The Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma, Inc. (MESO) recognized the City of Purcell with two awards in the association’s annual Electric Operations and Reliability Competition. The City of Purcell was acknowledged for its Outstanding Achievement in reliability, as well as awarded a First-Place award in safety.

Electric department employees include John Dean, Anthony Lamirand, Brian Morris, Trey Phillips, Dillon Gardner and Evan Peterson.

“Working with this group has always been great and I’m thankful for them to get the recognition at the state level for both of these awards,” Assistant Public Works Director Trey Phillips said.

The City of Purcell delivered an Average System Availability Index of 99.991 percent in 2023, MESO officials said.

That effort earned an Outstanding Achievement recognition in the category of cities with a population of under 10,000 people.

In addition, the utility received a First-Place award for its commitment to safety, as the electric utility’s personnel went through the year with no reportable incidents, resulting in no lost work time in 11,999 hours worked.

“The City of Purcell’s outstanding performance in both reliability and safety is a model for excellence in the electric utility sector,” said Cheryl Adams, MESO General Manager. “We are proud to recognize the City of Purcell for setting a high standard in our industry.

“Success is measured by continuing to be prepared to perform each aspect of the job safely and precisely, which is aided by utilities providing proper training, keeping accurate records, having an action plan for emergencies and modeling safe workplace practices,” Adams said. “The City of Purcell’s success is a true testament to the hard work they’ve put into ensuring reliable and safe service for the Purcell community.”

MESO is a municipal utility trade association representing cities owning a locally controlled electric utility, generally referred to as “Public Power.” The association’s member utilities provide electric services and electric power generation to some 750,000 people in Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas.

MESO’s mission is to enhance our members’ value to their customers through best-practice programs, training and services. MESO serves municipal professionals through safety, job training and professional development programs.

“We believe in building strong communities through a well-trained workforce,”
Adams concluded.