The American Public Power Association is passionate about our mission — to help community-owned utilities deliver superior services. From protecting your interests on Capitol Hill to offering top-notch professional development and networking opportunities and helping secure and navigate the array of federal funding opportunities, our aim is to be seen as your resource and partner for achieving success. As highlighted in our 2024 Year in Review, our value to our members can be conveyed in numerous ways.

In 2024, this included:

$7.3 million in new funding for public power

Provided Funding Opportunities

  • $7.3 million in new funding for public power utilities
    • For wildfire mitigation, cybersecurity, elective payment guidance, and energy storage
  • $1.42 million in grants and scholarships awarded through DEED

Delivered Training and Networking

  • 9,300 people from 1,300 organizations took part in APPA Academy events in 2024
  • Provided over 200 hours of virtual training, including 19 events offered to members for free
  • Launched APPA Engage, an online community platform, connecting 7,000+ people across 25+ groups
  • Formed a wildfire working group, a safety committee, and a standards task force for the latest NESC updates
     

“The networking opportunities alone make attending this event a must. The roundtables are beneficial for bouncing ideas off of your counterparts from utilities in other regions and give you insight and motivation for new ideas.”

ALLISON HUENEMANN GENERAL MANAGER, CRAWFORDSVILLE ELECTRIC LIGHT & POWER, INDIANA

Group of people talking at the 2025 Engineering and Operations Conference Expo

1,400 public power resources mobilized for hurricanes Milton and Helene

 

Mobilized Resources

  • Mobilized approximately 1,400 public power resources from 22 states in mutual aid in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, back-to-back major storms with significant impacts in the same region, through the Public Power Mutual Aid Network.

 

 

Protected Your Interests

Notable meetings in 2024 included time with Department of Energy Secretary Granholm, Senate Finance Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID), House Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), FERC Chairman Willie Phillips, and Commissioners Allison Clements, Mark Christie, and David Rosner. APPA continues to participate in various coalitions, including the Large Public Power Council’s Environmental Task Force, Climate Legal Group, the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, the Utility Water Act Group, the Water Advocacy Coalition, the Clean Air Forum, and the Environmental Justice Coalition.

Held over 50 joint meetings with members of the House Energy & Commerce, House Ways & Means, Senate Energy & Natural Resources, and Senate Finance Committees to lay the groundwork to protect public power’s access to elective payment.

APPA leaders meeting with Secretary Granholm and other DOE leaders in 2024

Submitted filings, comments, and letters to more than ten different agencies related to regulations affecting public power.

Our efforts in 2024 led to several key “wins” in the legislative and regulatory space: 

  • An improved final rule on energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers from the Department of Energy, including extending the implementation period from three to five years.
  • Adjusted requirements of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program to allow joint action agencies to apply on behalf of multiple members and allow all the investments of proposed sub-recipients to be considered in total funding eligibility.
  • Extended safe harbor exception to the domestic content requirement for elective payment tax credits.
  • Extensively lobbied against efforts to expand Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction over public power utilities and the power marketing administrations.
  • Removed harmful provisions and added language to protect PMAs and federal hydropower customers in the biannual Water Resources Development Act.
Array of APPA publication covers from 2024, including a time-of-use rate study, the risk management toolkit, public power now podcast logo, and Public Power magazine

Kept You Informed

  • Published in-depth guidance, including Risk Management Toolkit for Public Power, Physical Security Essentials: A Public Power Primer (update), Proactive Grid Build for Transportation Electrification
  • Wrote 1,450+ articles in Public Power Current and Public Power magazine, featuring 330+ member activities and exclusive interviews
  • Produced 50+ episodes of Public Power Now podcast

Created Tailored Tools

  • Updated an enhanced eSafety Tracker
  • Curated rate design case studies and developed a series of briefs on energy technologies
  • Developed new web-based features, including a risk management page, reliability data analysis, grant services vendor form, and tax guidance for utilities page

Recognized Operational Excellence

  • Designated 91 utilities as Reliable Public Power Providers and 48 utilities as Smart Energy Providers
  • Honored 100+ utilities with awards of excellence, customer satisfaction, and safety

Read more in our 2024 Year in Review.