IDAHO FALLS – Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) named City of Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper as the 2022 Elected Official of The Year.

UAMPS, the joint action agency which provides comprehensive wholesale electric energy services to community-owned power systems throughout the Intermountain West, presented Mayor Casper the award at its annual meeting in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Dec. 14. The award recognizes Mayor Casper’s ardent advocacy for public power on the local, state, national and even international levels.

“Mayor Rebecca Casper is a worthy recipient of our Elected Official of the Year Award,” said Mason Baker, incoming UAMPS CEO and general manager. “We have greatly appreciated her support of UAMPS, our Carbon Free Power Project, and public power in general. Her expertise, articulate advocacy, and all-round enthusiasm have been inspirational. We’re glad she’s on our team.”

Mayor Casper serves as the board chair of Idaho Falls Power. Prior to her election in 2013, Mayor Casper was appointed by Idaho Governor Otter to the statewide Leadership in Nuclear Energy (LINE) Commission. Mayor Casper also serves as Vice Chair of the Energy Communities Alliance a national organization of communities with DOE facilities and missions. This allows her to be a close ally with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in promoting the expansion of nuclear generation as a primary strategy for meeting our nation’s clean energy goals.

Mayor Casper has participated in energy and nuclear conversations around the world, including at a recent International Atomic Energy Agency event in Vienna, Austria. Earlier this year, she was a panelist at the Investing in Advanced Nuclear Conference in New York City. She is respected as an expert in the energy related public power issues and has participated in many national conferences where local perspectives and strategies related to carbon-free power development and generation are of interest.

“It’s an honor to receive this recognition from UAMPS particularly given their ongoing support of Idaho Falls’ mission to provide reliable and low-cost electricity to our community,” Casper said. “Idaho Falls’ energy future sits at the forefront of my mind because power plays such a large role in the economic prosperity of our great City.”

Idaho Falls’ long-standing history in public power began in 1900 with the generation of hydroelectric power—a visionary move for that era. Today, more than a century later, Idaho Falls Power continues to innovate as it harnesses energy from the Snake River and delivers that power to residents. Idaho Falls Power, the City Department which manages the electric utility, continues to look to the future. including participation in UAMPS’ the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), which is expected to site NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR) at the INL by the end of the decade. 

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Media Note: For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact City of Idaho Falls Public Information Officer Eric Grossarth at (208) 612-8562 or [email protected]

*Photo of Mayor Rebecca Casper speaking after receiving the Elected Official of the Year Award, Courtesy UAMPS.