Easton Utilities received three prestigious honors from the American Public Power Association (APPA): the Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) classification, the Safety Award of Excellence, and national recognition for achieving exceptional electric reliability.
The RP3 designation, which lasts for three years, recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement. Criteria include sound business practices and a utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity. Only 250 public power utilities nationwide that hold the RP3 designation.
“This award reflects the dedication, skill, and commitment of our entire team, who work around the clock to deliver safe, dependable service to our community. Whether responding to outages or maintaining our system day in and day out, their quick response and unwavering focus on reliability make this achievement possible. We are proud of their work and grateful for the trust our customers place in us,” states Eddie Westerfield, Manager of Electric for Easton Utilities.
In the category for utilities with 60,000 – 109,999 annual worker-hours of exposure, Easton Utilities earned a Diamond level Safety Award. APPA recognizes utilities with low incident rates and the overall state of their safety programs and culture each year. Easton Utilities joins 240 public utilities recognized for safe operating practices in 2025.
“Earning APPA’s Diamond Level Safety Award of Excellence is a tremendous achievement for our organization,” states John Hines, Vice President, Operations of Easton Utilities. “This honor belongs to every team member who prioritizes safety each day and works to ensure a safe environment for our employees and community.”
In addition, Easton Utilities received high honors for reliability proudly reporting an average outage time per customer of approximately 22.3 minutes for 2025. This is compared to the national average of 149 minutes from other US electric utilities. Nationwide, the average public power customer has their lights out for less than half the amount of time that customers of other types of utilities do.
APPA is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide. The association represents public power before the federal government to protect the interests of the more than 55 million people that public power utilities serve across the United States and its territories. APPA advises on electricity policy, grid technology and operations, and workforce development in support of safe, modern, and resilient utilities.
“I am continually inspired by the unwavering commitment of public power utilities to delivering reliable service to their communities,” said Adrienne Lotto, Senior Vice President of Grid Security, Operations, and Technical Services. “The utilities honored here have set the standard for excellence and dedication, ensuring that families and businesses can count on their local power providers every day. Congratulations to these outstanding teams for earning this well-deserved recognition and for making a positive difference where it matters most.”