American Public Power Association News Release
For Information: Tobias Sellier, 202/467-2927
BURBANK
WATER AND POWER GENERAL MANAGER
RECEIVES
NATIONAL PUBLIC POWER AWARD
Left to right: Marc Gerken, 2009-2010 Chairman, APPA Board of Directors and Ron Davis, General Manager of Burbank Water and Power and the 2010 Recipient of the James D. Donovan Individual Achievement Award
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 22, 2010 — Ronald E. Davis, general manager of Burbank, Calif., Water and Power, received the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) James D. Donovan Individual Achievement Award at the Association’s national conference in Orlando, Fla. The award recognizes people who have made substantial contributions to the electric utility industry, with a special commitment to public power.
Early in his 35-year utility career, Davis found he appreciated the crucial difference leadership makes, particularly the willingness to take political and business risks for the sake of advancing the welfare of the utility, its customers, and its employees. Davis’s vision and advocacy efforts led to the construction of Southern California Public Power Authority’s award-winning Magnolia Power Project, a 310-MW combined cycle gas-burning plant situated on a three-acre site in Burbank. Under Davis’s leadership Burbank Water and Power employed hedging strategies and wholesale power trading practices at the height of deregulation that withstood post-Enron scrutiny. His practices continue to keep electricity rates in Burbank competitive and stable, and because of his skilled financial stewardship, Burbank has been aggressively renewing its power delivery infrastructure.
Davis has served as both board member and committee chair for the Southern California Public Power Authority. His efforts brought about its growth from a mere financing authority into an influential public power advocacy group and owner of power, transmission, and fuel resources.
###
The American Public Power Association (APPA) is the service organization for the nation's more than 2,000 community-owned electric utilities that serve more than 45 million Americans. More info at www.APPAnet.org.