[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 31 (Monday, March 20, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1455-S1456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNITION OF MIKE KELLY OF GVEA, FAIRBANKS

 Mr. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I rise to recognize an Alaskan 
that has done so very much for his state and his community. I am 
referring to Mike Kelly, the President, General Manager and Chief 
Executive of Operations of Golden Valley Electric Association of 
Fairbanks, Alaska. You see Mr. Kelly retired last week after 33 years 
of service--the last 17 as President--service not just to his company, 
but to the citizens of Alaska.
  Mr. Kelly is a recognized leader within Alaska's utility industry. 
Over the past three decades he has grown Interior Alaska's sole 
electric co-operative into a multi-million-dollar enterprise providing 
reliable electric service to more than 80,000 people. And providing 
dependable electric service in Alaska is no small feat. Keeping power 
flowing in a state where temperatures vary by 150 degrees between 
summer and winter and where high winds, blizzards and harsh conditions 
are common, requires skill, organization and perseverance. And his 
leadership is even more remarkable in that he has accomplished this 
level of excellence without raising his company's power rates once in 
the last 18 years.
  Mr. Kelly has dedicated his career at GVEA to fighting for projects 
and progress that have benefitted consumers both in Alaska's Railbelt 
and in Alaska's remotest regions. He spearheaded GVEA's successful 
purchase of the Fairbanks Municipal Utilities System, has been the 
prime mover in the construction of the Northern (power) Intertie 
Project and has served well in many leadership positions within the 
industry and in the community of Fairbanks.
  He has volunteered to share his skills and leadership with many 
organizations, including the Board of Regents of the University of 
Alaska, the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of 
Fairbanks, and the Fairbanks Industrial Development Corp.,

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along with the Boards of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Foundation and 
Denali State Bank.
  He is the winner of the Northwest Public Power Association Raver 
Award (1986) for displaying outstanding community service through 
leadership. He was the 1999 recipient of the Mason Lazelle Award, the 
highest honor awarded by the industry in Alaska. And he has been 
singled out for well deserved recognition by the Associated Students of 
Business, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alumni Association as the 
Outstanding Alumni of the Year, and by many other groups.
  While Mr. Kelly now will have more time to spend on the river 
fishing, out hunting and with his family, I'm sure Alaska has not seen 
the last of his efforts on behalf of Fairbanks and the state has a 
whole. My congratulations go to him for his many accomplishments and 
Nancy and I offer our best wishes for a wonderful retirement. Alaska is 
a better place because of your service to your city and your 
state.

                          ____________________