RP3: How to Apply

Registration for the 2025 RP3 Application will open in April 2025. 

If you are interested in applying next year, we encourage you to watch the recordings of the recent webinar series Strengthening Your RP3 Application. Learn from industry experts on the RP₃ Review Panel how to strengthen your application!

The RP₃ application asks questions in four disciplines — reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement — based on leading practices in the industry. Each question is worth a certain amount of points for a total of 100 points — see the application guide for details. Below you can find additional resources, from webinar information to sample job site inspections, to help you complete the application!

About the Application System

Applications for the Reliable Public Power Provider designation are open May 1 – September 30 each year. 

The RP₃ online application system replaced hard copy applications and is easier to complete. To access the online application, you must first register your utility. RP₃ application registration opens every spring. Once you've completed the registration form, you’ll receive an email with your login information and instructions to access the application online. 

The online system enables you to assign one user to oversee the entire application and assign additional users to individual questions. You can answer each question, upload attachments on a question by question basis, see your progress as you complete your application, and view the RP₃ Review Panel’s comments and scores for each question. When your utility reapplies, you can view your previous application, and import any answers and attachments you previously submitted.

Applications received through the RP₃ Online Application System are reviewed by the 18-member Review Panel, comprising public power professionals from across the country. Utilities may be recognized as gold, platinum, or diamond. Any Review Panel requests for additional information are sent through the online system, to keep all your information in one place.

When you are ready to submit, you can complete the one-time Application Fee. Payments are due by the last day of the application period, September 30th.

Application, Application Guide, and How-To Videos

• 2024 RP₃ Application (PDF copy)
• 2024 RP₃ Application Guide
• 2024 RP₃ Application Attachment Requirements
• RP₃ Application Changes Summary
• RP₃ Online Application System - Primary User Guide
• How to Create New Users in the Online System 
• How to Assign Questions to Users
• How to Respond to Requests for Information (RFIs) (PDF also available here)

Application Resources

• Final Summary Report
  • Summarizes involvement with APPA to help answer application questions
• National Reliability Benchmarking
  • Sign up for the eReliability Tracker
• Safety Forms
  • Tailgate Forms & Documented Job Briefings
  • Job Site Inspection Report
  • Near-Miss Forms
  • Sample Safety Manual Directive
• Safety Index Benchmarking
  • Learn about the Safety Awards of Excellence
• Workforce Development Sample Spreadsheets
  • III.C.2 on Networking and Professional Development
  • III.C.3 on Membership and Service
• R&D Participation
  • Learn about the DEED program
• System Improvement
  • IV.C.1 on Capital O&M Budget 
  • IV.C.1. on Capital O&M Budget with Descriptions

Webinars

If you are thinking about applying for the Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) designation, view our free webinar series to hear how you can strengthen your application from industry experts on the RP3 Review Panel. Each webinar will review the critical areas of utility operation that are captured in the four main sections of the application: reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement. To view recordings of each webinar, please use the links below:

• Strengthening Your RP3 Application: Reliability (5/8)
• Strengthening Your RP3 Application: Safety (5/15)
• Strengthening Your RP3 Application: System Improvement (5/23)
• Strengthening Your RP3 Application: Workforce Development (5/29)

Recommended for: utilities interested in obtaining an RP3 designation, as well as current RP3 designees and others interested in measuring and benchmarking their utility’s performance.

Designation Period

Beginning with the 2014 designees, RP₃ designations last for three years, starting on May 1 of the designation year to April 30 three years later. Prior to the 2014 designation (applied in 2013), RP₃ designations were valid for a two-year period.

Now, RP₃ designated utilities that wish to maintain their designation status must re-apply in the second year of the three-year designation period. For example, a utility that applies in 2024 is designated May 1, 2025 through April 30, 2028. To maintain status after that, the utility must re-apply in 2027. The re-application process helps us ensure that RP₃ utilities are consistently striving to maintain and improve the quality of their systems.

Designation Levels

Significant changes were introduced in 2013 for designation levels  — for utilities designated in 2014 — as a result of feedback received from member utilities over the first nine years of RP₃.

• Gold: 80% – <90% of the possible points
• Platinum: 90 – <98% of the possible points
• Diamond: 98 – 100% of the possible points

For utilities that applied before 2013, the diamond designation was awarded for 100%, platinum for 90-99%, and gold for 80-89% of the possible points.