When DTE Energy was announced as the winner of USA’s Super Saver Award, the look on Karin Cozzi’s face was priceless. “I was just so surprised,” stated Cozzi, supply chain manager from Fermi, “I didn’t expect us to win.”

The Super Saver award winner is announced each year at the USA Supply Chain Management (SCM) Winter Conference, and rewards the utility who has best optimized their USA supply chain opportunities. “It’s similar to the Optimizer Award that is awarded each year at the Executive Summit,” explains Jim Kitchens, director, supply chain management at USA. “The Optimizer Award is given to the utility who has best optimized their entire USA membership, while the Super Saver Award is focused only on supply chain activities.”

The winner is determined by taking into account the member’s spend/savings ratio and the number of USA agreements the utility utilizes. “We want to keep it fair. A large utility can spend a lot more than a small one and therefore get more total savings,” continues Kitchens. “By taking into account the utility’s spend and the number of agreements they use, we level the playing field.”

“We’re thrilled to win the 2013 SCM Super Saver Award!” stated Cozzi. “Membership in the USA Fleet is important to Fermi, and we are very pleased to receive this recognition.”

Fermi wasn’t this only winner at the USA SCM Winter Conference. Daniel Dale, supply chain services manager from Energy Northwest, was the winner of the newly-created Golden Rule award. The Golden Rule award recognizes the individual who best exhibits USA values, including willingness to consider new ideas, responsiveness, honesty and respectfulness, in interactions with USA and our USA suppliers. “It’s called the Golden Rule award because it comes down to treating others as we would like to be treated,” explains Kitchens.

The winner is determined through a survey that is distributed to our USA supplier-partners. The suppliers rate the various SCM team members on the Alliance values listed in the survey, and the winner is determined by the overall results.

“Out of all the awards out there, this is the most important one to me,” stated Dale after he had won. “I’m honored; this really means a lot to me. It’s shows that we are doing the right things at Columbia.”

USA sends heartfelt congratulations DTE Energy and Energy Northwest for their achievements!

Karin Cozzi, left, accepts the Super Saver award from Jim Kitchens. Also pictured are Howard LeCompte, technical expert, and Dianne Goodman, strategic supply category manager, both from Fermi.

Energy Northwest’s Daniel Dale, left, accepts the Golden Rule award from Jim Kitchens.