Effective Tuesday, February 1, 2022, Henderson Municipal Power & Light (HMP&L) saw a change in leadership.  Brad Bickett, an 11-year veteran of HMP&L, succeeded Chris Heimgartner, who left after five years as General Manager to return to the west coast.  

Bickett, a native of Owensboro, Kentucky, earned his bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University and gained valuable experience working in engineering positions in the auto industry and as plant engineer at the Reid-Station Two power plant complex.  Bickett began working for HMP&L in 2010 as the Reliability Compliance Manger, responsible for compliance with NERC regulatory requirements.  He has 14 years of electric utility experience.  During his tenure, he earned an MBA from the University of Southern Indiana in 2020 and then transitioned to Power Supply Director in January of 2021.  As Power Supply Director, he had responsibility for HMP&L’s participation in wholesale power markets, related third party contracts, and electric transmission activities.  Bickett was a member of the Henderson Leadership Initiative - Class of 2014 and served as Treasurer of the Kentucky Municipal Utilities Association from January 2016 to August 2018.
 
Bickett believes HMP&L should continue to follow its Strategic Plan with a mission to provide the highest quality service at the lowest possible rates with work plans that extend over the next 20 years. “Maintaining safety of employees and the public will always be the most important priority in all the work that we do,” he stated.  “There will be opportunities going forward to evaluate how processes can be automated and made more efficient with use of developing technology.”   Some ideas on the horizon include adding solar power, energy conservation, improving system reliability, and system modernization.
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Lin Shannon, Utility Commission Chairman stated, “Brad Bickett was the ideal choice for the general manager position.   He is a proven leader at HMP&L and has earned the respect and admiration of his peers, the Utility Commission, and so many others that have worked with him.  His background and broad work experience for over a decade at HMP&L has been extensive which will serve him well in the new position.”  

Shannon concluded by stating, “the future for HMP&L is bright as our entire team continues to focus on our core principles of providing excellent service and reliable low-cost electricity, data and voice service to our customers and the citizens of Henderson.  HMP&L has served our community for over 125 years and we remain so appreciative of this continued opportunity to serve.”
  
Excerpts provided from article published in the Gleaner on February 1, 2022 by Chuck Stinnett

The City of Henderson Kentucky Utility Commission, was presented with the Century Award from the American Public Power Association recognizing Henderson Municipal Power & Light’s (HMP&L) 125-year anniversary. The Century Award is given each year to public power utilities that have served their consumers and community continuously for 100 years.

What would become Henderson Municipal Power & Light had its beginnings with residents of the City of Henderson voting in 1895 to issue bonds to construct a coal-fired power plant to provide electricity to 154 arc lamps to illuminate the city streets at night. In 1896 the light plant became the first municipally owned generating station in Western Kentucky - producing power for households and businesses. Since that time, HMP&L has continued to provide electrical service to the community while expanding its services to include high speed internet and cloud-based phone. With an eye to the future, HMP&L has implemented energy conservation measures such as an LED light program and the addition of solar customers to the utility’s system.
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For 125 years HMP&L has provided the citizens of Henderson with safe, reliable, and low-cost electric service and looks forward to serving Henderson for the next 100 years.

In July 2020, Community Energy and Henderson Municipal Power & Light (HMP&L) announced an agreement for the supply of 50 megawatts of new solar power to HMP&L customers. 

​Through a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement, HMP&L will purchase 100% of the output of a new solar farm under development by Community Energy in Henderson County, Kentucky.  This facility is expected to produce 117 million kilowatt-hours of low-cost solar energy per year, starting in 2023. The solar project will provide approximately 20% of HMP&L’s total electricity demand.
For more information see Community Energy's Project Site: