A message from Barbara Sugg, Southwest Power Pool president and chief executive officer
To SPP’s valued stakeholders –
As I look back on 2022, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together and grateful as always for your trust and partnership. Twelve months ago we were still conducting all our meetings virtually and had only just begun to tackle the challenges of implementing our Aspire 2026 Strategic Plan and the recommendations that came in the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri. Today our stakeholder process, like our overall work environment, has flexibly adapted to the demands of hybrid meetings, and we’re well on our way to achieving many of our strategic opportunities, including expanding our service offerings in the West, improving our transmission planning processes and defining the grid of the future.
This is also a great time of year to recognize people for giving back, and I’d like to take this opportunity to brag on some of our staff who have embodied the spirit of community service this year.
SPP has a long history of serving our community because we believe we have a responsibility to support and invest in the region in which we live. When the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a notice earlier this year limiting SPP’s ability to directly give to charitable organizations, our employees stepped up to fill the gap.
Our employee-led "Charity of the Month" efforts have raised over $45,000 for 11 charitable organizations so far this year. Meanwhile, employee pledges are continuing to flow in during our annual campaign to support our local United Way.
I want to give special recognition to the employees who recently graduated from SPP’s inaugural Core Excellence leadership program. In addition to supporting and learning from each other over the last eight months as they honed their leadership skills, they were also divided into three teams to develop and implement three sustainable community service projects.
One group identified a book desert in one of their communities, built a Little Free Library and stocked it to ensure children there had access to books. Another group worked with The Call to revamp an Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) visitation room to create a comfortable space for children in DCFS custody to visit with parents or siblings while seeking reunification. The third group restarted SPP’s STEM outreach program, speaking to engineering students at Little Rock’s Hall STEAM Magnet High School and providing after school activities for students from Forest Heights STEM Academy to learn about electricity and the energy industry.
I’m incredibly proud of all the efforts of our employees to continue SPP’s tradition of giving. It’s living proof of our core values and brings us closer to our vision of a brighter future.
As we now look ahead to the challenges and opportunities that 2023 will hold, I thank you for your stewardship, your fellowship and your leadership in the service of SPP’s mission. I wish you and your loved ones a happy and healthy holiday season.
Barbara Sugg