Latest news with #AmericanPublicPowerAssociation
CBC
25-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Could Nova Scotia Power revert to public ownership again?
Nova Scotia Power was privatized in 1992 by the Progressive Conservative government of Premier Donald Cameron in a move viewed as a way to control the province's deficits and debt servicing costs. In the wake of a massive data breach that affected the utility this spring, there have been renewed calls from some people for the province to buy back the utility and make it provincially owned once again. There is precedent for power utilities being removed from private ownership in the United States. Ursula Schryver is a senior vice-president at the American Public Power Association that represents publicly owned utilities throughout the U.S., with more than 55 million customers. She spoke to CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia about the process of returning a utility to public hands and the challenges involved. Their conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Q: You refer to the process of making a power utility into a public not-for-profit as "municipalization." What are the advantages of municipalizing a utility? The overarching benefit and tenant of public power is local control and local decision-making. With public power utilities, the community and citizens have input on the priorities of the utility, whether that be investing in upgrades to the system, keeping rates low, or adding more renewable energy to their portfolio, or really just providing whatever services the community desires. Public power utilities are governed by local elected officials, either city councils or elected or appointed utility boards. So citizens have a say in how the utility is operated. They can participate in public meetings or even vote the elected officials in and out of office if the utility isn't being run in a way that reflects community priorities. That typically leads to lower rates because you don't have stockholders where you're sending money away. All the money goes back into the community. Public power utilities have high reliability because the crews live and work in the community. Q: What has to happen to municipalize a utility especially given that the current owner may not want to give it up? Typically the municipalization effort starts with a leader or a group of individuals that pushes forth the idea because of dissatisfaction with the status quo. So then a community will do a feasibility study to look at whether it is financially feasible. Could it make sense? Is it financially feasible? Is it legally possible? Then they look at the evaluation of the system to determine how much the system is worth. At that point there is a lot of community education just to get people to understand what the purpose is and what the benefits are. And then there will typically be a referendum where people decide, vote whether to continue on. Q: What are some cons that might come up to counterbalance the benefits? The biggest drawback and challenge is the industrial utility not being a willing seller and fighting the effort. And they will, they'll spend a lot of money and the process will be dragged out through legal proceedings. Because obviously if the community takes over the utility, that is lost revenue, lost customers for the investor utility. So the biggest drawback is it takes years for these efforts to come to fruition. But you know, there have been 20 utilities that have formed in the last 25 years. So it happens. It just takes time, it takes commitment and a willingness of the community to really understand what the benefits are and evaluate it appropriately. Q: Have some of these municipal utilities run into debt issues or have had to increase rates monumentally? Those are two things that come up whenever people muse about turning Nova Scotia Power back into a public utility. Having a public power utility allows you to focus on the issues that are most important to your community. So if keeping rates low is a priority, then that will be the been situations like Winter Park, Fla., formed 20 years ago now and they had issues with reliability. So when they took over the system, they invested the money back into the system. They moved their lines underground and really focused on the reliability. Other communities are looking at environmental efforts or renewable energy. So they invest their money there. And so maybe there it may go up a little bit. It really depends on the interests of the community and what you want your focus to be.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Greenville Utilities Commission wins APPA Safety Award
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — The American Public Power Association (APPA) recently gave the Greenville Utilities Commission (GUC) a major award. GUC was given the APPA Safety Award of Excellence for ensuring safe practices happen within their electrical services. Diamond level is the highest recognition that can be received from APPA and GUC earned it by only having two recordable injuries within 275,830 hours worked by 145 employees. Only one of those injuries resulted in a loss of work, totaling five days. 'Our employees have worked hard for many years now to build a safety culture where everyone is keeping an eye on one another and speak up if they see something unsafe,' said GUC Director of Electric John Worrell. 'It's very rewarding when national organizations such as APPA recognize those efforts, and it reinforces the fact that our safety programs are making a difference.' The GUC started using their Situational Leadership Model in 2022 to train their employees, leading to their seriousness of safety. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Austin Utilities recognized for reliable electric service to the community
