dancing water show, and music while allowing families to enjoy a little holiday cheer from the comfort and safety of their vehicles at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The large displays featured a 168-foot light tunnel with a bonus snow feature, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and an Elf on the Shelf sending candy to cars through a candy shoot. 

Nearly 68,000 vehicles with approximately 272,000 people attended the event – unlike anything in the tristate area; the City is already planning to have an even bigger and better Deck the Park event this year.

Parklets

ElectriCities has helped North Carolina’s public power communities for over 50 years – including through their popular Downtown Revitalization Grant program, established to help localities showcase all that public power has to offer communities and residents. Project examples include downtown redevelopment studies, streetscape plans, and building reuse studies. 

Recent awardees will use grant funds for “parklets,” small public green spaces or seating areas alongside former roadside parking or alley areas.

The Town of Benson, N.C. plans to use its ElectriCities grant to enhance its downtown area by utilizing an alleyway connected to a hub of activity in the area including the library, museum, and business district.  The plan is to create a social space in the alleyway that encourages visitors to sit, visit, enjoy a meal, take photos, and take in all that the downtown has to offer.

The grant will help fund beautification efforts including resurfacing the alleyway, installing traffic barriers, seating and art installations, and installing both decorative and safety lighting.

The City of Monroe, N.C. plans to enhance its downtown area by creating a more permanent parklet structure made from trex decking, aluminum-alloy canopies, and Keystone Ridge seating.

The goal is to place the parklet in the general vicinity of restaurants, allowing restaurants and other local businesses to benefit from the installation.

In total, the parklet will create 16 seating opportunities for visitors in the downtown area and allow restaurants and businesses to extend their storefronts.

Small town revitalization series – Part 2: Employee Recruitment and Retention

June 29, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
June 29, 2021

The American Public Power Association (APPA) is pleased to introduce the first in-depth, three-part Public Power Current newsletter series this week, on small town revitalization. Thank you to all the small utility systems across America who were eager to share their stories towards promoting economic development initiatives (Part 1), employee recruitment and retention efforts (Part 2), and beautification plans (Part 3). 

Part 1 of our series provided an overview of the types of projects and programs small utility systems have undertaken to promote economic development – or redevelopment – in their communities. 

In part 2 of the series, public power utilities discuss their retention and recruitment strategies.

The difficulty utilities have in hiring qualified employees has been well documented.

In a 2020 survey, about 84 percent of energy sector employers reported difficulty hiring qualified workers over the last 12 months, a seven percentage point increase from 2018 and 14 percentage points higher than in 2017.

These concerns can be even more pressing for smaller public power utilities that may lack the recruitment and training resources of larger utilities. Several public power utilities are taking action, however, with a variety of programs aimed at attracting and retaining qualified employees in a variety of job functions. Among the tools they are using is offering more flexible schedules, employee cross training, and partnerships with local schools and colleges – including customized internship programs.

Paducah Power System – Paducah, Kentucky

Three years ago, during its strategic planning process, Paducah Power System highlighted the importance of cross training in retaining and promoting employees.

“We were already doing a considerable amount of cross training because of a unique work schedule we have,” Andrea Underwood, Director of Human Resources and Community Relations at the utility, said, explaining that Paducah employees have every other Friday off through an alternative work schedule.

“Strategic planning crystalized the need to cross train in the wake of pending retirements in key positions,” Underwood said. “We regularly train employees in other positions and allow employees to shadow other workers to test their interest in other jobs within the company. We also try to plan long term training for in-house promotions.”

For example, as the payroll administrator was nearing retirement, the public power utility knew they wanted to hire a replacement in-house. So, “we selected her replacement one year in advance and allowed the person selected to train regularly with the payroll administrator during the year prior to her retirement,” Underwood said. “That ensured a seamless transition and successful transferal of institutional knowledge upon retirement.”

Paducah Power System now uses that same strategy for other difficult to fill positions. “We’ve started the training for their replacements three to six months in advance,” Underwood said.

In addition, for many positions, the utility has created a handbook, or “Bible,” for those jobs. “The book details all of the duties of that job, how to do those tasks and when they are typically done during the calendar year,” Underwood said. “Those Bibles are invaluable to the people stepping into those jobs.”

The utility also uses a 30/60/90 form for newly promoted or hired employees. On the form, the employee and their supervisor document the tasks the employee is expected to know at the end of 30 days, 60 days and 90 days. “It keeps both the employer and the supervisor on task with training and makes clear to the employee what the company’s expectations are of that employee in those early days,” Underwood said.

