JEA Managing Director & CEO Jay Stowe, Appointed to Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council

2022-04-26

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.  (Apr. 26, 2022) – With the summer storm season approaching and cybersecurity threats continuing to escalate, JEA Managing Director & CEO Jay Stowe is now serving on the national Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC), the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power industry.

“There has never been a more important time to maintain clear lines of communication between our industry and all of our relevant federal security and recovery agencies,” Stowe said. “I accepted this responsibility because I believe JEA’s customers, as well as other utility customers all across the country, will benefit from the preparedness dialogue and insights that are often shared in this forum.”

ESCC members strategize to prepare for and respond to national disasters and threats to critical infrastructure. The ESCC works to enhance the reliability and resilience of the electricity grid, including physical and cyber security infrastructure and emergency preparedness.

The American Public Power Association, the national trade group representing municipally owned power companies, named Stowe as one of the organization’s four representatives to the council. He will serve a 3-year term with a possible re-appointment to a second term.

Stowe, who joined JEA in November 2020, has served municipal utilities in direct roles and as a consultant for more than 25 years. He served in senior vice president roles for distributed energy resources and operations for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Prior to TVA, he spent more than a decade at Huntsville (Ala.) Utilities, where he served as vice president of operations and COO, before becoming president and CEO there. He also served two municipal utilities in North Carolina and started his career as a consultant for Black & Veatch.

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About JEA
JEA is a not-for-profit, community-owned utility located in Jacksonville, Florida, proudly serving an estimated 496,000 electric, 374,000 water, 295,000 sewer and 20,000 reclaimed water customers. JEA is not owned by investors. It was created by the City of Jacksonville to serve those who live in Jacksonville and in the surrounding communities. The sole purpose of JEA’s business is to ensure the electric, water and sewer demands of its customers are met, both today and for generations to come with the goal to provide reliable services at the best value to our customers while ensuring our areas’ precious natural resources are protected.

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About Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC)
The Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) was established to serve as a strategic liaison between the electric power industry and the federal government related to the preparation and response to national-level disasters or threats to critical infrastructure. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 and Presidential Policy Directive 21 seeks to enable greater coordination between non-federal critical infrastructure providers -- all 16 critical infrastructure sectors have sector coordinating councils. Energy is divided into three subsectors – oil and gas, downstream natural gas and electric. 
 
The initial ESCC was housed at NERC and included five electric utility CEOs (three IOUs, one cooperative and one public power) who met quarterly with Department of Energy (DOE) senior officials and reported back to the trade associations on those conversations.  To enable a greater level of coordination, especially given heightened levels of cybersecurity challenges, the current form of the ESCC was established following 2012 meetings between the electricity trade associations, utility industry CEOs, the DOE, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That structure was memorialized in the 2013 ESCC Charter, and the ESCC now serves as the primary strategic liaison and information exchange platform between utility senior leadership and senior members of the federal government for purposes of resilience and response-related matters. 
 
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About American Public Power Association (APPA)
The American Public Power Association (APPA) is the national trade group that represents municipally owned power companies nationwide. APPA also advocates and advises on electricity policy, technology, trends, training, and operations.

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