MRES members recognized as Reliable Public Power Providers, earn Safety Awards

Six members and one associate of Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) are among the 108 public power utilities nationwide to be recognized this year for outstanding service under the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) program. In addition, two MRES members are among the 129 utilities to earn APPA’s Safety Award of Excellence.

The MRES members earning this prestigious designation are all located in Minnesota. They are: ALP Utilities in Alexandria, Detroit Lakes Public Utilities, Hutchinson Utilities Commission, Marshall Municipal Utilities, Moorhead Public Service and Willmar Municipal Utilities. Blue Earth (Minnesota) Light and Power, an MRES associate, also earned the RP3 designation. In total, 270 of the more than 2,000 public power utilities nationwide hold the RP3 designation.

The RP3 designation, which lasts for three years, recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement. APPA helps member municipal utilities track power 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.

The safety awards are based on number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker-hours during the year, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. MRES members that earned these awards are Rock Rapids (Iowa) Municipal Utilities and Worthington (Minnesota) Public Utilities. Nearly 330 utilities submitted entries to be considered for the annual Safety Awards.

MRES is an organization of 61 member municipalities in the states of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Each member owns and operates a municipal electric utility. MRES provides its members with energy and a wide range of energy-related services.

APPA has offered the RP3 designation for 16 years and the Safety Awards have been held annually for more than 65 years.

APPA is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 49 million people in 2,000 towns and cities nationwide, and advocates and advises on electricity policy, technology, trends, training and operations.