Using KPIs in Managing Your Electric Co-op and Utility
Learn how to select, calculate, and act on Key Performance Indicators that drive better financial and operational decisions at your electric co-op or utility. Practical tools, real benchmarks, and a clear framework for turning data into action.
- 16 lessons · self-paced
- Downloadable PDF & Excel materials
- Interactive exercises and flip cards
- Review questions in each module
- NASBA-compliant final exam (10 questions)
- Certificate of completion (1.50 CPE)
Turn Financial and Operational Data Into Strategic Action
Key Performance Indicators are only useful if they drive decisions. This course teaches you how to select the right KPIs for your organization, calculate them correctly, benchmark against peers, and use the KPI Action Cycle to turn metrics into real management improvements.
Whether you're presenting to a board, running a rate study, or evaluating operational efficiency, the KPI framework in this course gives you a common language for managing organizational performance.
- Utility and co-op managers responsible for financial or operational performance
- Finance staff who prepare or review management reports
- Board members who need to evaluate organizational health
- Operations staff involved in reliability and customer service metrics
- Anyone preparing for or participating in rate proceedings
- Consultants and analysts serving utilities and cooperatives
Russ Hissom, CPA
Russ Hissom, CPA is a principal of UtilityEducation.com, providing on-demand professional education in FERC, RUS, FASB, and GASB accounting, finance, and ratemaking for electric utilities and cooperatives. With over 30 years of hands-on industry experience, he brings real-world expertise to a modern learning platform trusted by more than 1,000 professionals.
What You'll Be Able to Do After This Course
Inside the Course
Course introduction, roadmap, and learning objectives — setting the stage for the full KPI framework.
- 0.0 – Course Introduction
- 0.1 – Course Roadmap
- 0.2 – Course Learning Objectives
An overview of the major KPI categories used in electric utility and cooperative management — the foundation for everything that follows.
- 1.0 – KPI Categories Overview Free Preview
To access the free preview: Click "Watch Free Lesson Preview" at the top of this page to view Lesson 1.0 at no charge before enrolling.
Covers core financial health KPIs — Rate of Return, Days Cash on Hand, Debt Service Coverage Ratio, Capitalization Ratio — with an exercise on identifying good KPIs for each situation.
- 2.0 – Financial Health Key Performance Indicators
- 2.1 – Exercise: What Is a Good KPI in Each Situation?
Covers operational efficiency and customer service KPIs including System Loss Percentage, O&M per Customer, SAIDI, and SAIFI, with review questions.
- 3.0 – Customer and Operational Key Performance Indicators
- 3.1 – Review Questions 1
Applies the KPI Action Cycle (Measure → Compare → Diagnose → Act) and connects KPI results to specific strategic decisions — rate studies, infrastructure investment, operational changes.
- 4.0 – From KPIs to Strategy
- 4.1 – Exercise: What Does Each KPI Measure?
How to benchmark KPI performance against peer utilities using appropriate comparison groups based on size, customer mix, and service territory characteristics.
- 5.0 – Benchmarking and Peer Comparisons
How to present KPIs effectively using dashboard formats with current values, targets, trends, and clear narratives — plus review questions.
- 6.0 – Presenting Key Performance Indicators to Management and Boards
- 6.1 – Review Questions 2
Wraps up the course with next steps, the NASBA-compliant final exam, and your course completion certificate showing 1.50 CPE hours.
- 7.0 – KPIs and Your Future
- 7.1 – Using Key Performance Indicators Course Completion
- 7.2 – Final Exam for NASBA Professional Certification (70% to pass)
- 7.3 – Course Completion and Next Steps!
Trusted by Over 1,000 Utility Professionals
"This course gave our management team a common language for talking about performance. We now use a KPI dashboard at every monthly meeting and it has completely changed how we discuss results."
"The section on benchmarking against peer utilities was eye-opening. I didn't realize how much context matters when interpreting a KPI — this course teaches you to ask the right questions."
"Concise and practical. I appreciated that it covered financial, operational, and customer KPIs together — you really do need all three to get a complete picture of organizational health."
"I took this to prepare for our board's annual strategy session. The KPI Action Cycle framework is exactly what we needed to move from reporting numbers to actually acting on them."
"Short, well-organized, and immediately useful. I shared the materials with our entire finance team and we used them to redesign our monthly management report."
"Russ explains the connection between KPIs and rate-making in a way I haven't seen anywhere else. If you're involved in any aspect of utility management, this is worth your time."
Frequently Asked Questions
Continue Your Development
Part of the New Electric Utility Accounting Professional learning path — a structured set of courses to build core electric utility accounting skills. Courses may be taken in any order.
Utility Accounting and Rates Specialists, LLC is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: NASBAregistry.org.
Requests for refunds must be made in writing within 30 days of purchasing the course. No refunds will be granted after the qualified assessment has been completed. For any concerns, please contact us at 608-628-4020 or at russ.hissom@utilityeducation.com.
Course materials are provided for informational and educational purposes only. They do not constitute legal, accounting, or professional advice. © 2026 Utility Accounting & Rates Specialists, LLC. All rights reserved.