APPA Board of Directors Appoints Sue Kelly as President and CEO

Washington, D.C., January 29, 2014 – Today the American Public Power Association (APPA) Board of Directors appointed Sue Kelly as the organization’s new President and CEO to succeed Mark Crisson effective April 1. Kelly has served with APPA since 2004 and is currently General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Policy Analysis. She has extensive experience as an attorney dealing with federal regulation, particularly before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and is generally regarded as one of the top practitioners in that arena.

"Sue Kelly is an exceptional leader with a demonstrated commitment to public power.  Her extensive industry knowledge, strong interpersonal skills, and record of achievement have earned her the respect of APPA’s membership, her industry colleagues, and federal regulators," said Gary Stauffer, APPA Board Chair and Executive Director of NMPP Energy in Lincoln, Neb.  "The Board of Directors looks forward to working with Sue and has every confidence that she will successfully lead APPA and its members through the challenges that lie ahead."

"I am honored by the trust the Board has placed in me and to have this opportunity to lead an organization that is so vital to the interests of public power," said Kelly.  "I am also excited at the prospect of leading such a top-notch team of professionals here at APPA.  As President and CEO, I will be committed to building on our recent achievements and to taking steps to further strengthen the public power business model," she said.  
 

APPA is the trade association serving the nation’s 2000 public power systems in 49 states. Its members serve a population of over 47 million people, representing approximately 15 percent of all power customers in the U.S.  They are locally owned and controlled and operate on a not-for-profit basis.  

Kelly’s work experience prior to joining APPA included stints with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and two Washington law firms, Miller, Balis and O’Neil, P.C., and Crowell and Moring.  She earned a B.A. from the University of Missouri and J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.