During the City of Pawhuska’s City Council meeting on Nov. 17, the city was presented with a $20,000 check by Drake Rice, Director of Member Services for the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA), re-certifying Pawhuska Public Works Authority as a Competitive Utility.
OMPA’s Competitive Utility Program (CUP) is a voluntary program, started in 1995, that provides the 39 member cities with a way to evaluate and improve the operation of their electric utility, and make them better able to compete in the electric utility industry. The program provides two types of reward – recognition, in the form of certification; and financial rewards, which include the check for $20,000.
Pawhuska’s re-certification officially began on Nov. 1 and will last two years. The utility’s original certification began in January of 2010 with the initiative taken by Mark Chamberlain, Public Works Director.
Sandy Henley, Utility Clerk with the City of Pawhuska is the utility’s CUP coordinator and has worked collecting the various needed information for the application. She was assisted by Bill Bruce, Utilities Director.
The Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) is a wholesale power company owned by 39 municipal electric utilities. OMPA provides economies of scale in power generation and related services to support community-owned electric utilities. The members of OMPA serve approximately 250,000 Oklahomans.
