Category: MPPA

2026 Annual Stakeholders Meeting Recap

Events, Featured, MPPA

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

MPPA Announces Planned CEO Retirement and Launch of Search for Successor

Member News, MPPA, Press Releases

The Board of Commissioners of MPPA today announced that Patrick Bowland, Chief Executive Officer & General Manager, plans to retire in spring 2027 after more than eleven years of distinguished leadership of the organization.

Since becoming CEO in September 2015, Bowland has guided MPPA through a period of significant growth and transformation. Among the organization’s notable accomplishments during his tenure are:

  • Added five Full Members and ten Associate Members
  • Led the development of three transformational strategic plan updates
  • Restructured MPPA into four specialized business units
  • Grew MPPA’s long-term renewable supply from under 10% to over 20%
  • Executed entry into serving load in the PJM wholesale electricity market
  • Modernized information technology systems and migrated key platforms to the cloud
  • Implemented risk management tools to support hedging decisions
  • Built a strong executive leadership team to support the organization’s future success
  • Awarded the APPA Crisson Leadership & Managerial Excellence award

“On behalf of the Board, we extend our deepest gratitude to Patrick for his visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to MPPA’s mission,” said Charlie West, Chair of the Board of Commissioners. “His contributions have strengthened the organization and positioned MPPA for continued success well into the future.”

Patrick BowlandReflecting on the announcement, Bowland said, “It has been a privilege to serve as CEO of MPPA. I have been honored to work alongside dedicated members, an exceptional Board, and a talented staff. Joint action creates tremendous value, and I am confident in MPPA’s future. I look forward to supporting a smooth and successful transition.”

The Board has authorized the launch of a comprehensive search process to identify MPPA’s next Chief Executive Officer. The Board is committed to a thoughtful and orderly transition that supports the organization’s continued success and service to its members. MPPA is seeking a dynamic and experienced leader in the electric power industry who will build on the organization’s strong foundation and help guide its next chapter of strategic growth and member service.

Chief Executive Officer Position Overview

The next CEO will:

  • Provide strategic leadership and vision aligned with the organization’s mission and long-term goals
  • Partner closely with the Board of Commissioners and executive team
  • Drive operational excellence and organizational performance
  • Provide financial stewardship and risk management
  • Maintain and enhance stakeholder relationships, including members, partners, regulators, legislators, and industry peers
  • Have a deep understanding of and experience in the electric power industry

A detailed job description outlining the responsibilities and requirements of the position are included with this announcement. Qualified candidates should submit their interest in being considered for the role by July 20, 2026 to Michele Hanson of HR Advantage Advisory at mhanson@hr-aa.com.

To ensure a smooth transition, Bowland will continue to lead MPPA until his retirement and will work closely with the Board and the incoming CEO during the transition period.

Apply Now to Earn $2,500 Through the Janet & Richard Gorman Scholarship

MPPA

MPPA’s Board of Commissioners will select one eligible student to receive the Janet and Richard Gorman Scholarship of $2,500 in the Fall of 2026. The scholarship fund is applicable for the 2026-2027 academic year.

The Gormans started the scholarship in 1989 after Richard retired from his role as MPPA’s first general manager. Today, the scholarship has a proud history of supporting students as they learn and grow both personally and professionally.

How to Apply

MPPA is proud to help manage the scholarship and welcomes eligible students to apply. Applicants must be enrolled in colleges, universities, junior colleges, or community colleges in Michigan.
The scholarship is available to:

  • Children and/or legal wards of employees of a member of MPPA who is employed by the Council, Commission, or Board of Trustees having general management over the utility system of that MPPA member; and
  • Children and/or legal wards of Michigan Public Power Agency employees.

Richard Gorman’s Role in MPPA’s Creation

Richard earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and notably served as the city manager of Petoskey for nearly 20 years before joining MPPA. Richard leveraged his exceptional leadership skills to help create the agency and develop many of its first projects. The scholarship aims to continue the Gormans’ legacy of leadership, encouraging students to embrace opportunities to drive positive change in their respective fields.

Application and Selection Criteria

MPPA’s Board of Commissioners looks forward to reviewing applications and awarding the Janet & Richard Gorman Scholarship to a hard-working, eligible student. To apply, complete the scholarship application and email a finished copy to mcornelius@mpower.org by August 1, 2026.

