Murfreesboro Electric Department earns renewed RP3 status
Murfreesboro Electric Department earns renewed RP3 status
Murfreesboro Electric Department has earned a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3)® designation from the American Public Power Association for providing reliable and safe electric service. Neil James, Manager of Distribution Operations at Santee Cooper, South Carolina and chair of the Association’s RP3 Review Panel, presented the designations on April 30 during the Association’s annual Engineering & Operations Technical Conference held in Raleigh, N.C. 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. Criteria include sound business practices and a utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity. Earning this designation places Murfreesboro Electric among the top 250 out of more than 2,000 public power providers across the nation. Performing at such a high level throughout the utility’s operation required strong leadership from Murfreesboro Electric Department and support from all employees across the company. “Earning a designation like this takes diligence from more than just one group of people,” says Murfreesboro Electric Department General Manager P.D. Mynatt. “Every employee at the utility has played a part in this over the last three years, and it’s exciting to be recognized for that hard work.” The designation is an initiative of the nonprofit, nonpartisan association founded in 1940 to represent the public policy interests of its member utilities and their more than 49 million customers. The association is headquartered in Washington, D.C., where it works with members to find new and better ways to provide affordable and reliable electric service while being good stewards of the environment. Because two-thirds of public utilities rely on the wholesale market to distribute energy to customers, establishing competitive prices and a high level of reliability for wholesale power is one of the association’s top priorities. The Reliable Public Power Provider honors utilities that are furthering those goals. The association has offered the designation for 13 years. Applications are reviewed by an 18-member panel made up of public power employees from across the country. Murfreesboro Electric Department first applied for the RP3 designation in 2010, and has held it from May 2011 until this year. The designation lasts three years and requires utilities to reapply the year before it expires. The goal is to ensure that power companies consistently work to maintain and improve the quality of their system. “Successfully reapplying for the Reliable Public Power Provider status demonstrates our system’s dedication to provide quality electric service not just right now but also in the long term,” says Mynatt. “I’m so proud of the work every employee has done for Murfreesboro Electric to earn this designation.”
PHOTO CAPTION: Power Board/Council Member Eddie Smotherman, left, Power Board Chair Rick Hardesty, Power Board Member Richard Stone, Murfreesboro Electric Engineer Chris Barns, Power Board Member Ross Bradley, Power Board Member Irene Pitts-McDonald and Murfreesboro Electric General Manager P. D. Mynatt accept the RP3 designation.
