The following is a transcript of the Oct. 20, 2025, episode of Public Power Now. Learn more about subscribing to Public Power Now at Publicpower.org/Podcasts. Some quotes may have been edited for clarity.
Paul Ciampoli
Welcome to the latest episode of Public Power Now.
I'm Paul Ciampoli, APPA’s news director.
Our guest on this episode is Jeff Haas, Senior Vice President for Membership and Marketing at APPA.
Jeff is joining us to discuss the benefits of being a member of APPA.
Jeff, thanks for joining us on the podcast.
Jeff Haas
Certainly, Paul, thank you for having me.
Paul Ciampoli
Sure thing. So, Jeff, just to get our conversation started I just wanted to give you the opportunity for those who might not be familiar, could you briefly explain what the American Public Power Association is and the role it plays in the public power sector?
Jeff Haas
The American Public Power Association is a national organization representing the interests of not for profit, community-owned utilities that power towns and cities across the United States.
Our mission is to support our members in delivering reliable electricity at affordable rates while embracing innovation and sustainability.
We advocate on behalf of our members and legislative and regulatory matters, provide educational opportunities, and offer a wealth of resources to help them thrive.
Paul Ciampoli
I wanted to give you the opportunity to talk about what the public power landscape would look like if not for the efforts of APPA to advocate on behalf of municipal electric utilities at the federal level and provide education, information and utility operations resources for its members.
Jeff Haas
Yeah, that's a good question, Paul.
If APPA did not exist, the public power sector would be less coordinated, less informed, and less able to advocate for the interests of the communities it serves.
Utilities would face greater risks from policy changes, technological disruption and market forces, potentially resulting in higher costs, reduced reliability, and diminished local control.
The collective strength, expertise, and resources that APPA provides are essential to keeping public power strong, resilient, and responsive to the needs of millions of Americans.
Paul Ciampoli
Okay, that sounds great, Jeff.
Could you elaborate on the specific benefits that members of APPA enjoy?
Jeff Haas
APPA offers several categories of membership, including corporate associate, cooperative associate, and community choice aggregator memberships.
For the purposes of this discussion, I'll focus on public power utility membership, and the corresponding benefits.
So for public power utilities, APPA membership comes with a host of benefits. First, if a public power utility joins APPA, all of the employees of that utility get full access to all APPA member benefits, including industry specific research, data and reports that help them stay informed and competitive.
They also receive discounted rates on our educational offerings through the APPA Academy.
Additionally, members can take advantage of our robust network, including our APPA Engage Online community, where public power professionals can connect with other public power professionals to share ideas and best practices.
And there's much more, some of which I'll get into momentarily.
Paul Ciampoli
So now you mentioned educational opportunities. Could you give us some examples of the types of programs and events offered through the APPA Academy?
Jeff Haas
We offer a diverse array of educational programs tailored to the needs of our members.
These include in-person events like our National Conference, which will be held in Boston, Massachusetts, at the end of June in 2026 [and] the Engineering and Operations Conference, Business and Financial Conference, Legal and Regulatory Conference, and Customer Connections conferences, all of which feature keynote speakers, panel discussions, and breakout sessions on a variety of topics.
We also host specialized events such as the current State of Nuclear Virtual Summit that was held just this last August.
In addition, we provide online training through webinars and self-paced courses covering subjects like utility, financial, accounting, leadership, and key accounts, to name a few.
Paul Ciampoli
Advocacy seems like a critical component of what APPA does. So against that backdrop, how does the association advocate for its members?
Jeff Haas
Yes, advocacy is indeed a cornerstone of our work. We have a dedicated team in Washington, DC, that actively engages with legislators and regulators to promote policies that benefit public power utilities.
We provide our members with the tools they need to help advocate for public power, including legislative updates, action alerts, and resources for communicating with policymakers.
APPA's Legislative Rally that takes place in February each year brings over six hundred public power leaders to Washington to highlight the issues impacting public power.
Additionally, APPA’s Policy Makers Council, a group of dedicated locally elected officials from around the country, conduct an annual fly in where they meet with federal legislative and regulatory leaders to espouse the issues affecting community-owned utilities.
Our collective voice ensures that the interests of public power are well represented in the corridors of power.
Paul Ciampoli
So let's talk more about the resources available to APPA members.
Specifically, could you talk about some of the key tools and services offered?
Jeff Haas
We offer a comprehensive suite of resources designed to support our members in every aspect of their operations.
This includes benchmarking data to help utilities measure their performance against peers’ safety resources, including the highly acclaimed APPA Safety Manual for an electric utility, now in its seventeenth edition, and web-based platforms to help utilities track safety and reliability.
We also provide best in class recognition programs like the RP3 program, that acknowledge our members’ efforts to apply best practices in the areas of reliability, safety, system improvement, and workforce development.
Over two hundred and fifty public power utilities hold the distinguished RP3 designation today. The application period for the RP3 program runs from April to September each year.
Additionally, APPA provides communication tools to help members engage with their communities as well as a host of other resources to improve utility operations and customer satisfaction.
Paul Ciampoli
Jeff, a thought occurred to me with respect to your last point -- a good example of those communications tools offered to members is Public Power Week, which occurred this month.
So I just wanted to make note of that fact and that I think based on what I saw across our members, that's a good example of how we can help members get the word out in terms of the benefits of public power.
Jeff Haas
Absolutely. Well said.
Paul Ciampoli
You provided a lot of information about the benefits of APPA membership, so can you share how current and prospective members can learn more about the value of APPA membership and where to go to get more information?
Jeff Haas
Yes, I'd be happy to. One great place to start is the APPA website publicpower.org. You can find information on all aspects of APPA membership on public power.org.
And once there, I encourage folks looking to find more information about APPA member benefits to visit the Member Welcome Center.
And this can easily be accessed by clicking on the For Members tab in the upper right corner of the website, or by visiting publicpower.org/welcome-center.
Both members and non-members can glean valuable information about APPA membership from this resource.
Paul Ciampoli
Great. Well, thanks again for participating as a guest on Public Power Now. We really appreciate it.
Jeff Haas
My pleasure, Paul. Thank you.
Paul Ciampoli
Thanks for listening to this episode of Public Power Now, which is produced by Julio Guerrero, Digital and Graphic Designer at APPA.
I'm Paul Ciampoli and we'll be back next week with more from the world of public power.
