A message from Patrick Bowland, CEO & General Manager at Michigan Public Power Agency.
We are grateful to everyone who attended MPPA’s 2026 Annual Stakeholders Meeting. Though the event is now behind us, the information shared is central to the work ahead for our members, our communities, and the electric power industry. Below are highlights from the meeting.
Guest Speakers
Robert Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of Dragos, and Michael Zenker, Managing Director of Energy Market Analysis at NextEra Energy Resources, presented on two of the most important issues facing our industry today: protecting critical infrastructure in an increasingly interdependent world and understanding the natural gas and electric power market forces shaping the affordability and reliability of electricity. Together, the information they shared with us was timely, relevant, and directly aligned with the challenges public power utilities are navigating today.
Lee shared that growing cybersecurity risks facing electric utilities and other operators of critical infrastructure carry greater consequences due to interdependency. A concept that underscores that even the smallest utility or critical infrastructure provider can cause cascading effects across the industry if their systems are compromised from a cyber-attack.
Zenker provided an outlook on Michigan natural gas and power markets and discussed the volatility and complexity that continue to define the energy landscape. His remarks helped frame the market conditions affecting resource decisions, pricing, and long-term planning. For member communities, these trends have real implications for affordability, reliability, and the strategic choices utilities make as they respond to shifting market dynamics.
MPPA’s Presentation
MPPA CEO & General Manager, Patrick Bowland, focused on the theme, Powered by Our Advantages. He emphasized the importance of playing to public power strengths in an increasingly complex & competitive electric power business. He noted that leveraging those strengths comes from deeper collaboration with Members particularly as the line between the wholesale and retail electric business blur. The presentation also reinforced the importance of staying focused on long-term goals despite the temptation to make significant decisions in response to energy policy change.
In all, our goal is to provide our Members a venue to learn, network and celebrate. We believe through the hard work of MPPA staff we delivered on those objectives.
Thank you again to all of you who made the time to spend the day with us. If you were unable to make it 2026, we look forward to your participation in the spring of 2027.
Patrick Bowland
CEO & General Manager
Michigan Public Power Agency
