The American Public Power Association presented Safety Awards of Excellence to 20 ElectriCities of North Carolina member utilities for safe operating practices in 2025.
The annual award recognizes a utility’s comprehensive approach to safety, including its incident rate and the state of its safety program and culture.
APPA separates the utilities into groups based on their total worker-hours of exposure and then awards utilities in three levels based on application score: Diamond (90 points or more), Platinum (80-89 points), and Gold (70-79 points).
Congratulations to these Safety Awards of Excellence recipients for 2025:
Group B (systems with 15,000 to 29,999 worker-hours of exposure)
Diamond Level
- City of Shelby, N.C.
- Town of Front Royal, Va.
- Town of Louisburg, N.C.
- Town of Tarboro, N.C.
Platinum Level
- City of Elizabeth City, N.C.
- North Carolina State University
Group C (systems with 30,000 to 59,999 worker-hours of exposure)
Diamond Level
- City of Monroe, N.C.
- City of Morganton, N.C.
- Laurens Commission of Public Works (S.C.)
- New River Light & Power (N.C.)
- Wake Forest Power (N.C.)
Group D (systems with 60,000 to 109,999 worker-hours of exposure)
Diamond Level
- City of Gastonia, N.C.
Platinum Level
- Danville Utilities (Va.)
Group E (systems with 110,000 to 249,999 worker-hours of exposure)
Diamond Level
- City of Concord, N.C.
- City of New Bern, N.C.
- City of Rock Hill, S.C.
- Rocky Mount Energy Resources (N.C.)
- Statesville Public Power (N.C.)
- Wilson Energy (N.C.)
Group F (systems with 250,000 to 999,999 worker-hours of exposure)
Diamond Level
- Greenville Utilities Commission (N.C.)
“Safety remains the highest priority for ElectriCities and our members,” said Craig Batchelor, ElectriCities Manager of Safety and Training. “These public power providers have demonstrated what it means to make safety a daily focus through leadership, accountability, and a culture that puts people first. I commend them for their outstanding efforts.”
For over 68 years, APPA has conducted its annual Safety Awards, recognizing 240 utilities nationwide for outstanding safety performance in 2025. To determine award winners, APPA scored each entrant based on lagging indicators (occurrence and frequency of past events), leading indicators (proactive, preventative, and predictive measures), and the overall state of their safety programs and culture during 2025.
APPA members can find more information on the application and scoring in APPA’s Safety Awards of Excellence Application Guidebook for 2025.
“In public power, safety excellence isn’t achieved by chance. It’s earned through unwavering discipline, strong leadership, and a culture where every team member looks out for one another,” said Jon Beasley, Chair of APPA’s Safety Committee and Vice President of Electric Cities of Georgia. “These Safety Award recipients stand as proof that commitment and consistency save lives, strengthen communities, and set the benchmark for our entire industry.”
See the national list of 2025 Safety Awards of Excellence honorees at www.PublicPower.org.
Visit our Awards and Accolades page for a list of awards ElectriCities member utilities have won over the past few years.