PRESS RELEASE: Moorhead Public Service Honored with National Award for Outstanding Safety Practices

For Immediate Release on Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Moorhead Public Service (MPS) has earned the American Public Power Association’s (APPA’s) 2025 Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices. MPS earned the Diamond Award in the utilities category for 110,000 to 249,999 worker-hours of annual exposure.

More than 240 utilities entered the APPA’s Safety Awards of Excellence for 2025. The entrants are categorized by total worker-hours, ranked by their incident-free records, and evaluated on the overall quality of their safety programs and culture during 2025. The incidence rate is calculated using the number of work-related, reportable injuries or illnesses relative to total worker-hours in 2025, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

“Moorhead Public Service is proud of our safety culture,” said Travis Schmidt, General Manager of MPS. “This award is a testament to the hard work that has gone into building this culture and ensuring that our team members have a safe work environment.”

“In Public Power, safety excellence isn’t achieved by chance. It’s earned through unwavering discipline, strong leadership, and a culture where every team member looks out for one another,” said Jon Beasley, Chair of APPA’s Safety Committee and Vice President of Training and Safety at Electric Cities of Georgia. “These Safety Award recipients stand as proof that commitment and consistency save lives, strengthen communities, and set the benchmark for our entire industry.”

APPA has conducted the Safety Award of Excellence annually for more than 68 years. APPA is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide.

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Please contact the following individuals for additional information:

Travis Schmidt, General Manager

Moorhead Public Service

Phone: 218.477.8000

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tobias Sellier, Media Relations

American Public Power Association

Phone: 202.467.2927

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Moorhead Public Service, P.O. Box 779, Moorhead, MN 56561-0779 ♦ 218.477.8000, Option 4

Providing safe and reliable electricity and water to the community of Moorhead since 1895.

For information about Moorhead Public Service, visit our website at www.mpsutility.com.

Receive updates from Moorhead Public Service at www.twitter.com/mpsutility or www.facebook.com/mpsutility.

The graph below shows the current electric grid conditions in the Southwest Power Pool footprint for Moorhead Public Service:

There are two types of energy alerts that will be communicated to Moorhead Public Service (MPS) customers during an energy alert or if controlled outages are necessary:

1. Energy Alert:  This is the level where MPS will issue a public appeal to reduce energy.

2. Energy Emergency:  This is the level where MPS will start controlled outages (rolling blackouts).   

For more information on current grid conditions in the Southwest Power Pool footprint, please visit https://www.spp.org/markets-operations/current-grid-conditions/

The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) is a map that is updated each Thursday to show the location and intensity of drought across the state of Minnesota. Visit www.drought.gov/states/Minnesota for more information and to view weekly updates.

To view currrent levels of the Red River, please visit   https://water.weather.gov/resources/hydrographs/fgon8_hg.png

Moorhead Public Service (MPS) purchases the power you use everyday from outside resources. Despite recent increases in cost, these resources have proven to be the least cost for customers.

Moorhead Public Service offers rebates for your home and business. The Bright Energy Solutions® program helps you save money, improve comfort, and protect the environment.

For more information on rebates that Moorhead Public Service offers visit https://www.brightenergysolutions.com/municipalities-container/mn/moorhead-public-service/