(April 21) On Thursday, April 17, Central Lincoln PUD Electrical Engineer Steve Alexanderson received Northwest Public Power Association’s 2025 Excellence in Engineering or Operations Award at the association’s 2025 Engineering & Operations Conference in Spokane, Washington.
This award, given in honor of Milton Hunt McGuire, is NWPPA’s most prestigious award for a utility employee working in engineering or operations and honors an individual who has contributed to the industry as a whole.
Alexanderson has made lasting contributions to Central Lincoln PUD and the wider utility industry throughout his 33-year career with the PUD. In 2007, Central Lincoln PUD faced fines, unnecessary regulation, and potential rate increases after being added to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Compliance Registry as a distribution provider. As a small rural utility, Central Lincoln PUD could not fully comply with the registry’s requirements. Alexanderson recognized the PUD had minimal impact on the bulk electric system and worked to resolve the two contingencies that placed the PUD on the registry. In 2014, his efforts successfully removed the PUD from the additional compliance requirements.
Alexanderson was also instrumental in modernizing the PUD, converting nearly 90% of the utility’s system to standardized modern relays and linking the relays to the PUD’s first SCADA system.
He has also had a tremendous influence on the industry as a whole, with a dedication to sharing knowledge and fostering the next generation of problem-solvers. He has mentored 12 electrical engineering interns; he actively contributes to eng-tips.com, a platform for engineering professionals; and, for 15 years, he has served as a chapter coordinator for MathCounts, a national program that inspires middle school students to engage with math.
Finally, Alexanderson has remained active in the larger engineering community, presenting at conferences and actively engaging with IEEE and NERC decision-making.
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