Vinita -- Grand River Dam Authority Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley is calling his new appointment to a national electric utility committee a great opportunity to represent Oklahoma public power communities. In June, during the American Public Power Association (APPA) National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, he was selected to serve on the APPA Executive Committee.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., APPA is the national organization for publicly owned electric utilities. A nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, APPA helps is members in areas of government relations, engineering and operations, energy research and development, public information and other key utility areas. Nationwide, APPA has over 2,000 member utilities, which combine to serve roughly 43 million people. Of those 2,000 utilities, GRDA is the 20th largest in terms of generation, according to the latest APPA statistics.

“I look forward to being part of the executive committee,” said Easley, who began serving a six-year term on the APPA general board in August 2005. “I think it further enhances the opportunity to insure Oklahoma public power can have a strong voice at the policy-making table.”

Beyond policy making, Easley said the opportunity to help guide the organization’s strong lobbying voice in Washington, D.C., can also prove to be very beneficial for GRDA and its customers.

“Public power’s voice in Washington needs to be in tune with the needs of public power utilities in our state,” he said. “Our municipal customers have long, successful, public power traditions and we want to preserve those benefits and insure that success for decades to come.”

Last June, Easley was also named to the Hometown Connections Inc. (HCI) Board of Directors. That organization, a subsidiary of APPA, exists to help municipal utilities get the best value for their dollar when purchase industry related goods and services. By serving on both on the APPA committee and HCI Board, Easley is hopeful that GRDA municipal customers will see the benefits.

Meanwhile, he added that the enhanced relationship with APPA will also prove beneficial to GRDA, as it continues to have access to APPA expertise.

“As GRDA continues to develop, APPA will be a great resource for us because of the extensive work the organization has already done with energy research, conservation and development. That will help GRDA achieve its goals.”