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Jackson’s electric service earns two national recognitions

Jackson’s electric power service recently earned two prestigious national awards.

One recognizes the City of Jackson as a reliable public power provider.

“It is a rigorous process of finding awardees,” said Duncan Kincheloe, president of the Public Utilities Alliance, who presented the awards at the Mayor and Board of Aldermen meeting June 4.

The Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3)® designation from American Public Power Association, lasts for three years and recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, work force development, and system improvement. Criteria include sound business practices and a utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity.

“This designation is about more than just reliability. It’s about operational excellence,” said Neil James, chair of the American Public Power Association’s RP3 Review Panel. “These utilities and their communities should be proud to represent the best of the best in the areas of reliability, safety, work force development, and system improvement.”

“This is a great honor,” said Don Schuette, director of electric utilities for the City of Jackson. “We take a lot of pride in the work we do to power this community. We are very happy to get this recognition for our initiative and hard work.”

The American Public Power Association has offered the RP3 designation for 13 years. The Association is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 49 million people in 2,000 towns and cities nationwide. The Association advocates and advises on electricity policy, technology, trends, training, and operations.

“Reliability  means something special,” said Kincheloe. “This award requires work over time to merit.”

Taken into consideration are preparations for the future, staffing, stability, long-term planning, diversity (wind, solar, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric) and more.

Jackson looks forward, not just a decade, but two and three decades, and knows what its rates will be, because there is a stability of cost. The City manages the future and prepares for eventualities, Kin-cheloe said.

“The RP3 is a very prestigious award,” he added.

In addition, the City of Jackson received national recognition for achieving exceptional electric reliability in 2017. The recognition comes from the American Public Power Association a trade group in Washington, D.C., that represents more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities such as the City of Jackson.

While the RP3 award looks to the future, the certificate of exceptional reliability looks to the past and rewards a good record.

The Association helps members track outage and restoration data through its subscription-based eReliability Tracker service and then compares the data to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for all types of electric utilities.

“We are proud to receive this recognition. It is a testament to the hard work of all our staff to ensure that the lights stay on for all our customers,” said Schuette.

“Congratulations to you all,” said Kincheloe. The operations here have a terrific reputation among public utilities.”

Gregory Dullum has worked for The Cash-Book Journal for more than 25 years. Prior to becoming the editor in May 2017, he was production manager, circulation manager and reporter. Before moving to Cape Girardeau in 1988, he was editor of the Saint Louis Park Sailor, a weekly community newspaper in suburban Minneapolis, MN. A native of Minnesota, he returned there after graduating with distinction in 1978 from Ambassador College in Pasadena, CA, with a degree in mass communications. His wife, Marie, whom he met in college, is a native of Zalma, a small town in southeast Missouri. They have two grown daughters and five grandchildren. Gregory may be reached at cashbook@mvp.net.

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