Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Utilities’ (BPU) General Manager Bill Johnson has been named to Ingram’s Magazine’s annual list of the 250 Most Powerful Business Leaders throughout the Greater Kansas City Region.

Each year, Ingram’s identifies the most influential executives out of the 2.8 million individuals in the metropolitan area, recognizing these persons as “power brokers who lead organizations that are attaining measurable levels of success and growth…while elevating the entire region’s commercial success, vibrancy and quality of life.”

Under Bill Johnson’s leadership, the BPU continues to be recognized as one of the top municipal utilities in the nation.

As detailed in the September 2023 Issue of Ingram’s, Johnson shared what he considered the organization’s most significant achievement or highlight over the past year. 

“I am proud that we were able to continue to provide safe and reliable electric and water services to our community despite the inflationary economic conditions and supply chain challenges we faced”.

Johnson, who has been with the utility for nearly 44 years, became general manager in April 2019. He previously managed the electric operations and technology unit for the public utility.

Johnson is a past president of Kansas Municipal Utilities and a current board member for the United Way of Greater Kansas City, as well as past board member of the Boys & Girls Club. 

Johnson is a member of the American Public Power Association (APPA), the Rocky Mountain Electric League (RMEL) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and past President of the Kansas-Missouri chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy.

Among his career-achievement awards, he has earned the distinguished “Black Achievers Award” from the Southern Christian Leadership Council and the “Black Man of Distinction Award” from the Friends of Yates. 

This year’s 2023 Ingram’s 250 Class includes a wide variety of “power brokers and decision-makers” including builders, educators, realtors, lawyers, developers, bankers, nonprofit heads, and elected officials, among others. Here is a direct link to this year’s publication:

BPU’s water department was originally created in 1909, and its electric utility was operational in 1912. Today the publicly owned utility serves approximately 65,000 electric and 53,000 water customers, primarily in Wyandotte County, Kansas.