At the 2026 ElectriCities Annual Conference, we recognized six individuals with Public Power Awards for their outstanding contributions to public power.
Let’s meet the 2026 Rising Star Award recipient, Shawn Young.
The Rising Star Award recognizes up-and-coming leaders who have less than 10 years of experience and who, in that relatively short time, have made significant and sustained contributions to the electric utility industry and to public power.
Shawn represents the future of public power through his technical skills, steady work ethic, team-first mindset, lifelong love of learning and teaching others, and willingness to take on new challenges.
This will tell you something right off the bat: Shawn holds Bachelor of Science degrees in both electrical engineering and computer engineering from NC State, and he recently became a licensed Professional Engineer.
Since joining Wilson Energy in 2018, he has built a reputation as someone who brings both depth and range to his work. He started in AMI data analytics and systems integration, then broadened his experience to include leading the substation maintenance program, coordinating and evaluating industrial billing, and learning the complex world of natural gas purchasing and contracts.
That range matters, because public power needs people who can look across systems, connect information, and find practical solutions. Shawn does that daily.
As one example, during the recent supply chain crisis, when utilities across the country were managing transformer shortages and extreme price increases, Shawn helped Wilson Energy use AMI and billing data to better understand how transformers were being used across the system.
That work helped the utility identify underloaded and overloaded transformers, preserve its transformer fleet, and continue supporting growth in Wilson without delay. In simpler terms, he helped Wilson make the most of the transformers it already had, moving the right equipment to the right places at the right time.
That kind of work isn’t flashy and may not make the news, but it’s exactly the kind of smart, behind-the-scenes problem-solving that keeps communities moving.
And Shawn hasn’t kept that knowledge to himself. He has presented professionally on the methods he used—including at ElectriCities’ Connections Summit last year and at other conferences—sharing an approach that could benefit utilities using a variety of AMI systems.
Shawn is the kind of person others want on their team. He’s known for his collaborative style, and colleagues enjoy working with him on challenging projects.
John Maclaga, Director of Wilson Energy, said that even after Shawn’s recent promotion to Engineering Manager, he stayed true to his team-first approach, focusing on the new employees he’s supervising, working to coach and mentor them in a welcoming and supportive way.
His combination of technical excellence, humility, curiosity, and service is exactly what we hope to see in the next generation of public power leaders.
Shawn, congratulations on being this year’s Public Power Rising Star. Thank you for all you’ve done for Wilson and for public power.
Meet the additional 2026 Public Power Award recipients:
- Many Hats Award (for communities with 5,000 or fewer meter customers): Anna Hughey from Maiden
- Many Hats Award (for communities with more than 5,000 meter customers): Sandy Driggers from High Point
- Distinguished Service Award: Rob Miller from Monroe
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Vivian Jones from Wake Forest
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Randy McCaslin from High Point