March 11, 2024

People of Public Power: WPPI Energy’s 2023 Annual Report

An Update from WPPI

Public Power employees are dedicated to the success of not only their local utility, but, at a higher level, the communities they serve. When it comes to fostering strong economies, advancing important local causes and implementing the kinds of forward-looking initiatives that make their communities great places, it is the people behind these public power utilities who help make it all happen. It is these same public power leaders who have built WPPI into the organization it is today. This is why we chose to highlight the “people of public power” this year.

Our members

As a member-owned and member-governed joint action agency, WPPI measures itself on the satisfaction of its members. To ensure we remain aligned with the goals and objectives of our members, we launched a Support Services Survey this year. The main finding of the report was overall ratings for support services are strong, and they continue to improve.

The survey also revealed 95% of our members are satisfied with the work performed by the employees of WPPI.

Another takeaway from the survey was that members want additional services, including a Geographical Information System (GIS) support service, which we are launching in 2024, and a request for help with outage management, which is also underway.

Our employees

And while the satisfaction of our members is our topmost concern, we are also invested in how our employees feel about the work they do. To measure this, we use a third party to survey our employees each year.

For the third year in a row, WPPI Energy earned Top Workplace designation by the Wisconsin State Journal, along with special recognition for having management that cares.

The honor was based solely on feedback from our employees, collected through a third-party research firm and benchmarked against peers in the same sector across the nation. The anonymous survey measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization, such as alignment, execution and connection.

The three words staff used most often to describe WPPI’s culture were flexible, friendly and collaborative.

Customer satisfaction

While the purpose of WPPI’s staff team is to serve the membership, our member utilities exist for the benefit of their customers. Feedback from the people living and working in the 215,000 homes and businesses served by members of WPPI helps drive our joint action efforts. To stay on top of their communities’ ever-changing needs, WPPI members work together to survey residential customers, small and mid-sized businesses, and large businesses across our system. We conduct this research on a three-year rotating schedule, and in 2023 we again reached out to large businesses.

Results were very positive, and the WPPI membership received the highest rankings for providing reliable energy, trustworthiness and being easy to do business with.

Helping increase customer satisfaction is our members’ dedication to communicating effectively. In the summer of 2023, WPPI launched a program to alert customers when warmer temperatures could lead to increased energy usage and higher bills. The program won an Award of Excellence from the American Public Power Association in November.

Joint Action Hall of Fame

Throughout this report you will see highlighted the everyday commitment of WPPI’s members and employees to deliver the value of public power for our communities. Sometimes, the culmination of their contributions is such that we induct them into the Joint Action Hall of Fame, our membership’s highest honor recognizing these extraordinary individuals.

This year, Dale Lythjohan became the 35th recipient of our Hall of Fame award.

During his time with WPPI, Dale served as board chair from 2007-2011, and he was active on the board of directors for nearly 30 years. He always led by example and his leadership had a resounding impact within his community of Cedarburg, WPPI, and the utility industry in general. Dale was a true leader and teacher to the people with whom he worked, and we thank him for his contributions to public power.

We look forward to highlighting many more individuals throughout this annual report.

Jim Stawicki
WPPI Energy Chair
Sturgeon Bay Utilities General Manager

Mike Peters
WPPI Energy President & CEO