Northwest Public Power Association - NWPPA

Northwest Public Power Association - NWPPA NWPPA represents and serves locally controlled utilities in the Western U.S. and Canada. and Canada who are allied with the electric utility industry.

Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) is a not-for-profit trade association of nearly 150 public/people's utility districts, electric cooperatives, municipalities, and crown corporations in the Western U.S. NWPPA also serves the sales and networking needs of approximately 300 Associate Members across the U.S.

It’s a busy week for training at NWPPA, and we have another group to celebrate!Congratulations to our newest Staking Cer...
10/09/2026

It’s a busy week for training at NWPPA, and we have another group to celebrate!

Congratulations to our newest Staking Certificate Program graduates, who have completed the training and coursework designed to build the skills needed for today’s increasingly complex distribution systems.

From joint use and clearances to construction requirements and field applications, they’ve put in the work to reach this milestone.

Congratulations, graduates! Kaleb Rubner Cordova Electric Cooperative; Christopher Taylor-Lewis from Eugene Water & Electric Board; Max Schneider from Eugene Water & Electric Board; instructor Matt Pamperin from Hi-Line Engineering, Steven Dwyer from Eugene Water & Electric Board; Samuel Clapshaw from West Oregon Electric Co-Op.

Explore upcoming NWPPA staking training opportunities: https://netforum.nwppa.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?webcode=eaEventList

Another group of leaders adding new skills to their toolbox.These participants recently completed Leadership Skills: HR ...
10/07/2026

Another group of leaders adding new skills to their toolbox.

These participants recently completed Leadership Skills: HR Basics and Building a More Effective Workplace, gaining practical knowledge of the employment and labor laws that affect their organizations.

Congrats, Rachel Patrick from Public Utility District #1 of Okanogan County, Christine Martin from Golden Valley Electric Assn., and Melissa Newcomer from Kootenai Electric Cooperative! Thank you Jennifer Bouman-Steagall for teaching the course!

Want to keep building your leadership skills? NWPPA offers additional courses designed for supervisors and managers at every stage of leadership.

Explore upcoming Leadership Skills courses: https://netforum.nwppa.org/eweb/dynamicpage.aspx?webcode=EAeventInfo&evt_key=0A4EE83A-CF1C-4325-9F7B-E828767DBCFE&event=leadership-skills-understanding-slii-work-styles

Public power is at the heart of everything we do at NWPPA.Every class we teach, conference we host, story we share and c...
10/06/2026

Public power is at the heart of everything we do at NWPPA.
Every class we teach, conference we host, story we share and connection we help make comes back to one thing: supporting the people who power their communities.
Our members aren’t just utilities. They’re neighbors serving neighbors. They’re the crews restoring power in the middle of the night, the customer service teams answering difficult questions, the communicators keeping communities informed, and the countless people behind the scenes making sure reliable power is there when it’s needed.
During Public Power Week, we want to say thank you to the public power utilities and people who make up the heart of NWPPA.
We’re proud to serve you, and even prouder to call you our members.

Great public power communication deserves to be celebrated, and there was a lot of it this year.A record-breaking 52 NWP...
10/05/2026

Great public power communication deserves to be celebrated, and there was a lot of it this year.

A record-breaking 52 NWPPA members submitted 278 entries in the 33rd Annual Excellence in Communications Awards, showcasing some incredible work happening across our membership.

Congratulations to Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, Inc., which earned the Overall Excellence in Communications Award for the second year in a row, and to People’s Choice photography winners Kootenai Electric Cooperative, Snohomish County PUD and Benton PUD.

We also saw perfect scores from utilities including Idaho Falls Power, Grant PUD, Energy Northwest, Emerald People's Utility District, Umatilla Electric Cooperative and Chugach Electric Association.

And those are just a few of this year’s winners. Congratulations to everyone recognized at NIC!

See the full list of winners: https://www.nwppa.org/33rd-annual-excellence-in-communications-winners/

Some of the toughest HR questions don’t come with a simple answer.This week at the HR and Labor Relations Conference in ...
10/01/2026

Some of the toughest HR questions don’t come with a simple answer.
This week at the HR and Labor Relations Conference in Whitefish, we dug into the issues HR and labor professionals are navigating every day, from labor law and mediation to employee support, grievances, leave, and accommodations.

