Commissioner Linda Gott Announces Retirement and is Honored with Two Prestigious Awards from the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA)

Mason County PUD 3 Commissioner Linda Gott is not seeking reelection after nearly 24 years on the board. On Wednesday May 25, Gott received two prestigious awards to honor her service and leadership throughout her impressive career in Public Power by the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) at its 82nd Annual Conference and Membership Meeting in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho.

Linda Gott was presented with the Life Member Award for policymakers who are retiring and have made notable contributions to the association and public power. She also received the John M. George Public Service Award, which recognizes policymaking officers who have demonstrated remarkable service to public power.

For more than 20 years, Gott has actively promoted the benefits of public power on the local, regional, and national level. In 1999, she became a Mason County PUD 3 commissioner. She has served on the American Public Power Association’s Legislative and Resolutions Committee and its Policy Makers Council; she is a past president of Public Utility Risk Management Services; she served six years on the NWPPA Board of Trustees; and she currently serves on the board of directors for Energy Northwest and for NoaNet.

Gott’s advocacy and leadership on these committees and boards have made significant impacts for the residents of Mason County. Some of the lowest rates and highest reliability in the nation as well as significant progress in rural high-speed broadband can be attributed to the issues she’s worked on throughout her career. Her commitment to setting sound fiscal and operational policies at a local level, as well as her passion for service to the community and to PUD 3 customers, makes her an asset to the utility.    

“I’ve had four terms (6-years each term),” she said, “when I look back at all of the accomplishments the PUD has had during my time here, I’m amazed at what we’ve accomplished together.” One of those accomplishments was her leadership in launching the telecommunication’s function of Mason PUD 3 and a founding member of the joint action agency for the state, the Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) in the early 2000’s. Gott has also been a part of the response to the energy crisis of 2001, the building of several new substations, the PUD’s grid modernization efforts, constructing a new headquarters, a 95% carbon-free energy mix, and many power contract negotiations with the  Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). She has served on the Energy Northwest Board, responsible for the operation of the northwest's only commercial nuclear energy facility, the Columbia Generating Station, which provides about 10% of the PUD’s power. Gott’s engagement with state and federal legislators has protected the PUD’s interests in clean energy, affordable rates, and reliability. 

Gott said she will miss many of the friendships she’s developed in the industry but said “It has been a privilege and an honor to serve the residents of Mason County for all of these years. I grew up here and care deeply about our community, but I think it’s time to give someone else an opportunity to serve.”

She’s among the third-longest-serving commissioners in PUD history, according to the PUD’s history book at www.pud3.org/book.