At the American Public Power Association (APPA) National Conference on June 11, the organization looked back on the efforts of its partners to highlight individuals and utilities who went above and beyond over the past year to serve communities and promote public power, as the APPA has worked to do since 1940.
Mark Crisson Leadership and Managerial Excellence Award
Leadership and Managerial Excellence Award Recipient: Patrick Bowland – MPPA
Change isn’t an overnight process. It requires immense time and effort from people at all levels. Leaders act as tone-setters who enable others to collectively face challenges and accomplish goals. Each year the APPA presents the Mark Crisson Leadership and Managerial Excellence Award to acknowledge the diligent efforts of a stand-out leader at a utility, agency, or state who carried out the APPA mission. This year’s recipient is Patrick Bowland, CEO and General Manager of the Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA).
Patrick brought 20 years of energy market experience when he joined in 2015. His proactive leadership has equipped management and staff with the necessary tools to continue pouring into Michigan utility partnerships. Since joining the MPPA, he has launched forward-thinking strategies, positioning the MPPA to support partners’ present and future practices. Join us in congratulating Patrick for exemplifying strong leadership practices for the public power movement this year and taking strides toward safe, reliable, and cost-efficient energy.
Utility Awards
Each year the APPA recognizes utility accomplishments with two major award categories: The Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) recognition award, and The Safety Award of Excellence. Both celebrate the commitment and high level of service each utility provided to advance and promote the use of public power. The APPA board members rank performance by Diamond, Platinum, and Gold level status.
RP3 Award
The APPA gives the RP3 recognition award to utilities that demonstrated reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement over the past year. The RP3 program involves an application process that reviews utility partners’ performance and operational efficiency. APPA Board members report using these criteria. Each recipient must go through a rigorous application process, through which the board reviews utility-wide operations based on extensive data and information provided by the utility. Participating members must actively adopt best practices suggested by board member representatives. Here are the Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Level Recipients:
Diamond Level Recipients:
- Coldwater Board of Public Utilities
- Bay City Electric Light & Power
- Grand Haven Board of Light & Power
- Lowell Light & Power
- Traverse City Light & Power
- Zeeland Board of Public Works
- Holland Board of Public Works
Platinum Level Recipients:
- Hillsdale Board of Public Utilities
- Lansing Board of Water & Light
Gold Level Recipients:
- The City of Marshall
Safety Award of Excellence
The Safety Award of Excellence celebrates utilities who spent extensive time in the field using safe practices to work toward the APPA mission. Winners were split into groups based on the number of worker-hours of exposure.
Group A: Less than 15,000 hours of exposure
- The City of Marshall- Diamond Level
Group B: 15,000 to 29,999 hours of exposure
- Lowell Light & Power- Diamond Level
- Sebewaing Light & Water- Gold Level
Group C: 30,000 to 59,999 hours of exposure
- Coldwater Board of Public Utilities- Diamond Level
- Hillsdale Board of Public Works- Gold Level
Group D: 60,000 to 109,999 hours of exposure
- Grand Haven Board of Light & Power- Gold Level
Group E: 100,000 to 249,999 hours of exposure
- Holland Board of Public Works- Diamond Level
Over the past year, APPA utility members have collaborated to create positive changes in power and faced industry challenges by committing to safe, sustainable practices with hundreds of thousands of hours in the field to show for it.