At left, David White, head of the electric department, presents the New Martinsville Electric Utility’s recent RP3 Certification award to Mayor Lucille Blum and Councilman Chris Bachman, chairman of the electric committee, at Monday evening’s city council meeting. (Photo by Amy Witschey)

The New Martinsville Electric Utility recently earned an RP3 “Reliable Public Power Provider” Certification from the American Public Power Association. It was given March 23 at the APPA Annual Engineering and Operations Technical Conference held in Austin, Texas.

RP3 recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce training, and system improvements. “Criteria within each category are based on sound business practices and we have successfully documented and displayed to APPA our utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity,” said David White, head of the electric department, at the city council meeting Monday.

“New Martinsville Electric Utility now joins a small group of 144 other utilities out of over 2,000 utilities nationwide to receive this recognition,” said White. He noted that it is the second smallest to ever receive the award.

“I am very proud of our utilities employees. They are the heart of our organization and have made this honor possible,” said White.

He thanked Dawn Myers, administrative assistant; Bill Burton, meter foreman; Jay Jeffers, line foreman; Jay Fayad, lead lineman; Mike Durant, meter technician; and Harold Jones, lineman trainee.

White went on to say, “When I use the word honor, I mean that this is an honor for you the administration of our city and I mean honor for the customers who are the owners of our public not-for-profit system, and definitely an honor for me to be able to work with such a group of gifted professionals that I am surrounded by every day.

The APPA is a national public power organization that serves over 2,000 public power utilities in the United States. The RP3 certification is issued following a public utility’s demonstration of providing the highest degree of reliable and safe electrical services to its customers.