Officials from AMP/OMEA Member communities met with Congressional offices to raise awareness of how federal policy affects municipal electric system customers.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Representatives and officials from 26 American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP) and Ohio Municipal Electric Association (OMEA) Members participated in the 2025 American Public Power Association (APPA) Legislative Rally, Feb. 24-26. The annual Rally is an opportunity for municipal electric system representatives from across the country to share firsthand insights with federal lawmakers and their staff.
“Every year, the Rally is a key event for AMP and its Members to talk with legislators and their staff about the issues most important to public power,” said Jolene Thompson, AMP President/CEO. “As always, our Members did a great job representing public power, which led to productive meetings with many lawmakers. We appreciate the legislators and their staff for taking the time to meet with us and for considering our views.”
More than 60 AMP and OMEA Member community officials and representatives attended the Rally, representing Members from Delaware, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
“The Legislative Rally offers a great opportunity for public power officials to engage directly with federal legislators and policymakers,” said Michael Beirne, AMP Vice President of External Affairs and OMEA Executive Director. “These public power officials are uniquely positioned to convey the specific challenges that face their local utilities and communities, and to explain how federal policies directly impact their day-to-day operations.”
AMP and OMEA Member officials focused their discussions with lawmakers on the key issues impacting public power: the importance of tax-exempt financing, ensuring reliability of the electric grid, following through with grant funding under existing programs, adopting reasonable permitting reform, the highlighting the challenges with the power sector greenhouse gas rule.
A key part of the Rally was the annual meeting of the APPA Legislative & Resolutions Committee on Feb. 25, when APPA members heard remarks from House Energy Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta (R-OH) and adopted nine resolutions to guide APPA and public power’s advocacy efforts in 2025 and beyond. AMP and OMEA supported all the resolutions, which included expressing support for hydropower, electric vehicles, safe and effective drone use, and reliable and affordable energy infrastructure. The full list of resolutions can be viewed at www.publicpower.org/policy/resolutions.
Throughout the week, AMP/OMEA Members met with 12 congressional members: Senators Jon Husted (R-OH), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI); and Representatives Troy Balderson (R-OH), Mike Carey (R-OH), Bob Latta (R-OH), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Michael Rulli (R-OH), Emilia Sykes (D-OH), Dave Taylor (R-OH) and Tim Walberg (R-MI).
Additionally, AMP/OMEA Members met with congressional staff from 17 offices: Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Fetterman (D-PA), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA); and Representatives Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), Shontel Brown (D-OH), Ben Cline (R-VA), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Dave Joyce (R-OH), John Joyce (R-PA), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Max Miller (R-OH), Riley Moore (R-WV) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA).In addition, AMP Members from Delaware and Kentucky also met with lawmakers from their districts to share concerns about issues affecting their municipal electric systems.