Download the Application

Craig VanDevelde Joins MPPA as Tom Weeks Prepares for Retirement

Featured, Member News, MPPA

After nine years with MPPA and thirty-five years in the electric power industry, Wholesale Market Lead, Tom Weeks will retire in early May.

Weeks joined MPPA in 2017 and quickly became the Agency’s go-to voice in the regional wholesale power markets where our members operate electric utility systems. He represented MPPA’s interests before MISO, PJM, and federal regulators.

Weeks chaired the MISO Market Subcommittee stakeholder group, a role that gave MPPA a seat at the table in shaping market policy. Over his tenure, Weeks helped members navigate a period of notable change in wholesale power markets, keeping a steady eye on emerging risks and opportunities as the electric power industry experienced significant change.

“Tom cared deeply for our Members and fully utilized his power industry experience, knowledge, and wisdom to advocate on their behalf,” for rules, said CEO & General Manager Patrick Bowland.

To support a seamless transition, Craig VanDevelde joined MPPA as Wholesale Power Market Affairs Lead on March 2nd to ensure there was ample time for Weeks to transfer knowledge and introduce VanDevelde to important industry contacts.  VanDevelde has 12 years of energy markets consulting from Deloitte. VanDevelde will assume the Wholesale Power Market Affairs role at MPPA.

“While it is difficult to replace Tom’s knowledge and industry experience, Craig has considerable consulting experience in energy markets worldwide,” said Director of Energy Supply and Operations, Bob Lalonde. “I believe Craig will be a welcomed addition to the MPPA team and a great representative of MPPA with members and RTO stakeholder groups.”

MPPA thanks Weeks for his years of dedicated service and welcomes VanDevelde to the team!

Tom Weeks
Tom Weeks
Craig VanDevelde headshot
Craig VanDevelde

 

Our 2026 Vision

Member News, MPPA

The Rubber Meets the Road. At the end of last year, we marveled and worried about the forecasts for staggering load growth in the years ahead, largely at the hands of AI-crunching data centers. Today, those forecasts, real or perceived, are driving up prices for power and the infrastructure required to produce more of it.

Will these forecasts materialize or will other factors, such as the cost and struggle to add more power, create a different result? Ask me two years from now. In the meantime, this shock to the electric system reminds us that consistent forward planning, prioritizing what we can control, and building a business that can swiftly adapt to change, is what keeps us out of the ditch.

Our 2026 Focus

In that spirit, we enter 2026 with a full plate of strategic objectives designed to advance and further sophisticate our power supply planning software, identify long-term reliability solutions from assets we know, own, or control, and build financial management tools that provide the ability to forecast our financial profile under many different potential future environments. These efforts will provide long-term organizational dividends.

Our ability to achieve these objectives comes from deeper collaboration with our members and the ideas and hard work of the great employees of MPPA. We recognize these are our competitive strengths and intend to lean into them further in 2026.

Each year there are unanticipated events and 2025 had its fair share from the DOE Orders keeping the Campbell units running to MISO’s proposed tariff changes to Behind the Meter Generation market rules, to name a few. We know in 2026 there will be a few surprises, but we will overcome whatever they may be and maintain our focus on the long-term objectives.

Patrick BowlandPat Bowland signature
Patrick A. Bowland CEO
General Manager

MPPA is Hiring: Wholesale Power Market Affairs Lead

MPPA

Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA) is looking for a dynamic individual to work in our energy market operations group as the Wholesale Power Market Affairs Lead.

Job Summary

This position is the primary liaison between MPPA and the Regional Transmission Organizations (“RTOs”) where we do business and will act as the subject matter expert on current and anticipated wholesale electric market tariffs, rules and business practices.

See position details.

Apply on LinkedIn.

 

2025 MPPA Annual Stakeholders Meeting Recap

Events, MPPA

A message from Patrick Bowland, CEO & General Manager at Michigan Public Power Agency.

We are grateful for everyone who attended MPPA’s 2025 Annual Stakeholders Meeting. Though the event is several weeks in the rearview mirror, we continue to tackle many of the challenges we discussed together, which are also central to our strategic plan. In case you missed the event, here are a few highlights from our speakers.