For customer service representatives (CSRs), Paducah Power System, once a month, takes them off the front line and holds one-hour training sessions with them. The sessions cover mandatory topics, such as robbery response, as well as topics chosen by the CSRs.

If there are new employees in the group, the session could include a review of policies and procedures and the chance to shadow employees in other departments. Paducah recently had some CSRs ride along with service department crews for part of the day.

“The sessions give CSRs time away from the hectic pace of the front line to talk about what they do and learn new customer service techniques,” Underwood said. “It’s also a safe space for them to talk about the skills they feel they are weak on and ask for help in understanding all parts of their job.”

Electric Department – City of Forsyth, Georgia

Another strategy for recruiting and retaining employees is to raise the economic opportunities in the surrounding area.

Forsyth has been working on several development projects with Michael Cahill, Project Retail Manager at Electric Cities of Georgia, a membership organization representing the 52 electric utility communities of Georgia.  Those projects include the creation of marketing flyers for different locations within the city to help reach retail and restaurant developers. Cahill recently worked on a community flyer to help with this process.

Tammie Pierson, Economic Development Director for Forsyth, is also working with the local Work Force Development Center to provide a central location for job postings for new and current businesses in Forsyth and Monroe County.

Sevier County Electric System – Sevier, Tennessee

The Sevier County Electric System in Tennessee also looks to wider economic development to help boost its recruitment and retention efforts and has formed working relationships with Sevier County Economic Development (SCED), Sevier County Government, and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT).

Working with SCED and other local businesses, the utility provides scholarships to graduating high school seniors, who can earn a two-year degree from Walters State Community College and go on to Eastern Tennessee State University to earn a four-year degree.  It is called the “Partners in Progress” program.

“The goal is that students can graduate debt-free, have multiple job opportunities and never leave the county,” Allen Robbins, General Manager and CEO of Sevier County Electric System, said. “We did this because we found that students were leaving for college where they had more job opportunities and were not necessarily coming back. We were losing a large segment of our talent pool, which is why we developed this fund.”

Sevier County Electric System also supports the TCAT, which has a six-month power line construction and maintenance program that prepares students to work in the electric utility industry as electrical linemen.

The public power utility also participates in the Southern Hospitality Internship Program, which was created in response to the county’s labor crisis. “A study revealed 93 percent of businesses interviewed said their company was dealing with employee staffing challenges, and that the top three issues related to employee availability are adequately qualified candidates, attendance, and commuting distance,” Robbins said.

The goal of the program is to help students and recent graduates acquire hands-on work experience in the hospitality industry. “We believe that only so much can be learned in the classroom, and internships are the perfect opportunity to challenge students and prepare them for a career,” Robbins said. So far, 68 students have been hired through the program, which began in July 2020.

Gallatin Electric Department – Gallatin, Tennessee

The Gallatin Electric Department has tweaked some of its employee policies to help retain existing employees. For linemen, the public power utility used to require them to live within 15 minutes of its office but has since expanded that to 20 miles. “This allows our linemen to live where they want to and still work here,” Mark Kimbell, General Manager of the city’s electric department, said.

Gallatin Electric Department has also built more flexibility into their linemen’s work schedules. The utility went to a 9-hour workday for linemen on 2-week pay periods and gives them every other Friday off. And, in the summer, Gallatin allows linemen to start their day at 6 am rather than at 7 am, giving them “more time in the afternoons to do what they want,” Kimbell said. “They like that flex schedule.”

For front office employees, Gallatin allowed them to pick a day off – with the longest tenured employees picking first – so there is one of the utility’s 10 customer service representatives out each day. “They love that new schedule,” Kimbell said. “That’s 26 more days per year they’re not working that they can take care of personal things without having to take time off.”

Benefits are also key to retaining staff, Kimbell believes. “We’re always talking to the Board to offer the best benefits package we can – health insurance, life insurance,” he said. “It’s always an ongoing process for us.” In that respect, Kimbell said it is important to keep a good relationship with the mayor or whoever is going to make appointments and decisions. “You can find linemen and front office staff, but the more you can do to keep them, the better off you are, so I think retention is very, very important,” he said.

A high turnover rate among linemen can slow down getting the lights back on in a timely manner because they don’t know the system as well as a more experienced lineman. “I’d rather pay a little more to keep my employees then have constant turnover,” Kimbell said.

A low turnover rate also has other potential benefits. Gallatin recently had a job opening for a lineman. “I don’t even need to advertise now,” Kimbell said. “It’s all word of mouth, and we’ll have multiple applications come in.” 