Apr. 21—Austin Utilities has received national recognition for achieving exceptional electric reliability in 2024. The recognition comes from the American Public Power Association (APPA), a trade group that represents more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities. "We are proud to receive this recognition. It is a testament to the hard work of all our staff to ensure that we keep Austin powered," said Mark Nibaur, general manager at Austin Utilities. APPA helps electric utilities track power outage and restoration data through its subscription-based eReliability Tracker service. Once per year, APPA's Reliability Team compares this data to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all types of electric utilities. "Year after year, data consistently demonstrate public power utilities provide highly reliable service." said APPA Director of Research and Development Paul Zummo. "The utilities recognized here are truly elite when it comes to keeping the lights on. Their communities should be proud of the hard work and dedication of their local power providers as they earn this truly deserved recognition." Nationwide, the average public power customer has their lights out for less than half the amount of time that customers of other types of utilities do. "Our system is constantly being improved by installing underground lines in areas that were previously overhead. Focusing on the lines trapped in the backyards where trees are difficult to trim and the lines that are hard to get to. Last year we put 65,000 feet of underground cable in, this commitment to upgrading to underground has made a big impact on reliability. We rebuild overhead lines to higher standards than before and our tree trimming program covers a quadrant of town annually. All of this results in reliability numbers that are above the industry average." said Bill Bumgarner, Electric Distribution Supervisor at Austin Utilities. For more information on Austin Utilities and its commitment to reliability, visit
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Willmar Municipal Utilities recognized for electric reliability
Apr. 19---- The Willmar Municipal Utilities Commission on Monday was informed that was recognized nationally by the American Public Power Association for achieving exceptional electric reliability in 2024. "We are proud to receive this recognition. It is a testament to the hard work of all our staff to ensure that we keep Willmar powered," said Jeron Smith, general manager of Willmar Municipal Utilities, in an April 2 news release from the association that was included in the packet of meeting materials for the Utilities Commission. During Monday's meeting, Smith noted that only utilities in the top 25% receive the certificate of recognition and thanked staff for their hard work. A graphic included in the news release shows that Willmar Municipal Utilities only had 34 minutes of electric outage in 2024 and the average of all the electric utilities in the United States is 149 minutes per year. The American Public Power Association is a trade group that represents more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities. It helps electric utilities track power outage and restoration data through its subscription-based eReliability Tracker service, according to the news release. The association's reliability team compares this data annually to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all types of electric utilities. "Year after year, data consistently demonstrate public power utilities provide highly reliable service." said American Public Power Association Director of Research and Development Paul Zummo. "The utilities recognized here are truly elite when it comes to keeping the lights on. Their communities should be proud of the hard work and dedication of their local power providers as they earn this truly deserved recognition." Nationwide, the average public power customer has their lights out for less than half the amount of time that customers of other types of utilities do. For more information on Willmar Municipal Utilities and its commitment to reliability, visit
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Austin Utilities recognized as a reliable public power provider
Apr. 14—Austin Utilities has earned a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) designation from the American Public Power Association for providing reliable and safe electric service. The RP3 designation, which lasts for three years, recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement. "Receiving an RP3 designation is a great honor signifying a utility has demonstrated commitment to industry best practices," said Jeremy Ash, Chair of APPA's RP3 Review Panel and General Manager at Kansas City Board of Public Utilities, Kansas. "And ultimately, the culture developed from this pursuit of excellence and continued improvement through the RP3 program results in measurable value delivered to the local community." Criteria include sound business practices and a utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity. Austin Utilities joins more than 250 public power utilities nationwide that hold the RP3 designation. "We couldn't be prouder to be honored with this designation," said Mark Nibaur, General Manager of Austin Utilities. "This is the culmination of a lot of work from a lot of people who really care about powering our community. But this designation is not a final destination. We are committed to continuing to look for ways to improve our operations and service to our customers."
