Tom Kuhn: Pat Vincent-Collawn

In honoring Kuhn with Public Utilities Fortnightly's highest award, named for the extraordinary industry leader of a hundred years ago — Owen Young — we salute the man behind the transformational "Power by Association." We do this not alone. What follows are the voices of a dozen of the industry's top leaders of the twenty-first century, about Kuhn's accomplishments, and the man himself. Including four utility Executive Chairs, three utility CEOs, four retired utility CEOs, and Kuhn's longtime key associate at EEI, David Owens.

PUF's Steve Mitnick: When in your career did you begin working with Tom Kuhn and his team at EEI? Talk about those experiences.

Pat Vincent-Collawn: I first started working with Tom when I became the CEO at PNM Resources in 2010. I had worked with some of the other members of his team prior to that when I was at Xcel and attended the meetings with Dick Kelly. I would watch Tom and his team beautifully orchestrate meetings with a lot of topics and a lot of CEOs, which is not an easy task.

Then, when I finally got to sit at the big kids' table, Tom was so welcoming. He made sure if someone was standing there, he would introduce them to me, offer himself and his staff, and make me immediately feel like I belonged there. Tom has this way about him of making everybody feel comfortable.