NWPPA Honors NEEA’s Eugene Rosolie with 2019 Jim Brands Award (Northwest Public Power Association)

(VANCOUVER, WA) -- The Northwest Public Power Association’s 2019 Northwest Communications & Energy Innovations Conference (NIC) Planning Committee has selected Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s Eugene Rosolie as this year’s recipient of the Jim Brands Award for his lifetime commitment to the public power industry and remarkable work in the area of energy efficiency. The award was presented to Rosolie on Tuesday, September 17, at the NIC awards banquet at the Tulalip Resort in Washington.

2019 Jim Brands Award recipient Eugene Rosolie

(center) with ESG’s Mark Gosvener and Clatskanie

PUD’s Sarah Johnson.

Rosolie has over 20 years in energy efficiency and the utility industry, having started his career at PNGC Power. He has been a passionate advocate for energy efficiency and environmental awareness throughout his career.

“He was very helpful, and taught me a lot about how to run programs and to speak up for ourselves at BPA meetings,” said Clatskanie PUD Customer Relations & Services Manager Sarah Johnson. “I know he and Jim Brands had a great mutual respect for each other. I witnessed many in depth energy efficiency conversations between Eugene and Jim. I feel that Jim would be proud to have Eugene as a recipient of this special award we have named in his honor.”

Rosolie worked for PNGC Power as the senior economist/conservation manager for 10 years. During his time there, he represented the PNGC utilities at regional meetings, and championed the conservation committee’s ideas and feedback. After his time at PNGC, Rosolie served four years at Cowlitz PUD as the energy efficiency services manager where he was able to run programs and have direct influence on a local utility’s conservation goals. He was also responsible for conceptualizing the process of the online EE “project tracker” application and getting management approval to proceed with the development for Cowlitz PUD.

In July 2014, Rosolie became the stakeholder relations manager for NEEA. He currently represents NEEA and provides support to utilities in the Northwest. Rosolie takes an active role in the Efficiency Exchange each year and is a regular presenter for the Northwest Regional Group.

This annual award honors Jim Brands and his 35-year career in the electric utility and energy efficiency industries. Brands, a previous employee of NWPPA and longtime friend to the public power industry, created Efficiency Services Group with Mark Gosvener and Ted Haskell in 2005. He passed away in 2014 from cancer at the age of 61.

Current or former employees of NWPPA member utilities are eligible to receive this award. The NIC Planning Committee selects recipients based on accomplishments through at least 10 years of energy efficiency experience, at least 20 years of service to the industry, and promotion of public power through efforts such as community service.

Idaho Falls Power’s Van Ashton, Ravalli Electric Cooperative’s Jim Maunder, and Clearwater Power Company’s Bob Pierce were the first recipients of the award in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively.

NWPPA Honors Debbie Bone-Harris with 2019 Lacy Peoples Award (Northwest Public Power Association)

(VANCOUVER, WA) -- The Northwest Public Power Association’s 2019 Northwest Communications & Energy Innovations Conference (NIC) Planning Committee has selected Franklin County PUD’s Debbie Bone-Harris as this year’s winner of the Lacy Peoples Award for her lifetime commitment to the public power industry and communication and public involvement. The award was presented to Bone-Harris on Tuesday, September 17, at the NIC awards banquet at the Tulalip Resort in Washington.

2019 NIC Chair Jeff Marshall and Lacy

Peoples Award recipient Debbie

Bone-Harris.

Bone-Harris has over 35 years in the utility industry, having started her career at Hanford for 20 years. Now she is the public affairs manager for Franklin County PUD, where she has worked since 2003. During this time, she has held various roles throughout the utility with responsibility for community events, communications, legislative affairs, and public involvement. She has dedicated endless hours to preserving and educating customers and the public about the value of the federal Columbia and Snake River dam system, and working with state and federal legislators in Olympia and Washington, D.C.

She also holds a number of leadership roles, including sitting on the Pasco Chamber of Commerce, Visit Tri-Cities, and Tri-Cities Legislative Council Board of Directors as well as previously sitting on the TRIDEC Board of Directors. In the electric industry, she sits on boards for the Washington Public Utility District Association and the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association. She has held community leadership positions throughout her career, including serving as chair of the Small Business Awards Banquet that ran for 20 years.

“My memory of Deb and her skills has been as a mentor and helping a new crop of communicators come into their own,” said Grays Harbor PUD’s Ian Cope. “As a new member of the utility communications family, I knew little about the industry. Deb was one of the communicators who helped me learn about how to communicate the facts and stories of our industry to customers.”

First given to Lacy Peoples of Cowlitz PUD at the Consumer Services/Communications Conference in 1978, the award is now presented to recipients at the annual NIC. Current or former employees of NWPPA member utilities are eligible to receive this award. The NIC Planning Committee selects recipients based on accomplishments through at least 10 years of marketing and communication experience; at least 20 years of service to the industry; and promotion of public power through efforts such as community service.

