ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc. Headlines

Public Power Week 2010

ragner — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:25:44 GMT

Public Power Week 2010

Davis ranked among most influential lobbyists in 2009 legislative session

lfrink — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:27:25 GMT

Estherine Davis, Senior Vice President of Government Relations for ElectriCities, has
been named to the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research’s list of most influential
lobbyists. Of more than 900 registered lobbyists in the state, Davis was ranked #52.

Davis, a 26-year employee of ElectriCities, has worked diligently to stop negative
legislation introduced against member municipalities on territorial issues, the
environment, climate change, pole attachments and many other issues. Davis has lobbied for ElectriCities
since 1997 and has won the respect of the General Assembly and their staffs, the Executive Branch, the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor.

2010 NC Public Power Awards of Excellence announced

lfrink — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:10:25 GMT

Raleigh, NC, August 18, 2010 – Several awards were presented during the ElectriCities awards banquet held on Friday, Aug. 13. Twenty towns andcities were recognized for receiving Public Power Awards of Excellence in seven key categories.

Grassroots winners:
Albemarle, Ayden, Benson, Concord, Farmville, Fayetteville PWC, Gastonia, Granite Falls, Kings Mountain, Lexington, Louisburg, Newton, Rocky Mount
and Tarboro

The Grassroots award recognizes efforts by the city in legislative issues important to public power, initiation of local grassroots events and participation in federal and state legislative events.

Economic Development winners:
Ayden, Benson, Cherryville, Fayetteville PWC, Gastonia, Granite Falls, Greenville Utilities Commission, High Point, Kings Mountain, Kinston, Lexington, Monroe, Newton, Rocky Mount, Tarboro and Wilson

The Economic Development award recognizes initiatives by the city in economic development efforts, including industry recruitment leading to job creation, and implementation of economic development studies.

Communications winners:
Ayden, Benson, Cherryville, Concord, Fayetteville PWC, Gastonia, Granite Falls, Greenville Utilities Commission, High Point, Kings Mountain, Kinston, Lexington, Newton, Rocky Mount, Tarboro and Wilson

The Communications award recognizes outstanding customer communications, including the use of bill inserts to communicate information to customers, use of innovative strategies to communicate policies, newsletter production, assignment of a public information officer and completion of a coordinated communications plan.

Customer Service winners:
Albemarle, Ayden, Benson, Cherryville, Concord, Fayetteville PWC, Gastonia, Granite Falls, Greenville Utilities Commission, High Point, Kings Mountain, Kinston, Lexington, Newton, Rocky Mount, Tarboro and Wilson
The Customer Service award recognizes outstanding customer service efforts, including residential customer programs. Also included is designation of a central point of contact for commercial customers and holding a customer appreciation event. These communities also demonstrated a commitment to amending policies to meet the needs of their customers during the recession and extremely cold weather we had in January.

Key Accounts winners:
Concord, Fayetteville PWC, Gastonia, Greenville Utilities Commission, High Point, Kings Mountain, Lexington, Monroe, Rocky Mount, Tarboro and Wilson

The Key Accounts award recognizes efforts by the city with their key business customers, including advanced training by key account representatives, communication with key accounts customers and locally sponsored events.

Energy Efficiency winners:
Albemarle, Ayden, Concord, Fayetteville PWC, Gastonia, Granite Falls, Greenville Utilities Commission, High Point, Kings Mountain, Kinston, Lexington, Newton, Rocky Mount, Shelby and Wilson. Benson, Cherryville, Pikeville and Tarboro received honorable mention

The Energy Efficiency award recognizes efforts by the city with energy-efficient building programs, energy education, energy audits and participation in NC Green Power.

Training winners:
Albemarle, Benson, Cherryville, Concord, Fayetteville PWC, Gastonia, Granite Falls, Greenville Utilities Commission, High Point, Kings Mountain, Kinston, Lexington, Newton, Rocky Mount, Tarboro and Wilson

The Training award recognizes the city’s commitment to ongoing staff education and training by attending ElectriCities-sponsored training sessions, completion of a continuing education or tuition-reimbursement program and in-house training opportunities.

ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc. (ElectriCities), North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1), North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) - More than 70 North Carolina public power communities, municipally owned and operated electric systems, serve more than 500,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in North Carolina. ElectriCities' members in NC, SC and VA serve more than one million customers. Most have been providing reliable electric service for 100 years or more. ElectriCities is the service organization that provides customer service and safety training, emergency and technical assistance, communications, government affairs and legal services to public power communities. ElectriCities provides management services to the state’s two municipal power agencies: NCMPA1 and NCEMPA. NCMPA1 has 19 member cities in the western part of North Carolina and NCEMPA has 32 member cities in eastern North Carolina. More information about ElectriCities is available at www.electricities.com. More information about the Power Agencies and NC Public Power is available at www.ncpublicpower.com

