Carrie Peed Receives Certifications
E-Learning Instructional Designer/Trainer Carrie Peed completed Cornell University's Diversity and Inclusion for Human Resources Certification. The online program involved six courses, each lasting two weeks and covering a variety of topics. In addition, Carrie received a Facilitator Certification from Totally Responsible Person (TRP) Enterprises. Because of the pandemic, Carrie participated in TRP's first-ever virtual certification process, which included a three-day "train the trainer" course via Zoom. Carrie is now able to share TRP's training materials with GUC employees. TRP's learning objectives are recognizing moments of choice and exercising courage and self-control in the face of adversity.
GUC Receives State Safety Awards
Ryan Hardee, Electric Department; Richie Shreves, HR Department, and Durk Tyson, Gas Department.
Greenville Utilities received safety awards from the NC Department of Labor (NCDOL). For some of our departments, this was the 13th consecutive year earning awards. In all, we were honored with 16 safety awards.
Gold Level Awards were presented to companies with days away from work, job transfers, or restricted time rates at least 50% below industry average. Awards at this level went to Administration (13th year), Human Resources (13th year), Wastewater Treatment Plant (13th year), Administration Building (12th year), Customer Relations (7th year), Red Banks (6th year), Meter (6th year), GUC (the organization, 3rd year), Water Treatment Plant (3rd year), Gas and Utility Locating (2nd year), Electric (1st year), Engineering/Operations Center (1st year), and Finance (1st year).
Silver Level Awards were presented to companies with days away from work rates at least 50% below industry average. Awards at this level went to Water Resources (2nd year), Information Technology (1st year), and the Express Office (1st year).
GUC was also recognized for working 3 million hours without a lost workday due to injury.
NCDOL's Safety Awards Program was established in 1946 and recognizes private and public organizations throughout the state that maintain good safety records.
Water Treatment Plant Receives Two Awards
Water Resouces employees Anthony Whitehead, Dail Booth, Chad Flannagan, and Julius Patrick.
Our Water Treatment Plant (WTP) recently received two awards, the North Carolina Area Wide Optimization Award, as well as the national Partnership For Safe Water Directors Award.
North Carolina Area Wide Optimization Award
This marks the fifth year in a row that our WTP has received the state award. The NC Division of Water Resources has included Greenville Utilities among the 55 out of 149 water treatment plants in the state honored for surpassing federal and state drinking water standards in 2019. The award recognition is a state effort to enhance the performance of existing surface water treatment facilities.
In 1998, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed new regulations to reduce the risk of biological contamination. The EPA then partnered with states to form the Area Wide Optimization Program (AWOP). This program introduced more stringent water quality goals and helps water systems meet those goals. North Carolina has participated in AWOP since 2000 and is one of 23 states involved in the program.
Directors Award
Our WTP also received the "Directors Award" from the Partnership for Safe Water. This is a program developed by the EPA and American Water Works Association (AWWA) to guide water suppliers towards improving water quality by optimizing system operations. It is similar in nature to AWOP, but goes a step further with a four-phased approach and a peer review, with Phase IV being the highest level of achievement.
GUC was the only award recipient from North Carolina this year and the eighth water treatment plant from the state to ever receive this prestigious award.
Public Information Receives Awards
GUC's Public Information Office received two 2020 Excellence in Public Power Communications awards from the American Public Power Association (APPA) in the Video and Web/Social Media categories for our Here For You campaign. To help customers continue to feel "connected" to GUC during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Public Information Office created a digital campaign for our community so they would know that while things are very different, one thing remains the same: we were still here, working for them.
The American Public Power Association is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide. They represent public power before the federal government to protect the interests of the more than 49 million people that public power utilities serve, and the 93,000 people they employ. The association advocates and advises on electricity policy, technology, trends, training, and operations.
NC 811 Board of Directors
Charles Buck
Gas Planning Engineer Charles Buck was recently elected to serve on the North Carolina 811 (NC 811) Board of Directors. GUC is a charter member of the organization, which started in 1978. NC 811 is a non-profit organization funded by its member facilities.
Smart Energy Provider Award
Assistant Director of Electric John Worrell, Electric Planning Engineer Kyle Brown, and Interim Director of Customer Relations Scott Mullis were instrumental in putting together GUC’s application to receive the 2020 Smart Energy Provider designation.
The American Public Power Association (APPA) recently recognized Greenville Utilities as a Smart Energy Provider (SEP) for demonstrating commitment to and proficiency in energy efficiency, distributed generation, and environmental initiatives that support a goal of providing low-cost, quality, safe, and reliable electric service.
The SEP designation, which lasts for two years (December 1st, 2020 to November 30th, 2022) recognizes public power utilities for demonstrating leading practices in four key disciplines: smart energy program structure; energy efficiency and distributed energy programs; environmental and sustainability initiatives; and the customer experience. This is the second year APPA has offered the SEP designation.
GUC joins 27 public power utilities nationwide that received the SEP designation in 2020. In total, 94 public power utilities nation-wide hold the SEP designation.
GUC’s environmental and sustainable initiatives noted in the designation include: DEED Grant for Utility-Scale Battery Storage Program, energy efficiency improvement funding for low-income to medium-income residents in the City of Greenville, supply-side energy efficiency programs, demand-side “Beat-the-Peak” load management program, an extensive offering of customer incentive programs promoting energy conservation, public electric vehicle charging stations as well as residential and commercial charging station rebates, a solar generation program, and a variety of environmental sustainability programs like paperless billing, voluntary green pricing, and land management to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous runoff, to name a few.
GUC was also recognized for a number of local collaboration initiatives to improve environmental performance. A few examples include our Compressed Natural Gas Fueling Station that partners with groups like East Carolina University to reduce emissions, an initiative to install solar panels at a high school, a conservation and wildlife refuge at our Wastewater Treatment Plant, natural gas peak shaving generators, and much more.
The American Public Power Association is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide. They represent public power before the federal government to protect the interests of the more than 49 million people that public power utilities serve, and the 93,000 people they employ.
Al Deratt Award
Chris Hill
Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Operations Coordinator Chris Hill was selected by the North Carolina Rural Water Association (NCRWA) as the winner of the 2020 Al Deratt Award for Excellence in Wastewater. He received this award for his dedication to the job, GUC’s wastewater system, and environmental protection. The Association selects award recipients who set an example for others by going beyond the call of duty to educate themselves and improve the wastewater industry.
Finance Department Wins Awards
The Government Finance Officers’ Association (GFOA) presented Greenville Utilities with three awards related to how the Finance Department communicates financial information.
- For the 4th year, the Distinguished Budget Presentation award
- For the 11th consecutive year, the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for our CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report)
- For the 5th year in a row, the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting (PAFR).
Additionally, for the 10th year in a row, the purchasing section of GUC's Finance Department received the Sustained Professional Purchasing Award (SPPA), presented by the Carolinas Association of Governmental Purchasing (CAGP).
GUC Earns RP3 Designation
Greenville Utilities earned a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) Diamond Level designation from the American Public Power Association for providing reliable and safe electric service. The Diamond Level is the highest designation and places GUC in the top 10% of all community-owned power utilities in the nation. The RP3 designation, which lasts for three years, recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement. Criteria include sound business practices and a utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity. GUC joins 270 public power utilities nationwide that hold the RP3 designation and is one of just 127 at the Diamond Level. Greenville Utilities has been recognized with the RP3 designation continuously since 2007, having earned the Diamond Level distinction in 2018 and again in 2021.