Guest Speakers

Jeff Bladen, Head of Energy at Verrus Data Centers, and Bob Holycross, Vice President and Chief Sustainability, Environment, and Safety Officer at Ford Motor Company, were the external speakers at MPPA’s 2025 Annual Stakeholders Meeting. There is simply no question that these two speakers touched on subjects that are at the center of the bullseye of our strategic plan. Resource Adequacy, Decarbonization, Decentralization and the need to have high levels of Engagement in the industry to meet the needs of the rapidly evolving and sophisticated customer. Jeff and Bob presented information that is timely, relevant and impactful to our business.

Jeff helped us better understand the significant impact that growing data management and computation is having on the electricity industry. These data users represent a large share of industry load growth forecasts that rival the 1980’s and present unique challenges to electric utilities due to the size of the individual project load additions. To meet the specifications of these users of power, the industry must build new base load and dispatchable power resources. Yet at the same time, these users want low-emissions power supply. More complicated still is how utilities develop rates for these users and distribute the costs and benefits of adding these kinds of loads to the system.

Bob talked about Ford’s plans for sustainability and how those plans are impacting the tens of thousands of suppliers throughout the world and our individual communities from the small machine shop to the large mining company. In addition, Bob talked about transportation electrification and Ford’s plan to continue to grow this segment of their company. He talked about the utilities throughout the country that are thinking about the future and bringing a partnership mindset to working with Ford.

MPPA’s Presentation

For MPPA’s part of the Meeting, we focused on the behind-the-curtain work our staff has been focused on. We discussed the importance and rationale behind updating our portfolio management system, along with the complexities of rule changes in markets and what we are doing to stay abreast of those changes by building resilience in our staffing and systems. We also talked about transmission and the enormous build-out underway across the Midwest, which has a material impact on total delivered power supply costs as well as how we are managing the financial resources required from the rising volatility of commodities, regulation and weather.

In all, our goal is to help our members and business partners understand us better – to connect and align the work we are doing behind the scenes with the headlines they hear and read about in the industry.

Thank you! And if we missed you this year, we hope to see you as we gather again next Spring!

Patrick Bowland
CEO & General Manager
Michigan Public Power Agency

The Janet & Richard Gorman Scholarship: Students Can Earn $2,500 for the 2025-2026 School Year!

MPPA

MPPA’s Board of Commissioners will select one eligible student to obtain the Janet and Richard Gorman Scholarship of $2,500 in the Fall of 2025. The scholarship fund is applicable for the 2025-2026 academic year.

The Gormans started the scholarship in 1989 after Richard retired from his role as MPPA’s first general manager. Today, the scholarship has a proud history of supporting students as they learn and grow both personally and professionally.

Richard Gorman’s Role in MPPA’s Creation

Richard Gorman black and white headshot
Richard Gorman

Richard earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and notably served as the city manager of Petoskey for nearly 20 years before joining MPPA.

Richard leveraged his exceptional leadership skills to help create the agency and develop many of its first projects.

The scholarship aims to continue the Gormans’ legacy of leadership, encouraging students to embrace opportunities to drive positive change in their respective fields.

How to Apply

MPPA is proud to help manage the scholarship and welcomes eligible students to apply. Applicants must be enrolled in colleges, universities, junior colleges, or community colleges in Michigan.

Application Requirements

  1. Children and/or legal wards of employees of a member of MPPA who is employed by the Council, Commission, or Board of Trustees having general management over the utility system of that MPPA member; and
  2. Children and/or legal wards of MPPA employees.

Meet 2024-2025 Scholarship Recipient: Caden Bruinsma

Caden Bruinsma, 2024-2025 Janet & Richard Gorman Scholarship Recipient headshot
Caden Bruinsma, 2024-2025 Janet & Richard Gorman Scholarship Recipient

One year ago, MPPA selected Caden Bruinsma to receive the Gorman scholarship. Since May of 2024, Caden has been a co-op engineer at Holland Board of Public Works.

His future plans are deeply rooted in where his education began. Caden intends to continue working for a West Michigan municipality to create sustainable and energy-efficient solutions.

Caden attributes his success in transitioning from academics to a professional career to the support of the Janet & Richard Gorman scholarship.