La Grange Mayor Woodard Gurley Honored with Public Power Lifetime Achievement Award

lfrink — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:09:02 GMT

Raleigh, NC, August 18, 2010 – Woodard Gurley, mayor of La Grange, recently received the Public Power Lifetime Achievement Award from ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc. The award was presented to Gurley on August 13 during ElectriCities’ Annual Meeting.
Gurley graduated from Nahunta High School and Atlantic Christian College. He worked in the Lenoir County Public School System for 30 years before retiring and is currently an entrepreneur, developing property in La Grange and Lenior and Wayne counties.
Gurley served two terms as a La Grange Town Council member and is currently serving his fifth term as mayor. At the end of his term, he will have served 28 years as a public servant of the citizens of La Grange. He’s served on the NC Eastern Carolina Transportation board and the Lenoir County Committee of 100. He was chairman of the advisory board for the Little Bank and past chairman of the La Grange Democratic Party. He’s a member of the La Grange Redevelopment Foundation, the La Grange Arts Council, the NC Jaycees and is a 40-year member of the Rotary Club.
Gurley has always been a supporter of the Town of La Grange and NC Public Power. He has been active in meeting and visiting with representatives and senators, both locally and in Raleigh. He can always be counted on to lobby the legislature when called upon, annually during Town Hall Day and most recently at the Legislative Rally.
“Woody Gurley is a true friend of public power and a dedicated grassroots supporter of NC Public Power,” said John Craft of the ElectriCities Board of Directors.
The Public Power Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individual contributions throughout a lifetime to local systems, NC public power and public power nationwide. The award is given based on leadership, public power service, innovation and creativity and longevity of service to public power. Past recipients of the award are Malcolm A. “Mack” Green from Greenville, Jack F. Neel from Albemarle, Mayor Fred Turnage from Rocky Mount, Bill Seamone from Concord and former Lexington Mayor Richard Thomas.
ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc. (ElectriCities), North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1), North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) - More than 70 North Carolina public power communities, municipally owned and operated electric systems, serve more than 500,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in North Carolina. ElectriCities' members in NC, SC and VA serve more than one million customers. Most have been providing reliable electric service for 100 years or more. ElectriCities is the service organization that provides customer service and safety training, emergency and technical assistance, communications, government affairs and legal services to public power communities. ElectriCities provides management services to the state’s two municipal power agencies: NCMPA1 and NCEMPA. NCMPA1 has 19 member cities in the western part of North Carolina and NCEMPA has 32 member cities in eastern North Carolina. More information about ElectriCities is available at www.electricities.com. More information about the Power Agencies and NC Public Power is available at www.ncpublicpower.com

Four Municipal Employees Honored as NC Public Power Hometown Heroes

lfrink — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:48:48 GMT

Raleigh, NC, August 18, 2010 – Four individuals were recently recognized as Hometown Heroes by ElectriCities of North Carolina. The awards were presented during the ElectriCities Annual Meeting banquet, held on August 13. Hometown Hero awards are presented annually to municipal employees who have made an outstanding effort to save a life in their community.
The Hometown Hero award was presented to: Officer Mike Drake of the Concord Police Department; Brian Marshall and Kelvin Pittman of the Rocky Mount Gas Department; and Andy Stroud of the High Point Parks Maintenance Department. Listed below are the heroic actions of each individual. Please contact Leigh Ann Frink at lfrink@electricities.com for photos of the recipients.
Mike Drake
On February 4, police received a call about a house fire and were informed that some residents were possibly inside. Police Officer Mike Drake was the first to arrive, and the front of the house was totally engulfed in flames. Officer Drake rushed to the back of the house and saw a man lying on the floor of the enclosed porch near the door leading to the kitchen, which was filled with smoke. Officer Drake asked the man, who was intoxicated, to come out, but the man insisted on trying to locate his dog first.
Officer Drake, without hesitation, entered the enclosed porch and physically dragged the man out of the burning house, then went back to look for the dog until he was forced out by the flames and smoke.
Brian Marshall and Kelvin Pittman
Gas Department employees Brian Marshall and Kelvin Pittman were traveling to a work site when they saw smoke coming from a residence. They circled the block to see if anyone was in danger, and noticed ever more smoke coming from the back of the house. They immediately stopped and began knocking on the doors and windows, trying to determine if the residence was occupied. The noise woke up the resident, who was sleeping inside. The house by this point was consumed by flames and quickly filling with smoke.
Marshall and Pittman used a cinderblock to break the bedroom window and help the occupant escape. Firefighters quickly arrived at the scene and noted that if the two men had not taken action, the occupant would have died in the fire.
Andy Stroud
Around 5 a.m. last August 30, Parks Maintenance Crew leader Andy Stroud was arriving for work. When he got out of his car, he heard a woman screaming. Without hesitation, Stroud took off in the direction of the scream. He came upon a man viciously attacking a woman. The attacker fled, and Andy called 911 and stayed with the woman until EMS responded and took her to the hospital. The attacker was quickly identified and captured by the police. He was a convicted felon who had recently been released from prison after serving nearly a decade behind bars for sexual assault. He was charged and held under a $10 million bond.
ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc. (ElectriCities), North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1), North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) - More than 70 North Carolina public power communities, municipally owned and operated electric systems, serve more than 500,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in North Carolina. ElectriCities' members in NC, SC and VA serve more than one million customers. Most have been providing reliable electric service for 100 years or more. ElectriCities is the service organization that provides customer service and safety training, emergency and technical assistance, communications, government affairs and legal services to public power communities. ElectriCities provides management services to the state’s two municipal power agencies: NCMPA1 and NCEMPA. NCMPA1 has 19 member cities in the western part of North Carolina and NCEMPA has 32 member cities in eastern North Carolina. More information about ElectriCities is available at www.electricities.com. More information about the Power Agencies and NC Public Power is available at www.ncpublicpower.com