Nilaksh Kothari is the CEO of Preferred Consulting LLC, a leadership, management, and technical consulting firm serving the utility industry, public power communities and non-profit organizations. 

Mr. Kothari served as CEO and General Manager of the Manitowoc Public Utilities (MPU) in Manitowoc, WI for almost two decades.  MPU is Wisconsin’s largest municipal electric and water utility, with a staff of approximately 85 employees and over 17,000 customer accounts.  Prior to being the CEO of MPU, Mr. Kothari worked for 10 years with MPU as the Water Systems Manager and Environmental Coordinator. 

In the earlier years of his professional career, Mr. Kothari worked for consulting firms in Montana and Wisconsin in various capacities, including as a process engineer and project manager.  In addition to his responsibilities at MPU, Mr. Kothari led and managed Great Lakes Utilities (GLU), a 12 member municipal electric company based in Wisconsin.  Mr. Kothari spent more than 20 years developing and negotiating power supply plans and agreements, helping GLU grow to become one of the region’s most successful joint action project agencies. 

Mr. Kothari is a strategic thinker, a partnership builder, a critical infrastructure leader, and an entrepreneur. He has led successful strategic initiatives to expand water, wastewater and electric services for the utilities he has managed, and he has implemented multi-year contract management systems for a variety of utility assets. He has established corporate policies and procedures to improve operational efficiency, increased revenues, negotiated with state and federal agencies on regulatory compliance issues, managed HR, and established performance metrics for the benefit of numerous organizations.

Mr. Kothari is a licensed Professional Engineer in Wisconsin and a certified water treatment and distribution operator in Wisconsin.  He was the President of American Water Works Association (AWWA) from 2007-2008. Currently, he is an active member of AWWA, International Water Association (IWA) and ASCE. He has served on multiple Boards including: American Public Power Association; American Water Works Association, Water Research Foundation; Great Lakes Utilities; Energy Bank Inc.; AWWA – Wisconsin Section, Economic Development  of Manitowoc County; Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin, IWA Governing Assembly and Treasurer of USANC. 

Mr. Kothari has been recognized nationally for his dedication to public service with the AWWA’s George Warren Fuller Award; APPA’s James D Donovan Individual Achievement Award, and MEUW’s Donald L. Smith Leadership in and dedication of public power. Internationally he has been recognized as 51 Most Impactful Leader in Water and Water Management from the World Water Leadership Conference. 

Mr. Kothari has presented at numerous national and international conferences including: Paris-France; Amsterdam - Netherlands; Mulheim - Germany; Sydney - Australia: Singapore; Toronto - Canada; and Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Bhopal, Goa - India.