We gathered on May 2nd for the Annual Stakeholders Meeting at Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI and I want to reiterate why this one-day, once-a-year event is so important.
At the core of this meeting are three key elements, Learning, Networking and Celebrating Michigan Public Power and we have the unique opportunity to invite and connect with stakeholders from within our Member Communities (i.e. key customers, influencers and governing body members).
How Members Should Think About Learning
By bringing topics to the table through engaging speakers, we provide relevant, valuable, and timely industry knowledge to our membership. They in turn can take this information back to their respective communities and incorporate it into business planning. Knowledge is power and the more we know the more value we can drive into our member communities.
Recent topics included:
- 2024 – 2024 – NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation) VP and Chief Engineer, Mark Lauby spoke about how changes in the electricity industry impact electric reliability. NERC is a not-for-profit international regulatory authority whose mission is to assure the effective and efficient reduction of risks to the reliability and security of the electric grid. The electricity grid is a shared system. Decisions by one participant automatically impact others. This is a critical truth that is often misunderstood. Nobody operates independently in the electricity grid.
- 2024 – Bob Coward, Principal Officer with MPR Associates (boutique nuclear energy consultant) spoke about nuclear power and its role in meeting societal reliability and decarbonization objectives. Whether or not we, MPPA, or any of our Members ever own or contract for power from a nuclear power generation resource, decisions about nuclear power impact all electric grid participants. Even now, Michigan is attempting to do something that has never been done before, restart Palisades, a closed nuclear power plant. Restarting Palisades will impact the reliability of the local and regional electric grid, and will have a profound impact in meeting decarbonization goals set under Michigan’s recently passed Clean Energy Legislation. In addition, Bob talked about changing technology in the nuclear industry that could lower the size, risk and cost of these power generation resources. If the industry is successful in achieving these results, the number of renewable resources needed to meet decarbonization goals will be significantly reduced. Finally, all residents should be interested in how their tax dollars are being used to fund the restart and of course, those living near the facility should care about how this old plant can be operated safely.
How Members Should Think About Networking
When we get a large group of our members and their key stakeholders in one place for a day together, they can share ideas, perspectives, and questions among and between each other. After all, they are all in this game together operating similar types of businesses in different parts of the State. Building relationships creates trust networks that enhance the value of Joint Action.
How Members Should Think About Celebrating Public Power in Michigan
There are 40 public power utilities in Michigan. Our member communities own and operate their electric utility. Public power, if invested in and operated professionally, creates lots of value for its community. Public Power communities are more reliable and less expensive than competing utilities. They can be a source of pride and economic value.
Often, the recognition and understanding of this value gets lost over time, if the community is not vigilant about educating and engaging the community. If this happens, it shows up in a loss of resources and investment in the utility which drives up costs and lowers reliability.
Getting together to celebrate public power reminds our community stakeholders how important it is to care for and feed this important component of their community.