Recent Lacy Peoples Award winners include Joel Myer of Mason 3 PUD (2018), Curtis Condon of Ruralite Services (2017), and Barbara Johnson of Tillamook PUD (2016).

Northwest Public Power Association Announces 26th Annual Excellence in Communication Winners

(VANCOUVER, WA) -- The Excellence in Communication contest, which recognizes the top communication efforts from Northwest Public Power Association member utilities and associations, turned 26 years old this year and celebrated another record-breaking year at the Northwest Communications & Energy Innovations Conference (NIC) awards banquet at the Tulalip Resort in Tulalip, Wash., on Tuesday, September 17.

The 2019 Excellence in Communication winners at Tuesday evening's banquet

“We asked members to crush last year’s score with a record number of entries, and they came through––in fact they topped the old record of 229 with 257 entries this year. That’s more than a 10% increase in entries,” said 2019 NIC Chair Jeff Marshall of Clearwater Power. “And the entries this year were top notch with 13 receiving perfect scores of 50 out of 50. Congratulations to everyone!”

Categories are broken up into four groups: Group A utilities having the smallest number of customers and Group D having the largest. Eight local marketing and communication professionals volunteered their time to judge the entries. A complete list of the first-, second-, and third-place winners can be found at the end of this release.

(L-R) Mason PUD 3’s Justin Holzgrove,
Joel Myer, and Lynn Eaton
celebrate their Tom Hougan Award win.

In addition to the Excellence in Communication awards, NWPPA presented the 2019 Tom Hougan Award for the best overall communication effort to Mason PUD No. 3 of Shelton, Wash. With an average score of 45.8 out of 50 points, which included four first-place awards, three second-place awards, one third-place award, and one perfect score, this is Mason 3’s first time winning the contest. Public Information and Government Relations Manager Joel Myer was on hand to accept the award along with coworkers Lynn Eaton and Justin Holzgrove.

Winners of the People’s Choice Awards in photography were also announced at the banquet. Attendees viewed all of the nearly 50 photography submissions at Monday night’s opening reception and voted on their favorite photo in each of three categories:

Roseville Electric Utility (Calif.) won Best Photo of a Child.

Silicon Valley Power (Calif.) won Best Photo of an Employee.

Ravalli Electric Cooperative (Mont.) won Best Photo in the Miscellaneous Category.

The annual Excellence in Communication awards will next be presented in September 2020.

About NWPPA: NWPPA is an international not-for-profit trade association representing and serving over 150 customer-owned, locally controlled utilities in the Western U.S. and Canada. The Association also serves approximately 300 associate members across the U.S. and Canada who are allied with the electric utility industry. Visit www.nwppa.org, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook for more information.

Anita Decker, Electric Industry Leader Named to Western Energy Imbalance Market Governing Body (Western Energy Imbalance Market, Folsom, CA)

(FOLSOM, CA) – The Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) Governing Body today unanimously appointed Anita Decker to serve on the EIM Governing Body. Decker, former executive director of the Northwest Public Power Association will begin on Sept. 1, filling a vacant seat with a term that ends in June 2020.

The EIM Governing Body oversees the Western EIM, a real-time bulk power trading market and the first of its kind in the western United States. Since its launch in 2014, the Western EIM has enhanced grid reliability while generating $736 million in benefits to its nine participating entities, and reducing 403,546 metric tons of carbon emissions in the western states.

“Anita Decker’s experience in nearly all aspects of the electric power industry makes her a valuable addition to the EIM Governing Body,” said Jennifer Gardner, the EIM Governing Body Nominating Committee Chair. “Her perspective will be particularly important as the Western EIM continues to experience rapid growth and offers additional services to meet customer needs and address regulatory and legislative mandates as the power industry evolves.”

Decker brings 39 years of electric utility experience, most recently as executive director of the Northwest Public Power Association from 2014 to 2019, overseeing an organization that provides legislative and regulatory support and training to more than 150 community-owned electric utilities and electric cooperatives in nine western states and British Columbia.

Between 2007 and 2014, Decker served as the chief operating officer for the Bonneville Power Administration, including a stint as acting administrator for the Western Area Power Administration. She was responsible for Bonneville Power Administration’s power services, transmission services, internal business services and environment, fish and wildlife.

Decker’s career also includes a 27-year stint with PacificCorp, where she held positions in Oregon, Wyoming, and Utah, rising to the role of business unit vice president. The EIM Governing Body oversees the Western EIM as its membership grows with the ISO and eight other Balancing Authorities. Future participants of the Western EIM include the Salt River Project, and Seattle City Light in 2020; Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, NorthWestern Energy, Turlock Irrigation District, and the Public Service Company of New Mexico in 2021; and Tucson Electric Power, Avista, and Tacoma Power in 2022.