Several leaders who have made significant contributions to public power were recently honored at the Utah Associated Municipal Systems (UAMPS) 2017 Member Meeting in Salt Lake City.
Jackie Flowers, chair of the UAMPS board, and Doug Hunter, CEO and general manager of UAMPS, presented the awards.
Honorees include:
- Kelly Carlson, Champion of Public Power. Carlson was recognized for his great contribution to public power through his many years of service to Washington City. He has worked more than 30 years in the power department as lineman, crew foreman and power director. He was the first employee of the power department when the city purchased the system from Utah Power & Light in the late 1980s.
- Stephen Hollabaugh, Distinguished Service Award. Hollabaugh has worked more than 30 years in the utility industry, first with PG&E, then with Truckee Donner Public Utility District for the past 23 years. He has managed Truckee Donner’s electric operations and has developed expertise in the power cap and trade system and has excellent relationships with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other associations. He has been passionate about customer excellent service and during the extreme winter of 2016-17 he spent many nights working to keep the power on for citizens and businesses.
- Lee Bracken, mayor of Enterprise, Utah, Elected Official of the Year. In his three terms of service in Enterprise, Bracken has taken a personal interest in the city’s electrical system, including the rebuilding of the city substation. His leadership saw the city through a neighboring utility’s attempt to buy Enterprise’s system. His foresight and leadership have been very valuable to excellent power service for citizens.
- Emily Brandt, Employee of the Year. Brandt, who works for Heber Light & Power, has done an outstanding job promoting public power and her utility through social media and other promotional opportunities. She took the initiative to establish a successful social media platform and has also been a driving force in marketing the utility in schools and many public events.
- System Improvement Awards were presented to Spring City, Hyrum City, and Mt. Pleasant City.
- Spring City boosted system performance and reliability by upgrading its voltage from 2,400 volts to 7,200 volts; installing new LED lights on street lights; completing a new power line to the city hydro plant; and retrofitting 20 poles with new bushing and cut-out covers to reduce outages caused by animals and to protect birds of prey.
- Hyrum City installed a new smart metering system with remote monitoring capabilities to save time and money on labor and improve monitoring. Hyrum replaced two major underground feeders from the 8th East substation and installed new governor and breaker controls on the hydro plant. The utility also finished electrical infrastructure installation on 438 lots in four subdivisions.
- Mt. Pleasant City overhauled its Hydro Unit 4 by replacing the wheel and other parts, boosting efficiency by 30 percent. The city also replaced the logic control in the hydro plant and updated the SCADA system, allowing better control of each individual hydro unit. Mt. Pleasant also installed fiber optic cable to several facilities, improving signals and monitoring and improving cyber security.
Presentations and speeches at the Member Meeting focused on UAMPS 2017 accomplishments; the challenges facing public power, including new technologies enabling distributed energy generation; regulatory issues; and continued investigation of a small modular nuclear reactor energy project.
UAMPS officers include Jackie Flowers, general manager of Idaho Falls Power, as board chair; Jason Norlen, representing Heber Light & Power, as vice chair; Les Williams, representing Beaver City, as secretary; and Dwight Day, representing Oak City, as treasurer.
UAMPS is a joint action agency providing wholesale electricity and electric energy services to 46 public power utility members in six western states. Established in 1980, UAMPS helps its members with planning, financing, development, acquisition, construction, operation and maintenance of various projects for the generation, supply, transmission and management of electric energy.