Nearly all University of Iowa utilities system employees accepted an offer from ENGIE North America as part of the university’s 50-year public-private partnership (P3).

In December 2019, the UI received approval from the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, to enter into the P3 involving its utility system with ENGIE and Meridiam. The partnership will allow the university to invest $15 million per fiscal year via grants dedicated to supporting the UI’s strategic plan and core missions of teaching, research, and scholarship.

ENGIE is working with the university to ensure a seamless transition to welcome current UI utility system employees, who were all offered a position without a formal interview. One-hundred-twenty-seven total employees accepted the offer from ENGIE, which includes all 33 student employees. Twenty-three employees will remain with the university. Initially, those 23 people will either be reassigned to another position at the university or stay in their current assignment, and the university is finalizing each employee’s transition plan.

“We appreciate the ongoing, dedicated service of our staff throughout this process and look forward to the continued success of our operations,” says Rick Ney, UI associate director of utilities distribution. “We’re excited about merging best practices with ENGIE and continuing to keep the utility system running reliably for all our important customers.”

Financial close is set for March 10. The university will transfer management of its utilities system to ENGIE at 12:01 a.m. CST on March 11.

Visit uiowa.edu/p3 for more information.