Scott Miller leads a company that impacts nearly every business, home and individual in Springfield every day of the year, 24 hours a day.
“We can’t afford to have a bad day,” Miller says of his role as general manager of City Utilities of Springfield.
Since assuming leadership of the public utility company in 2011, when he was selected from a nationwide poll to succeed veteran GM John Twitty, Miller has had a lot of plates to spin. He’s in charge of the equivalent of a $500 million-a-year company with five business units.
“Electric, natural gas, water, transit and broadband for high-end users – all of them have their own challenges,” Miller says.
Miller says, for him, the bottom line is customer service, strong financials and high reliability, saying his priority is “everything to do with everything in the company, to make sure we’re providing our customers, our owners, with what they want in an affordable and reliable way.”
Miller already has faced a host of challenges. He cites the ongoing issue of settling on a location for a $4.5 million bus transfer station and ensuring a steady water supply. A million-gallon water tower in southeast Springfield should ease water pressure concerns in that part of the city, but it won’t eliminate his larger concerns highlighted by summer 2012 drought conditions that nearly kicked in CU’s Emergency Water Conservation Plan. While reservoir levels are up, Miller says water concerns might not be over.
“I was looking at a chart the other day … (and) from the mid-’70s until about two years ago, we were in a predominantly wet period. Clear back to the 1800s, there’s been no other stretch … that was predominately wet or predominantly dry. Statistically, that could mean we’re at the beginning of the drought, not at the end of it,” Miller says.
Other challenges include environmental regulations and an aging infrastructure and workforce. “We’re working on a strategic plan, talking with the community, just trying to stay ahead of all that,” Miller says.
The issues might be daunting, but they’re issues that Miller’s experience helped prepare him to face. Miller started at CU in 2002 and previously had served as its associate general manager-electric supply and direction of generation and supply.
“The fortunate thing is, I work with some great folks, I wouldn’t want to disappoint them. They’re working so hard to do the best they can do. I think they deserve that,” Miller says. “I just don’t want to disappoint anyone.”
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