Each year at the ElectriCities Annual Conference, we recognize individuals for their outstanding contributions to public power.
At the 2025 conference:
- Cody Leis from Statesville received the Rising Star Award.
- Bill Stockman from Lexington received the Distinguished Service Award.
- Grant Goings from Wilson received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Let’s meet the 2025 Public Power Distinguished Service Award recipient, Bill Stockman.
The Distinguished Service Award recognizes leaders with 10 or more years of experience who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedication to public power, brought their organization to a new level of excellence, led by example, and inspired their employees and staff to improve processes, services, and operations.
That’s Bill. He began his more than 45 years of dedicated service to the electric utility industry at Tampa Electric in Florida in 1979. For more than 21 years, he served in many roles there, including lineworker and crew leader.
He moved on to various management positions at utilities in California, Wyoming, and Washington. Then, in 2018, he headed back east and joined ElectriCities when the organization partnered with the City of Lexington to manage its electric operations.
Nick Geis, who is Lexington’s Assistant City Manager, said Bill’s strategic vision and his ability to anticipate industry needs, plan proactively, and implement creative solutions have significantly improved system redundancy, reducing outages and making Lexington more attractive to new businesses.
Always on the lookout for ways to improve and ensure the best service, Bill attends industry events, like the ElectriCities Annual Conference, APPA conferences, NCAMES meetings, and a utility expo that happens every other year. It was at one of those expos that he learned about the value of 44 kV reclosers when it comes to keeping outages isolated and short-lived. He took it upon himself to get reclosers installed on the system throughout Lexington, including getting the equipment expense approved by Council.
Bill added a new 100-to-44 kV substation in Lexington, so now the city has three delivery points instead of two.
In Uptown Lexington, he converted some of the overhead lines to underground. Part of the conversion was tied to a Depot District project, but Bill got approval to take it further to beautify the area. That helped set the stage for new construction.
When it comes to economic development, Carl Rees, Manager of Economic and Community Development at ElectriCities, says Bill just has a knack for bridging the gaps between what companies want and what a public power community needs in such a way that both parties win.
When Siemens Mobility was considering Lexington for its rail manufacturing and servicing facility, Bill designed the electric system infrastructure, including reclosers, to give the company the reliability it required. That new facility will be opening in Lexington soon and will create more than 500 local jobs.
As a team leader, Bill is a coach and mentor, helping develop future leaders’ critical thinking, problem-solving, and customer service skills, ensuring his legacy of excellence continues well beyond his tenure.
One of the beneficiaries of Bill’s mentorship is Cameron Bowman. He was a lineworker when Bill came to Lexington, and while Cameron had aspirations of taking his career to the next level, he said it was Bill’s guidance that enabled him to advance to crew leader, then to supervisor, and to recently be named Lexington’s Electric Systems Manager, filling the position Bill will retire from in September.
Cameron said, “Bill genuinely cares about the employees and trying to get them to their best potential.”
Bill is known for working alongside his crews in tough conditions. Cameron said he’s been right there with them in every snowstorm and hurricane, driving around to help the crews, passing out food or materials, and driving ahead to check out conditions and report back to the supervisors.
Never complaining and always putting safety first, Bill has fostered a culture of camaraderie, accountability, and excellence, always focused on what’s best for the utility and the community it serves. His impact will be felt for many years to come.
He’s done all this, never wanting any credit. But we’re giving him credit.
Bill, congratulations on being this year’s Public Power Distinguished Service Award recipient. Thank you for all you’ve done and for being a shining example of public power and public service.
Learn about Cody Leis, recipient of the 2025 Rising Star Award, and Grant Goings, recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award.