Dylan Lewellyn has served as general manager for Ipswich Utilities in Massachusetts since 2023. He came to Ipswich in 2017 as an implementation specialist. During his tenure, he has overseen the development of the Reinvest Ipswich program, an initiative that funds customers’ in-home energy efficiency improvements. His work at Ipswich was instrumental in securing a 2025 Energy Innovator Award, given in recognition of the utility’s forward-thinking approach to sustainability and electrification.
What brought you to your career in public power?
I went to college at Boston University where I focused on business with a minor in sustainable energy. I knew I wanted to go into the energy space but I didn't know much about public power at the time. A colleague I worked with at BU wound up at Ipswich Electric Light Department, and he needed somebody to work on sustainability initiatives. I started here in 2017 and eventually took over most of the business office functions. Around two or three years after that I took on the general manager role in 2024 after being in an interim capacity since 2023.
How have you helped advance Ipswich’s sustainability initiatives?
When I started at Ipswich there was a desire for greater attention to our sustainability program on the rebates and incentives side. I think we’ve made great strides there, especially due to the efforts of our new sustainability program manager Ashley Wilson.
We had an interest in making sustainability more ingrained in our business practices. Work on Reinvest Ipswich started under our former general manager John Blair. John, Ashley, and I worked closely on developing that concept and have also worked with the Center for EcoTechnology. We did a robust feasibility study and saw an opportunity to leverage what the Environmental Protection Agency calls inclusive utility investment. We were doing free assessments for customers, but they had to put [efficiency improvements] on hold due to the cost.
Identifying that barrier to entry led to the development of a concept where the utility uses its access to a larger pool of capital to facilitate the installation of these improvements. We know that the energy savings are there, and by implementing those projects we can reduce the customer's overall energy bills and even recoup the cost of the initial investment.
How would you describe your leadership philosophy?
I try to meet folks where they are and focus on the people themselves. I came here straight out of school, so a lot of what I've learned I picked up from John Blair, our previous general manager. I learned from him the importance of making sure your people feel safe, happy, and comfortable at work. It helps to align their interests with what they do and be open to receiving feedback, and make sure you’re clearing obstacles out of their way. I think that's the first job of any manager and is big part of my leadership philosophy.
How has Ipswich worked to advance customer service during your time there?
I think we have done a good job of instituting customer surveys and gathering feedback. A lot of our staff are customers in town, and there’s a big community aspect to what we do. We aim to be attuned to our customers’ priorities.
The leadership of our board has made strides in being visible, particularly in public meetings. Something that we have always been great at is attending community events and meeting our customers where they are. A recent example is when someone reached out to Ashley about supporting the local free school lunch program. They needed a location to hand out the lunches, and we were able to give them a spot on our campus where, Monday through Friday, anybody that's under 18 can come here to pick up a free school lunch.
What are your goals for Ipswich?
We are in a phase of getting back to basics while also looking forward with sustainability planning. I've spent a lot of time over the past two years bringing on new management - a new operations manager and business manager, among other roles. We’ve been focused on making sure we’re as stable and staffed up as possible.
We're planning on doing a customer survey this year and are considering moving towards more dynamic rate structures. I think we have an opportunity to implement time-of-use rates depending on feedback from stakeholders.
We have opportunities to make investments in our local infrastructure, including incorporating some cleaner generation and energy storage. We have a 125-year-old power plant with dual-fuel natural gas and diesel engines. While it used to power the entire town, we don't run it 24/7 anymore but still use it for peak shaving purposes. In the next 12 months, through a partnership with a developer, we have a utility-scale battery going up in town beneath our wind turbine. We have an older substation near our office we could rebuild and potentially include another battery in the future.
On the power supply side, we've done a good job sourcing from carbon-free sources. The new emissions standard for Massachusetts municipalities is coming into effect in 2030. It shouldn't be a problem for us to demonstrate that 50% of our power portfolio is clean. But due to electrification, there is concern about accounting for load growth and how that would impact making our generation as carbon-free as possible. We need to ensure our distribution infrastructure can handle that. Making investments in our asset management programs and better understanding what we have deployed in the field will allow us to take a more proactive approach towards the impacts of electrification.
