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A periodic publication of MPUA
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June 10, 2020

MPUA chooses John Twitty as next CEO

The MPUA Board of Directors has appointed John Twitty as the organization’s new President and CEO effective Aug. 1. Twitty will succeed Duncan Kincheloe, who is retiring in August after a 21-year term as the Alliance’s President and CEO. Twitty is Executive Director of the Transmission Access Policy Study Group (TAPS), a national advocacy group of transmission-dependent electric utilities in 35 states. He was Senior Vice President of Solar Development for Gardner Capital from 2015 to 2020. He served as General Manager and CEO of City Utilities of Springfield (MO) until 2011. He began his utility career in 1983 at Rolla Municipal Utilities (MO) and served as General Manager of the utility. He has also served as chair of the Board of the American Public Power Association and of The Energy Authority.
READ MORE (MPUA news release)
CALENDAR - full calendar

6/19 - 10:30am | South Central Regional Utility Roundtable, (Lebanon)
6/26 - 10:30am | Northwest Regional Utility Roundtable (Chillicothe)
6/30 -10am | RP3 Workshop
7/3 | MPUA office closed (Independence Day holiday)

7/15 - 10am | Municipal Gas Commission (MGCM) mtg
In This Issue
MPUA chooses John Twitty as next CEO

Regional Utility Roundtables:
Lebanon (June 19) and Chillicothe (June 26)


RP3 Application Workshop: June 30

Alliance Awards 2020 - Call For Nominations

Local Government CARES Act Funding

KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Training

APPA annual salary survey

SWMPEP Starts Up

IN THE NEWS : media stories
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Regional Utility Roundtables:
Lebanon (June 19) and Chillicothe (June 26)

Please plan to join your city utility peers in your region by attending one of these regional roundtable meetings. The roundtables are informal utility system information-sharing events for city administrators and managers, utility directors, and utility staff members. Lunch is provided at each meeting. The content of these meetings is up to each group. Please send topics you are challenged with or success stories you want to share to training@mpua.org
  • June 19 – Lebanon: South Central Regional Utility Roundtable
    10:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at Cowan Civic Center Exhibition Hall (500 E. Elm, Lebanon, MO.) Confirm attendance by Friday, June 12, by email to training@mpua.org. READ MORE and REGISTER...
     
  • June 26 – Chillicothe: Northwest Regional Utility Roundtable; 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at CMU’s Office, 920 Washington St., Chillicothe, MO.) Confirm attendance by Friday June 19, by email to training@mpua.org. READ MORE and REGISTER...

RP3 Application Workshop will be June 30 in Columbia
This year’s RP3 Application Workshop, will be June 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at MPUA’s office (1808 I-70 Drive SW, Columbia). The APPA's Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3)  designation is increasingly relied upon by bond issuers, insurance companies, and industrial research firms as a mark of high quality. Our expert panel will guide you through the application process, where to get data, and will provide insights on how to receive the highest score. Each panelist has earned a high-level RP3 recognition, with two previously serving on the RP3 Review Panel. See more info at our webpage, and register by June 26, by sending your utility name, email address, and attendee names/titles to training@mpua.org. MORE INFORMATION (flyer)

Alliance Awards 2020 - Call For Nominations

Every utility has outstanding public servants. Whether it is a long-term employee or a rising star, it’s time to recognize their dedication!  Nominations are being sought for MPUA’s 2020 Alliance Awards, to be presented at this year’s annual conference. The awards honor outstanding achievements, vision and dedication to municipal utilities by individuals and member utilities within the Missouri Public Utility Alliance. Please nominate a deserving individual or municipal utility for one of the awards before the August 3 deadline. Award descriptions and a nomination form are included in our CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FORM. Please email completed nomination forms to events@mpua.org, or fax them to 573-445-0680.

FACTSHEET: Local Government CARES act funding

MPUA encourages Missouri municipal utilities to reach out to their county commissioners to discuss using  a portion of local government CARES Act money to provide a grant to help individuals that cannot pay their utility bill (water, sewer, electric, and gas) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of Missouri’s federal funding through the recent CARES Act was distributed to counites based on their populations. MPUA has a member factsheet to explain local funding potentials, and opportunities to collaborate with coops and regional water districts – READ FACTSHEET HERE

KnowBe4 Cybersecurity Training offer

MPUA has worked with KnowBe4 for a discounted price for utility members on their Security Awareness Training and Simulated Phishing service. More than 30,000 organizations worldwide use KnowBe4 integrated Security Awareness Training and Simulated Phishing platform. Utilities will have a great way to manage the urgent IT security problems of social engineering, spear-phishing, and ransomware attacks.

MPUA with KnowBe4 will: create and execute phishing test emails, report your risk score for phishing campaigns, a cyber awareness training program with employee status reports, USB drop tests to see who is prone to plugging peripherals into computers, and phone vishing tests to check that sensitive information isn’t relayed on the phone.

This cyber security service is a great way to show your commitment to security when applying for the American Public Power Association’s Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) designation, or meeting federal America’s Water Infrastructure Act requirements for Risk & Resiliency and Emergency Plans. For more information email Kevin Fulks or reach him by calling 573-445-3279.

APPA conducts annual salary survey

A few weeks ago APPA emailed its 2020 survey of salaries in local, publicly owned electric utilities to individual utilities. The annual survey is aimed at electric utilities with at least 50% of their revenue being from retail sales. The survey asks for salary data for management positions and hourly pay data for non-management positions. Survey participation will help APPA provide more accurate information and better comparisons of utilities based on size and region. As with all surveys, the information is kept confidential and only aggregated data are shared. The survey is due by July 9, 2020. Here are the two APPA survey links:

SWMPEP starts up: Monett And Mount Vernon begin using new wholesale electric power supplies

On June 1, citizens and businesses in Monett and Mount Vernon began receiving power supplies from their new supplier, the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission (MJMEUC). The change completed a process that began in 2017, as several cities in the region approached the expiration of their previous power contracts with Liberty Utilities (formerly Empire District Electric). During more than a year of planning and negotiations, the cities of Monett and Mount Vernon formed the Southwest Missouri Public Energy Pool (SWMPEP) and signed an agreement to purchase their wholesale power supply through MJMEUC. READ MORE (MPUA news release)
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