Kansas Municipal Utilities highlights workforce training, mutual aid and local control

Greg Dumas, project manager for Kansas Municipal Utilities, told the Kansas Senate Committee on Utilities on Oct. 12 that municipal utilities across the state face staffing shortages and aging systems and described a suite of training, mutual-aid and local power projects KMU offers to address those problems.

KMU, founded in 1928, now represents municipal electric, natural gas, water and wastewater utilities and provides advocacy, training, technical assistance and communications to its 213 municipal members, Dumas told the committee. He said the organization operates a 35-acre training facility in McPherson and runs apprenticeship and operator-certification programs for utility trades.

"KMU's mission is to unify support and advance municipal utilities," Dumas said. He said KMU runs an 8,000-square-foot shop and classroom complex and logged 174 events with almost 5,400 participants at the facility in 2024.

Why it matters: municipal utilities provide locally controlled water, gas and electric service and are a major employer in many communities. Dumas said workforce shortages,…