Support NEPPA's Student Scholarship Fund

By Panos Tokadjian

Operations Manager, Hull Municipal Light Plant, Massachusetts, NEPPA Board of Directors Executive Committee

For those that don’t know me, I’ll introduce myself by saying that I currently serve on the NEPPA Board of Directors and Chair the NEPPA Member Value Committee alongside my day job responsibilities at Hull Municipal Light Plant. For those that know me well – you might even be sporting one of my ‘Pints with Panos’ shirts that were a hot item this past August when we announced the new NEPPA Scholarship Campaign.

Regardless of how famous or unknown I am in your community, I’m excited to be part of the NEPPA Scholarship kickoff in 2023. With the support of attendees at the NEPPA Annual Conference in Stowe, VT in August, we raised enough funds to offer two scholarships in 2023 for students to introduce them to public power in the Northeast. We are targeting graduating seniors from high school along with those already out of high school. The scholarships are available for students entering college or working within a trade program.

NEPPA’s staff will post the Scholarship Application on the NEPPA.org website and we hope you will spread the word amongst your employees and within your communities. The deadline is March 31^st, 2023, and all applications will be reviewed by the NEPPA Member Value Committee. We plan for an announcement of the winners by the end of April 2023. A shout out to the members of the committee: Mary Snow (Georgetown, MA); Kim Holmes (Taunton, MA); Robin Jowders (Hurley Wire); Eric McDermott (Norwich, CT); Michael Schmitt (Hull, MA); Daniel Vettraino (ABB); Scott Hallowell (Eastern Maine Coop, ME); and Justin Connell (MMWEC). If you have any questions on the particulars of the scholarships, please reach out to the NEPPA staff liaison for the committee, Wendy Esche.

Another idea that has bounced around various NEPPA committees and subcommittees is the need to promote the employment of interns/co-op students at our utilities. It’s something that Mike Hyland, the Executive Director at NEPPA, has been working on since he came on board in May. We are aware that some utilities and joint action agencies have excellent programs and existing relationships with universities and trade schools, maybe it's time for a collective NEPPA experience.

The idea of a Public Power Internship Day to kick off the summer would be a great way for the students to meet at NEPPA’s Headquarters in Littleton, MA. A half day of formal presentations, hopefully by some of you reading this Newsline, will educate the students on the benefits of public power as a career choice. The summer would be capped off in early August as the students would assemble again in Littleton for each student to provide a 15 minute presentation on “What I did this Summer”. Think of it as a celebration and an opportunity for the students to mingle and meet with utility leaders from throughout the Northeast. If you're interested in being involved with this endeavor, please reach out to Mike Hyland.

Thank you for your time in reading this Newsline. I encourage you to get involved with both of these new NEPPA programs. You won't regret it.

Panos Tokadjian

“Pints with Panos”

time is running out!

NEPPA Training Center

NEPPA Training Center

2:00 pm (EST)

Virtual

NEPPA Training Center

NEPPA Training Center

NEPPA Training Center

2:00 pm (EST)

Virtual

Plymouth, NH

Mystic Marriott

Groton, CT

Energy Connect Conference (formerly Customer Service Conf)*

Location: TBD

NEPPA Training Center

NEPPA Training Center

*Please contact communications@neppa.org to be notified as soon as registration opens.

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

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Dear Member, our publishing partner E&M Consulting is in the process of producing of our Northeast Public Power Association Directory of Consumer-Owned Electric Utilities in New England.

If you have any interest in advertising in the Directory, you can view the advertising options and sign-up online through www.reserveyourad.com/NEPPA/

Don't hesitate to call Ryan at 978-301-6361 if you have any questions. As always, your support of the Northeast Public Power Association is greatly appreciated.