But some of the most valuable conversations happened between sessions, when attendees had a chance to compare notes, share what’s working at their utilities, and learn from others facing many of the same challenges.

And the learning came straight from people doing this work every day. We heard from Heidi Hand of Salem Electric; Abby Olbrich and Nichole Reitzenstein of Clark Public Utilities; and Branda Andrade, Matt Benzin, Renee MacWatters, and Arin Ricchiuti of Snohomish County PUD, who shared real-world experiences and lessons their peers could take back to their own organizations.

Dave Mitchell of The Leadership Difference also helped lead the conversation, alongside experts who brought perspectives on labor law, mediation, compensation, and today’s changing workplace.

A big thank you to all of our speakers for sharing your expertise, experiences, and ideas with the public power HR community. We couldn’t do this without you!

We ❤ our sponsors! Thanks Powerful Web for all your support at NIC!
10/01/2026

We ❤ our sponsors! Thanks Powerful Web for all your support at NIC!

As NIC winds down, we’re talking about something underneath almost every communication strategy: trust. Four days, a lot...
09/24/2026

As NIC winds down, we’re talking about something underneath almost every communication strategy: trust. Four days, a lot of conversations, a lot of ideas, and a few questionable open-mic performances. But through it all, one theme kept coming up: the relationships we build before we need them matter. From Steve Wright and Dave Mitchell on trust, purpose and understanding people, to communicators from Tacoma Public Utilities, Mason PUD 3, Benton PUD, Umatilla Electric Cooperative and many others sharing what’s working, NIC was packed with ideas to take home. A big thank you to our NIC sponsors, Powerful Web, National Information Solutions Cooperative, Pioneer Utility Resources, PNGC Power, Northwest RiverPartners, Energy Northwest and Safe Electricity, for helping make these conversations possible. Now comes the best part: putting those ideas to work.

Last night we get to celebrate the creative side of public power. The Excellence in Communications Awards are taking cen...
09/24/2026

Last night we get to celebrate the creative side of public power. The Excellence in Communications Awards are taking center stage at NIC, recognizing the creativity, strategy and storytelling happening across our industry. And that was one of those nights that reminded us that telling the public power story took much more than good information. It took imagination. Congratulations to everyone recognized tonight. We can't wait to share some of the winning work. Shout out to National Information Solutions Cooperative for sponsoring our reception and Powerful Web for the wonderful food!

Rates. Reliability. Power supply. Safety.Communicators know these topics matter. But explaining them to customers withou...
09/23/2026

Rates. Reliability. Power supply. Safety.
Communicators know these topics matter. But explaining them to customers without sending them into acronym overload? That’s the real challenge.

This morning at NIC, communicators are digging into more than just communication tactics. They’re talking about how to build trust, communicate when the stakes are high, earn credibility before an emergency happens and turn complicated energy topics into messages people can actually understand.

Communicators from utilities across the Northwest, including Tacoma Public Utilities, Benton PUD and Umatilla Electric Cooperative, are sharing real-world examples and tackling the challenges that come with communicating about an industry that can get complicated fast.
Different utilities. Different communities. A lot of shared challenges.
Because knowing how something works and explaining why it matters are two very different skills.
What’s the hardest utility topic you’ve ever had to explain?

Sometimes the best way to learn about energy is to leave the conference room. Yesterday afternoon, NIC attendees headed ...
09/23/2026

Sometimes the best way to learn about energy is to leave the conference room. Yesterday afternoon, NIC attendees headed to Pepper Bridge Winery for a behind-the-scenes look at its production facility and on-site solar array. Cameron Daline of Clark Public Utilities and Weston Putman of Umatilla Electric Cooperative Electric Cooperative led the tour, giving attendees a firsthand look at how energy, sustainability and real-world operations come together.
And apparently communicators don’t know how to turn it off after 5 p.m.
NIC at Night brought the day to a close in Walla Walla with plenty of laughs, conversations and questionable levels of talent. This is the part of NIC you can’t really put on an agenda: the friendships and connections that happen after the sessions end.
A big thank you to PNGC Power for sponsoring NIC at Night and helping make these after-hours connections possible.

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9817 NE 54th Street, Ste 200
Vancouver, WA
98662

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Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

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(360) 254-0109

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