Application and Selection Criteria

MPPA’s Board of Commissioners is looking forward to reviewing applications and awarding the Janet & Richard Gorman scholarship to a hard-working, eligible student. To apply, complete the scholarship application and email a finished copy to mcornelius@mpower.org by August 1, 2025.

Download Application

Scholarship Criteria

Gorman Scholarship FAQs

25MW of Solar Power Enters Commercial Operation for Michigan Municipal Utilities

MPPA, Press Releases

Press Release – Michigan Public Power Agency commences contract to provide enough energy to power about 6,000 homes annually across Michigan.

Lansing, MI, April 7, 2025 – Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA), a municipal power joint action agency, today announced that it has commenced a power purchase agreement for a 25 MW portion of the 125 MW Brandt Woods solar project in Calhoun County. MPPA’s share of the project will generate enough energy to power the equivalent of about 6,000 homes annually. The Brandt Woods solar facility aligns with MPPA’s continued commitment to clean, reliable, and affordable energy for residents and businesses throughout Michigan. Thirteen of MPPA’s twenty-two municipal Member utilities will receive the renewable power supply from MPPA’s portion of this project.

“Brandt Woods solar is another example of MPPA members making long-term commitments to get new renewable resources built in Michigan,” said Patrick Bowland, CEO & general manager of MPPA. “We appreciate the efforts of AES in bringing this impressive project to commercial operation.”

AES, a leading renewable energy developer and global energy company, is the developer and operator of the Brandt Woods solar project. The company developed the site with the preservation of the local environment and character of the community at the forefront, protecting the land for future generations. AES carefully selected ground cover and pollinator-friendly native species throughout the site, enhancing the region’s pollinator health and habitats, like those of the honey bee, which also benefits nearby agriculture.

The announcement comes as utilities across the state strive to meet or exceed Michigan’s aggressive renewable energy standards established under recently passed clean energy legislation. Through shared investments such as this portion of the Brandt Woods solar project, MPPA is helping Michigan Public Power utilities provide their customers with reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible power supply through a diversified portfolio of resources.

About MPPA

Founded in 1978, Michigan Public Power Agency is a municipal power joint action agency. MPPA was formed to undertake the planning, financing, development, acquisition, construction, improvement, operation, and maintenance of energy projects to share supply and related services to lower cost, reduce risk, and leverage expertise for the benefit of its Public Power Utility Members. More at https://mpower.org.

 

2025 Foreword

MPPA
two workers at solar panel station

As we take a breather wrapping up 2024 and preparing for 2025, we reflect on how fortunate we are to be working in the energy industry at such an exciting time. The world wants a lot more electricity to run the economies of the future, and they want it to be cleanly produced, more reliably delivered and all this done affordably. Well, that’s not boring.

Managing Complexity in an Energy-Hungry Economy

Forecasts of greater electricity use in the future are staggering. These forecasts, largely driven by the computing power required for artificial intelligence systems as well as electrification, touch every sector of the economy. To meet the power supply specifications, the electric industry must find new solutions along with quickly mobilizing tried-and-true technologies of the present. For all of us working in the industry, we are humbled by the complexity but energized by the opportunity.

Public policy to decarbonize, coupled with growing electric consumption, presents a complicated problem. In response, industry stakeholders are writing and rewriting tariffs, rules, policies, legislation, and business plans as fast as the industry has ever seen in its history.

Charging Forward Together

Here at MPPA we have built a Strategic Plan that recognizes the dynamics of the industry require a more resilient and agile business operation as well as a deeper focus on evolving risk factors. That is being addressed in multiple ways, from diversifying responsibilities of and building redundancy in the staff and systems of market operations and financial services to breaking down the cost and reliability of hundreds of potential future power supply portfolios through scenario analysis. Although these efforts aren’t glamorous, they are the vital, behind the scenes requirements needed to manage risk and decision making in the future.

Big Changes for Michigan in 2025

2025 is a landmark year. Campbell #3 is being retired and Belle River is being repowered to natural gas. These are the founding power supply Projects of MPPA. These profound changes put an exclamation point on the complexities and opportunities we face in our industry and at MPPA. Our staff is ready for the challenge.

Patrick A. Bowland
CEO & General Manager

Patrick Bowland headshot