Gallatin also has found more success in hiring locally. “If we find someone from the area who has been to climbing school, we have better luck keeping them,” Kimbell said. He says he prefers linemen candidates who graduated climbing school. “If you can’t get through climbing school, you won’t make it as a lineman,” he said, noting that the utility does not have “groundmen” on staff.

“We like to train them ourselves,” Kimbell said. “We hire first or second year apprentices and train them up from there.”

ElectriCities of North Carolina

The challenges of recruitment are not new for public power. “From career awareness challenges to strong local competition, recruiting can sometimes be an uphill battle even here in North Carolina,” Melissa Miranda, Vice President of Human Resources at ElectriCities of North Carolina, said.

A small utility does have certain advantages, though, she said, noting that an employee of a small utility has a greater potential to make an immediate difference than they would at a large utility. And, from the employer’s side, a small utility can often have the latitude to offer employees flexible work schedules, shorter commute times, and cross-training as a professional development and retention tool.

Public power also has a culture of pulling together to solve problems, Miranda said. One of ElectriCities’ members, the Town of Benson in Johnston County, N.C., was facing pending retirements, vacancies, and few options.

The “post it and they will come” strategy just was not working to attract experienced talent into public power, Miranda said, so Benson decided to “grow their own.” Benson reached out to three other public power communities in Johnston County: Clayton, Selma, and Smithfield.

Within weeks, the city managers and utility directors for all four utilities were at the table collaborating with Johnston County Public Schools; Johnston County Industries, a community-based organization that provides vocational training and employment programs; and ElectriCities of North Carolina.  Together, they developed the Johnston County Electric Lineworker Pre-Apprenticeship Program, which provides high school seniors the basics of linework, an understanding of the public power business model, and hands-on experience through a summer internship program.

The program includes classroom and field training over ten Saturday sessions throughout a student’s senior year. At the end of the program, students can interview for a summer internship, funded by Johnston County Industries, at one of the four Johnston County public power utilities. Students can then decide to enter the workforce directly or to continue with their training through Nash Community College’s Electric Line Construction Academy or one of the ten other North Carolina community college lineworker programs.

In May, Benson hired their newest lineworker, Cody, who, after completing the classwork during his senior year, completed a nine-week internship with Benson in the summer of 2020, graduated from Nash Community College’s Electric Line Construction Academy this spring, and then elected to take a job with Benson’s utility.

Career development coordinators from Johnston County’s seven high schools have been the “star cheerleaders and recruiters” of the program and have encouraged a diverse pool of students to consider applying, Miranda said. So far, 33 percent of the students completing the program have been students of color. One woman has also completed the program.

For the 2021-22 school year, “we are looking to add four job shadow days to the program schedule to further the students’ understanding of the profession and the full value of public power,” Miranda said.

Sheffield Utilities – Sheffield, Alabama

In Alabama, Sheffield Utilities is also working closely with schools. Working with the local school system, the utility has created the Strategic Energy Management Cohort for the 2021-22 school year. Participating schools will be joined by 50 other schools across the Tennessee Valley to learn about energy management, collaborate and share best practices to engage students and the community, and much more.

Sheffield started with their elementary, junior, and high schools. If the program does well, it will be expanded to the county schools as well, Steve Hargrove, General Manager of Sheffield Utilities, said.

The initiative is part of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s program to develop and implement a continuous and self-sustaining energy management improvement process focused on behavioral and operations-and-maintenance improvements. Success is measured by tracking energy savings in kilowatt hours per square foot through use of the Energy Star Portfolio Manager platform.

In addition, to its school initiative, Sheffield Utilities also provides cross training as a professional development tool for its employees, tuition reimbursement for in-field job-related courses and training, and encourages attendance at training seminars and conferences.

Harriman Utility Board – Harriman, Tennessee

The Harriman Utility Board (HUB) in Tennessee also works with its local high school. In 2019, the public power utility launched an initiative to bring area high school students into its work force. The goal of the program is to provide exposure to career opportunities in public power utilities and to provide students experience that can be helpful in their future careers.

Recently, high school students spent a semester working alongside HUB employees in their field of interest. One shadowed Joshua Gillespie, HUB’s Director of Communications.  Another student who wants to be a lineman, worked in the electric department, and a third, who wants to be an electrical engineer, worked under the direction of Dick Hall, an engineer and former general manager of HUB. 

Tomorrow, Part 3 of our series concludes with efforts to beautify America’s small towns and the roles public power utilities play.