Some of you may be visiting this site for the first time, seeking more information on American Municipal Power. Others may have clicked on as existing link in their browser, expecting to enter the AMP-Ohio Web site, and been surprised at ending up here.

Our new identity—simply American Municipal Power or AMP, instead of American Municipal Power-Ohio—was the logical next step to all the changes that have been occurring in this organization during the past several years. The old name no longer accurately reflected the geographic territory represented by our membership. As one example, driving from the western-most AMP member community to those furthest east would take more than 14 hours. More than a third of our member communities now lie outside the state of Ohio.

Our Board of Trustees recognized that the addition of more than 40 new member communities since 2000—bringing the total to 128 at present—would require a change in focus. Working with consultants, the board approved the new name and a new logo that incorporates AMP’s relationship with its member communities as “Public Power Partners.”

This new “brand” recognizes our expanded territory and the equal standing of all member communities, but provides continuity through the organizational history associated with the AMP abbreviation.

This growth is also reflected in the organization’s governance. AMP is currently governed by a 16-member Board of Trustees, with eight member communities elected to represent individual service groups and the other eight elected at large. That changes in October, when elections are held at the annual general membership meeting. Any state outside Ohio that contains at least five member communities—at present, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia—is now designated a state service group, entitled to a seat on the board.

One final change was needed to meet the demands place on the organization by continued growth. In late July, AMP moved from its previous headquarters to a new location in northern Columbus. The new building at 1111 Schrock Road has more than three times the space of the previous one, eliminating deficiencies in several key areas and providing room for any foreseeable future needs.

Taken together, these add up to a lot of changes since the year began. But they provide only part of the story. In the coming days, I intend to talk more about the generation projects we’ve undertaken to provide a diverse portfolio of energy sources designed to meet the needs of member communities and their electric customers.