Series Description
This 5-part webinar series is designed to provide public power utility board and city council members with a comprehensive overview of the public power business model and the duties, responsibilities, and processes to achieve effective governance. Learn how to monitor utility, board, and CEO performance and discuss the opportunities and challenges the industry faces.
The five-part series recorded in 2019, includes the following webinars:
- Overview of Public Power Governance
- A Board's Legal and Fiduciary Responsibilities
- A Board's Responsibility for an Effective Chief Executive
- A Board's Responsibility for Effective Governance
- A Board's Role in Setting and Achieving Long-Term Success
Recommended for
Individuals on public power utility boards and city councils, and utility executives and staff who regularly interact with governing bodies. While the content is geared primarily toward those who are new to governance, seasoned board and council members will also benefit.
Speaker
R. John Miner is an executive manager, educator, and consultant with more than 45 years of experience in the electric utility industry. He is president of Collaborative Learning, Inc./Collaboration Unlimited of Austin, Texas. John has been an instructor for the Association for more than 30 years and for the University of Wisconsin for 20 years. Before forming his own company, he worked for the Austin, Texas, Electric Utility Department (now Austin Energy), Rochester Public Utilities in Minnesota, and as an assistant professor at the University of Houston. He is also the author of the Association’s Electric Utility Basics manual.
Purchase the series: $425 for members; $825 for nonmembers
Contact Us
Have questions or would like to purchase individual webinars? Contact 202-467-2997 or [email protected]
Webinar #1: Overview of Public Power Governance
Recording length: 1 hour, 15 minutes
This introductory webinar provides an overview of public power governance. Learn about the various governance structures that are used by public power utilities as well as the accountabilities that are typically assigned through enabling legislation such as city charters and state statutes. Discuss how to delineate the role of the governing body from the role of management. Hear about a range of challenges to effective governance and how best to handle them.
Topics
- Typical public power governance structures
- Essential accountabilities of a governing board
- Distinguishing governance and management functions
- Challenges to effective public power governance
Webinar #2: A Board’s Legal and Fiduciary Responsibilities
Recording length: 1 hour, 20 minutes
A public power governing board is assigned certain direct and non-delegable accountabilities for compliance with legal requirements, protection of assets, and accurate accounting and reporting of financial transactions and condition of the utility. Learn how to carry out these accountabilities and what it means for the board as a body and each board member to act as a “fiduciary” or trustee who oversees utility property and assets for the utility’s owners or beneficiaries.
Topics
- Complying with legal requirements
- Meeting ethical expectations
- Protecting assets
- Assuring accurate financial reporting
Webinar #3: A Board’s Responsibility for Effective Chief Executive
Recording length: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Excellent governance requires seamless teamwork on the part of the public power board and its CEO. Explore the most important accountability of a board…the hiring of an effective CEO. Learn how the board, in collaboration with the CEO, can develop and adopt a performance plan through which the CEO and staff accomplish the long-term organizational results that the board expects, within the parameters of board policy. Discuss ways to effectively evaluate the CEO and board performance in relation to results and policies.
Topics
- Hiring, compensation, and succession planning
- Establishing clear performance accountabilities
- Delegating authority to the CEO
- Evaluating CEO performance
- Evaluating board performance
Webinar #4: A Board’s Responsibility for Effective Governance
Recording length: 1 hour, 20 minutes
A public power board is responsible for the organization and processes through which it governs. Learn about the roles and accountabilities of officers, committees, and independent advisors to the board. Discuss ways to conduct effective meetings and how to develop and comply with policies that establish expectations for the board’s own performance, including its relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
Topics
- Assuring an effective organization (officers, committees, support staff)
- Proper use of board advisors (auditors, legal counsel, financial advisors, etc.)
- Effective governance processes (meetings and policymaking)
- Assuring open connections with stakeholders
- Evaluating board performance
Webinar #5: A Board’s Role in Setting and Achieving Long-Term Success
Recording length: 1 hour, 22 minutes
While a public power board delegates the management of its utility to the CEO, executive management team, and staff, it retains the all-important responsibility of setting strategic direction and ensuring long-term sustainability of the enterprise. Learn how an effective board develops and adopts policies that set forth the results the utility is to achieve and places limits on the authority of the CEO to determine how those results are achieved. Discuss how to monitor organizational performance at an appropriate level of detail, and how to handle a range of barriers and disruptions to effective governance.
Topics
- Establishing key policies
- Keeping informed about strategic issues
- Setting strategic direction and priorities
- Monitoring organizational performance
- Dealing with barriers and disruptions to effective governance
Purchase the series: $425 for members; $825 for nonmembers
Contact Us
Have questions or would like to purchase individual webinars? Contact 202-467-2997 or [email protected]
