(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.
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2019 NIC Chair Jeff Marshall and Lacy
Peoples Award recipient Debbie
Bone-Harris.
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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).
