Ron Earl, who became the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency’s third General Manager in 1998, died on October 6, his 82nd birthday.
Earl served as President & CEO of IMEA, Illinois Public Energy Agency and the Illinois Municipal Utilities Association until December 2011, noted Kevin Gaden, IMEA’s President & CEO, in a message to IMEA, IMUA and IPEA Members. Earl's title was changed from general manager to President & CEO.
“His tenure marked a growth period for the agency. On his watch, the agency expanded its membership and took steps to assure the reliability of its power supply by purchasing ownership shares of Trimble County 2 in 2006 and by becoming one of eight midwestern-based public power utilities to purchase ownership shares in Prairie State, which came online in 2012,” Gaden noted.
Earl also added renewable generation to the agency’s portfolio. IMEA began taking 70 MW from the Lee-DeKalb wind farm in 2010.
Earl worked with Illinois municipal gas systems to form the IPEA, which remains one of the leading natural gas joint action agencies in the U.S., and he assured the stability of the IMUA by effecting a management contract between the association and the IMEA.
Earl also oversaw the construction of the LEED silver certified IMEA headquarters building on Conifer Street in Springfield, which opened in 2007.
Earl came to IMEA after serving as the Vice President of Administration at the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga.
Before his career in public power, he worked for a number of years in the defense and insurance industries.
After retiring from IMEA, he and his wife Mary returned to his home in Chattanooga, where they enjoyed theater, the opera, sports, and church activities, Gaden noted.
Earl’s full obituary is available here.
