The Florida Municipal Electric Association on July 16 announced the recipients of its member awards, including the E.C. Shreve, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award, Member of the Year, Policymaker Award, Utility Award of Excellence and Associate Member of the Year.
The awards, which were presented during FMEA’s annual conference banquet in Palm Beach, recognize association members for their outstanding contributions to FMEA and Florida’s public power industry.
The top honor, the E.C. Shreve, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award, was presented to Reese Goad, City Manager for the City of Tallahassee. The Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded to an individual at the end of their career who has devoted a significant part of their career to the advancement of public power in Florida.
The 2026 FMEA Member of the Year award was presented to Korey Bush, Assistant General Manager of Customer Service for Lakeland Electric. The Member of the Year award is given to an individual or group within an FMEA member utility who exemplifies extraordinary service and dedication to FMEA and Florida public power.
New this year is FMEA’s Policymaker Award, which is awarded to a local elected or appointed official who has demonstrated a strong commitment to public power.
Two recipients were honored with this award, Manuel Ortega, Board Chairman for the Kissimmee Utility Authority, and Robert Barrios, Utility Board Vice Chair for Keys Energy Services.
Also new this year is FMEA’s Utility Award of Excellence, which honors FMEA member utilities that have distinguished themselves during the year for their exemplary system enhancement, improvement, investment or other innovative efforts to improve Florida public power. This year, the award was presented to Ocala Electric Utility.
The 2026 Associate Member of the Year was awarded to Center Phase Energy, a women-owned business specializing in emergency power restoration for electric utilities. The FMEA Associate Member of the Year award recognizes an associate member or associate member company that exemplifies extraordinary service and dedication to FMEA and Florida’s public power community.
“By enhancing our awards program this year we were able to spotlight additional individuals and organizations who support Florida public power in many different ways,” said Amy Zubaly, FMEA Executive Director. “Each of these award recipients embodies the spirit of public power – a passion to serve, a commitment to community and a vision for the future. We congratulate and thank each of them.”
