Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) March 26^th Board Meeting has been rescheduled to April 2^nd. The meeting date has been rescheduled to ensure that a quorum of board members would be available.

The April 2^nd Board Meeting will be held in the RPU Board Room at 4pm at the RPU Service Center.

Contact RPU Communications Coordinator Tony Benson (tbenson@rpu.org) for questions regarding the RPU Board Meeting date change.

About Rochester Public Utilities

As the municipal utility of Rochester, Minn., for more than 110 years, RPU provides high-quality and reliable electricity to over 54,000 customers.  Water customers number more than 40,000.  RPU continually investigates innovative technologies to help customers realize the best value from the services they receive.  Current initiatives include photovoltaic offerings, wind energy, energy and water efficient equipment, and electric vehicle charging.

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October 30, 2018 RPU Board Meeting

2019 Budget Presentation

Board Study Session Rate Structure Presentation

The Rochester Public Utility Board was presented with the customer survey results at the July Board Meeting by representatives from GreatBlue Research.

The purpose of the survey was to identify customer views on a wide range of topics including RPU’s environmental stewardship efforts, renewable energy, future technologies, smart grid metering, communication, office hours, and overall customer satisfaction.

Highlights of the survey include:

• 87.8% of residential customers “agreed” that RPU is an environmentally responsible company. 88.2% of commercial customers “agreed” that RPU is an environmentally responsible company.

• 59.2% of residents and 49.5% of commercial customers reported RPU should be “aggressive” in setting goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• 29.0% of residents would be willing to pay 10% more to increase efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and another 25.6% would be willing to pay 5% more.

• 83.7% of residents and 70.8% of commercial customers support RPU investigating the process of installing and maintaining solar power in homes/businesses.

• 81.6% of residents support RPU offering smart grid digital meters (only 59.7% of businesses supported)

• Overall, respondents were happy with office hours – only 17.9% of residents said it would be helpful to have longer office hours and 12.1% of businesses said it would be helpful to have longer office hours.

• Regarding communication, 41.8% of residents and 41.6% of business reported the “internet” was a preferred source of information.

Customer satisfaction continues to be strong with 95.7% of respondents reporting to be “satisfied” with RPU representative interactions.

“The information also reinforces that we are doing a lot of the right things necessary to set the standard for service and to continue as a customer-focused organization. This survey information will provide staff and the RPU Utility Board with valuable insight from customers for future strategic planning, budgeting, and allocating of resources to make improvements in how we serve our customers in the future,” said RPU General Manager Mark Kotschevar.

The complete survey presentation is available to view on the RPU website, http://www.rpu.org/documents/2015_customer_survey_data.pdf.

About Rochester Public Utilities

As the municipal utility of Rochester, Minn., for more than 110 years, RPU provides high-quality and reliable electricity to over 50,000 customers.  Water customers number more than 37,000.  RPU continually investigates innovative technologies to help customers realize the best value from the services they receive.  Current initiatives include fuel cell research, wind power, and photovoltaic offerings

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At a special meeting this morning, the Utility Board of the Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) unanimously appointed Mark Kotschevar as its next general manager, replacing the retiring Larry Koshire.

Kotschevar is a 32-year employee of RPU and is currently the Director of Core Services.  In addition to his present position, he has also served as Manager of Maintenance and Construction, Senior Electrical Engineer, Project Electrical Engineer and Electrical Engineer.  These positions have given him experiences in electric transmission and its distribution, water supply and its distribution, system operations and engineering.

Kotschevar has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Electronics from North Dakota State University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Winona State University.  He is a registered Professional Engineer and a licensed “Class A” Master Electrician in the State of Minnesota.

Jerry Williams, President of the Utility Board, calls Kotschevar a “great fit for the organization, now and moving it forward into the future.”  Williams went on to say that “his experiences with both sides of the business, electricity and water, are emblematic of his work at RPU and critical as we look at the many challenges and opportunities that are part of a changing business.  He has the foresight and determination to continue to make RPU, the largest municipal in the State, a pre-eminent utility that exists to serve the needs of its customers, the citizens of Rochester.”

When told of his selection, Kotschevar said he was “humbled” and pledged to do whatever is necessary to continue RPU’s positive momentum into the future.  “The utility’s core values of safety, integrity, service, stewardship, accountability and skill will continue to guide us, as they have so successfully done in the past.”

After the board vote, an all-staff meeting was held to introduce Kotschevar as the new general manager, effective May 1.

About Rochester Public Utilities

As the municipal utility of Rochester, Minn., for more than 120 years, RPU provides high-quality and reliable electricity to over 50,000 customers.  Water customers number more than 38,000.  RPU continually investigates innovative technologies to help customers realize the best value from the services they receive.  Current initiatives include smart grid, water sustainability, wind power, and photovoltaic offerings.

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