Ian Taylor, CEO of Texas public power utility New Braunfels Utilities, on April 13 announced that he will retire from public service at the end of June 2023.
Taylor was appointed CEO of the utility in 2016. After his retirement, Taylor will continue in an advisory role, working with the Board of Trustees to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
Also, at the April 13 NBU Board of Trustees meeting, the board selected NBU Chief Operations Officer Ryan Kelso to serve as interim CEO, beginning July 1, 2023, and directed staff to begin the search for Taylor’s replacement.
During Taylor’s tenure, New Braunfels ranked as the second fastest-growing city in the nation while NBU scaled in size and sophistication to meet the needs of a rapidly changing community and industry.
Since 2016, NBU expedited a capital program that tripled in size in an all-out effort to keep pace with growth and return the water system to compliance. NBU doubled its community’s water supply and began construction of an Aquifer Storage and Recovery project.
In addition, the NBU electric system expanded and continues to deliver reliability that outperforms every sector of the industry, the utility said.
“Under Taylor’s leadership, NBU master planned every critical function of the utility, established an ethics program and overhauled its technology systems to eliminate technical debt and harden the systems that undergird our community’s essential services,” the utility said in a news release.
Taylor leaves NBU in a strong operational and financial position, the utility noted. New Braunfels Utilities has one of the highest bond ratings among its peers and has further strengthened its financial position by working with the New Braunfels City Council to approve impact fees and a two-year rate plan which will allow NBU to continue to provide reliable services at competitive rates.
