Business Council of Alabama board member and Manufacturing Advocacy Council Co-Chairman Ronnie Boles of Huntsville has been named to a one-year term on the American Public Power Association’s Policy Makers Council.
The APPA’s board of directors elected Boles, owner and president of General & Automotive Machine Shop, to the board of the Washington, D.C., national service organization that represents the nation’s 2,000-plus not-for-profit, community owned electric utilities, which serve 48 million consumers.
Boles is a member of the Huntsville Utilities Electric Board, which announced his appointment on Monday.
The Policy Makers Council assists APPA in promoting federal legislation that is important to public power systems such as Huntsville Utilities and opposing legislation harmful to public power systems and consumers. Council members meet regularly and participate in meetings with elected representatives and congressional staff for the purposes of supporting APPA’s national legislative efforts, Huntsville Utilities said.
The Council consists of 40 members who serve on governing utility boards or are elected officials in public power communities. Four members are appointed to the Council from each of the APPA’s 10 geographic regions. A number of “at-large” Council members can be appointed based on vacancies in the 10 regions.
Boles is a past member of the APPA’s Board of Directors and a long-time member of the Huntsville Utilities Electric Board. An advocate for public power, Boles has extensive experience not only with the BCA but also the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce. He emphasizes energy policy, advanced manufacturing issues, and workforce initiatives.