Kevin Maynard has spent more than 40 years in public power, serving at public power utilities throughout Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota before joining American Municipal Power in Ohio in 2026. Maynard holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Defiance College and an Associate of Applied Science in electromechanical engineering from Northwest Technical College. He received the American Public Power Association’s 2026 James D. Donovan Individual Achievement Award in recognition of his career accomplishments.
What brought you to your career in public power?
I was looking for jobs to help me through school when I was pursuing my associate degree in electromechanical engineering, and I saw an ad for a part-time engineering aide at the city of Bryan, Ohio, Municipal Light and Water Utilities. I worked that job through completing my degree, then they brought me on full time, starting in the water department. I stayed there for 17 years, working my way up to eventually becoming the director of utilities. I’ve worked in six municipal systems since across Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota, bringing my time in public power to over 40 years.
Is there a philosophy that has defined your leadership in public power?
Over the course of my career, I increasingly came to understand the importance of both mentorship and building support networks. When I started with the city of Marshall, Michigan, the city didn’t have an active relationship with AMP, APPA, or any other agencies that could be helpful to it. I really focused on building those connections so the people I worked with could access the knowledge and assistance they needed.
What projects are you proudest of having completed with the city of Marshall?
I wanted to make sure we were making best use of the assets we already had. Marshall has a small municipal power plant with dual-fuel reciprocating engines that had fallen out of use. Early in my tenure, the power plant operators came to me and said, “We believe this plant has value, but we don’t know how to determine what that value is. Can you help us understand that?” We started by talking about capacity in [the Midcontinent Independent System Operator] and what the value of the plant was, and that its generating units avoided $60,000 to $70,000 a month in capacity costs. We got the plant operating reliably and began running the units when MISO hourly market prices exceeded their variable fuel and operating expenses, reducing costs for local electric consumers. We also returned a small hydroelectric unit to service at the cost of only $35,000, which provided a sizable return on investment. The city hydroelectric project went from 550,000 kWh generated in 2021 to 1.4 million kWh generated in 2025, providing emission-free renewable energy, renewable energy credits (RECs), and capacity credit.
We also oversaw improvements on the reliability side. After conducting a pole condition assessment, we identified more than 200 poles in need of replacement. We set a goal to replace 70 poles a year so [the replacements] would be done within just three years. When electric department staff understood how faulty poles could impact reliability and costs, they started to take a more proactive approach to their work. That’s what I really aimed for with my leadership approach — empowering our team to get ahead of potential problems and feel like they could make the best use of the assets we already had. It created a great sense of ownership with tangible results
How did building a stronger relationship with AMP benefit the city of Marshall?
Marshall worked with AMP to install four 2.5-megawatt natural gas reciprocating engines. AMP suggested the utility needed to get additional capacity from MISO. So, we started looking inward, and, in our case, Marshall already had about 10 MW of generation from its reinvigorated power plant, but its average monthly peak was around 20 MW. The new reciprocating engines closed that gap. AMP controls those assets for Marshall from its Energy Control Center in Columbus, watches MISO market prices and operates the units remotely. The power sales revenue that Marshall is getting from those assets is predicted to reduce the effective cost of those units from $12 per kilowatt-month to $4 per kilowatt-month, which is about half of what the capacity market is here.
It’s been a huge benefit for affordability. Marshall had its lowest monthly power bill in January 2026 at only 4.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, when we would normally pay about 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Because of the power plant and those new engines, the utility was able to offset what would otherwise have been the high cost of winter power. Marshall is also now working with AMP and the Michigan South Central Power Agency on installing a 10.5-MW solar array in town in partnership with Madison Energy Infrastructure.
What are you looking to achieve in your new role at AMP?
It’s not easy to operate a municipal utility system. And it’s even harder to be a village administrator in charge of police, fire, parks, streets, as well as water, wastewater, and electric utilities all at the same time. What I am endeavoring to do is go out and understand what issues our members have through face-to-face meetings so we can provide the knowledge and support they need. I’m focused much more on listening and understanding the lay of the land before making larger strategic decisions, which I’ve found throughout my career has been one of the most effective approaches to public power leadership.
