NEPPA Board Welcomes Two New Members

NEPPA recently welcomed two new members to its Board of Directors: Michael Kirkwood of the Pascoag Utility District and Jonathan Elwell of the Village of Enosburg Falls Water & Light Departments.

Kirkwood Elwell

Michael Kirkwood has 31 years in the utility industry having spent 20 years with Commonwealth Electric (now NStar). For 10 years prior to joining Pascoag Utility District as general manager, he worked for energy providers including KeySpan, BGGroup and EquiPower. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Master of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

Kirkwood replaced Ted Garille at Pascoag, who retired in 2010. He said he is pleased that he is back in a customer-based environment providing the best services at the lowest possible cost.

"This is like a smaller version of Commonwealth," he said. "I’m doing the same things only on a smaller scale."

He is thrilled to be on the NEPPA board and hopes he can contribute a variety of perspectives drawn from his diverse career. "I hope to bring a well-rounded view of the industry to NEPPA and welcome this opportunity to participate in its governance," he said.

Jonathan Elwell holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Prescott College in Prescott, Ariz. and a Master's in Public Administration from Northern Arizona University. He started his career in municipal government working for a small town in Arizona while he finished his graduate degree.

Despite his love for the Southwest, he decided to return to New England where he had grown up in Brattleboro, Vt. He then worked in town government in Rockingham, Vt. before becoming town manager of Manchester, Maine. He has been general manager of the Village of Enosburg Falls Water & Light since September of 2004.

When George LaGue of Swanton retired, Elwell volunteered to take his place on the NEPPA Board.

"It’s mostly an effort to better educate myself in a larger sphere of electric utility work," he said. "No one lives in a vacuum. Issues in Vermont are not isolated to Vermont and being on the NEPPA Board gives me an opportunity to learn more about the field."