NEPPA Awards Presented at Annual Conference

This award recognizes companies that are associate or corporate members of our association who provide exceptional levels of support or assistance to our organization and our members. Many NEPPA members are already familiar with Stuart Irby for the work that they do. This past year they went beyond what they had previously done. Inspired by our new Training Center, Stuart Irby became real partners with NEPPA to ensure that our center had exactly what it needed for training. It seemed almost weekly that they would be coming by to meet with Steve Socoby or to donate equipment to the meter lab or equipment for the garage. It is through generous affiliates like Stuart Irby that we have been able to outfit our site.

Eric Werner, recent GM retiree of the Hardwick Electric Department, as well as the NEPPA Board, was presented with a NEPPA Service Award, which is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to NEPPA. 

"As a board member this person brought insight to deliberations and the ability to question the status quo. As a fellow Vermonter, he ensured that the needs and desires of those of us from the maple state were well represented. His work to encourage bonds between MEAV and NEPPA and his final volunteer service role as Mutual Aid Task Force member has made NEPPA better for all of us," said Ellen Burt, the General Manager for the Town of Stowe Electric Department and Village of Hyde Park, who presented the award. 

Larry Brownell, NEPPA’s Executive Director, presented the Century Award to NEPPA members celebrating 100 years of service as a public power system. This year East Norwalk Electric Department received the Century Award.

NEPPA’s Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to their public power systems and their communities and this year it was awarded to Clint Hutchins, Member Solutions & Marketing Manager at the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NHEC), and Wayne Snow, recently retired General Manager of Georgetown Municipal Light Department. 

Clint has been employed at NHEC for more than 43 years. In that time, Clint has been instrumental in ensuring that NHEC has provided superior member service. He began in the metering department, was promoted to Working Foreman, and ultimately the Coordinator and Power Diversion Investigator. He then became Division Administrator and the Member Solutions Supervisor. Today, he holds the position of Member Solutions & Marketing Manager. 

Wayne had been at Georgetown for 33 years, and spent 20 years of them as the General Manager. He recently retired at the beginning of May of this year. David Schofield, who replaced Wayne, was interviewed and said "as a resident of Georgetown, I am honored and excited to be the next General Manager of the Georgetown Municipal Light Department. Wayne Snow, Georgetown Light’s previous General Manager, has carefully spent the last 20 years building a tough and reliable system with a well-developed and motivated work force. I am in the enviable position to benefit from all of his hard work and for that I am very grateful. Going forward, I will follow Wayne’s example and continue to improve every facet of the organization so that we can provide the best service possible to our ratepayers."

The Commissioner Service Award is presented annually to Commissioners and Directors of public power utilities who have served their systems with distinction for at least 10 years. NEPPA recognized six individuals for their outstanding service to their utilities with Commissioner Service Awards:

From Groveland Municipal Light Department–Kermit Cross ( Mike Cloutier received the award for Mr. Cross)

From New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc. – Georgie A. Thomas

From the Town of Stowe Electric Dept. in Vermont – Arthur Lloyd

From Kennebunk Light and Power District – Bruce Madore

From Norwich Public Utilities – Diana Boisclair

And from the Village of Johnson Water & Light Department– George Pearlman

This year’s Francis "Skip" Willey Individual Achievement Award was presented to Jackie Pratt from Shrewsbury Electric & Cable Operations. This award is given to an employee of a NEPPA system who demonstrates a professional commitment to public power through personal development and participation in NEPPA’s educational programs and other association activities. Jackie has been a champion of our educational efforts assuring that the needs of those in utility offices were represented and met. She has served on the Education and Training Committee and the Customer Service Committee. She has been a proponent of distance learning and a frequent speaker at our meetings and conferences.

This award is for a specific accomplishment advancing the interests of public power and is not usually given out every year. John really distinguished himself in representing his utility, NEPPA and the industry to elected and appointed federal leaders. At the request of his Senator, he was asked to testify on electric reliability and how public power has success where others stumble. He then met with officials from the Department of Energy, FEMA and President Obama regarding Super Storm Sandy and the ensuing response. These meetings elevated the profile of public power and it’s New England Utilities in a positive way. 

The person of the year award is given for sustained, outstanding service and contributions to NEPPA and to public power. When discussing honorees, the committee felt there were two worthy nominees this year.

The first recipient, Vinnie Cameron, recently retired from Reading Municipal Light Department after a distinguished career. During his volunteerism with NEPPA he served as Board Treasurer, frequent rally participant, and speaker at conferences. Vinnie concluded his service to NEPPA in June of this year, seeing us through another audit whilewrapping up the financial aspect of our Training Center.

The second recipient was Brian Evans-Mungeon. He has been a great educator to all of us on Cyber Security and all of the regulations and nuances associated in this area. He has also been a great resource to small utilities on NERC compliance and content and been a great supporter of the Annual Conference year after year.