MPUA chooses John Twitty as next CEO
The Missouri Public Utility Alliance (MPUA) Board of Directors has appointed John Twitty as the organization’s new General Manager and CEO effective Aug. 1. Twitty will succeed Duncan Kincheloe, who is retiring in August after a 21-year term as the Alliance’s President and CEO.
John Twitty is the Executive Director of the Transmission Access Policy Study Group, a national advocacy group of transmission-dependent electric utilities in 35 states. Additionally, Twitty was the Senior Vice President of Solar Development for Gardner Capital from 2015 to 2020.
Twitty served as General Manager and CEO of City Utilities of Springfield (MO) until 2011. He began his utility career in 1983 at Rolla Municipal Utilities (MO) and served as General Manager of the utility.
He has served as chair of the Board of the American Public Power Association and of The Energy Authority.
He also served a stint as chair of the Member Representatives Committee of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. Currently, he serves on the Board of Trustees of Ozarks Water Watch.
Manitowoc Public Utilities hires Troy Adams as new general manager
The Manitowoc Public Utilities (MPU) Commission announced the hiring of Troy Adams, P.E. as its next general manager.
Adams, who joined MPU on June 1, 2020, comes to MPU from Elk River Municipal Utilities in Elk River, Minnesota where he served as general manager for the last 11 years.
Adams is a current board member and RP3 panel member of the American Public Power Association as well as a board member and treasurer of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency.
Additionally, he has served on the board of the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) and the Midwest Municipal Transmission Group.
He has been recognized for his outstanding dedication and initiative with the MMUA President’s Award in 2019 and Distinguished Service Award in 2017.
MPU conducted an extensive national search over the last 12 months to replace the current CEO and General Manager Nilaksh Kothari, P.E. who will retire on June 30, 2020 after nearly 30 years with MPU in various positions.
MPU is a municipality-owned electric and water utility serving approximately 18,000 accounts in the City of Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Brian Hickman joins AMP and OMEA staff
American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP) and Ohio Municipal Electric Association (OMEA) announced that Brian Hickman has joined the organization as director of government affairs.
Prior to joining AMP and OMEA, Hickman served as director of government affairs for the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, and as senior legislative aide for Rep. John P. Hagan (OH-50) before that.
The OMEA advocates at the state and national levels on behalf of AMP and 80 Ohio member municipal electric systems.
In his new position, Hickman will manage advocacy efforts and serve as the primary Ohio Statehouse contact for AMP and OMEA, representing the organizations with state lawmakers and attending hearings and stakeholder meetings as appropriate.
Spencer, Wiese named to vice president positions at NPPD
Two new vice presidents were recently announced by Nebraska Public Power District President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Kent. In addition, two current vice presidents were promoted.
Kent announced that John McClure has been promoted to Executive Vice President Governmental Affairs and General Counsel and Traci Bender was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
He also announced the appointment of two new vice presidents to fill his vacated position of Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
“One vice president will be over our energy production organization, and the other will be over our energy delivery organization,” Kent explained in making the appointments. “This will create more future opportunities for leadership growth and development within the organization.”
Michael Spencer was named Vice President of Energy Production and Art Wiese was named Vice President of Energy Delivery.
Spencer has been employed by NPPD for 36 years. He started his career at Cooper Nuclear Station in 1983 and worked there for 15 years in various engineering and supervisory roles and then transitioned to Gerald Gentleman Station where he worked for 10 years and held the positions of technical leader and station manager.
In his current position since 2009, Spencer has been responsible for NPPD’s non-nuclear electrical generating assets, water systems, and energy management and marketing strategies.
Wiese, a 32-year employee of NPPD, is responsible for the overall management and oversight of the District's transmission and distribution assets.
Wiese joined NPPD as a design engineer in the nuclear engineering department. He spent more than 13 years in various positions in the design engineering group and began transitioning into project management in 2001.
He managed the construction of the Beatrice Power Station and the Ainsworth Wind Project.
He managed several other projects before becoming the Corporate Projects Manager in 2006. He moved into the role of Director of Asset and Project Management in 2014, then Transmission and Distribution Manager in 2017, followed by Director of Delivery in 2018.
TVA appoints new vice general counsel
The Tennessee Valley Authority announced the appointment of David Fountain as senior vice president and vice general counsel. He officially joined TVA on June 1.
In this newly created role, Fountain will oversee the administrative and operational functions of the Office of General Counsel, as well as lead TVA’s litigation, enterprise records and ethics and compliance efforts. He will report to Sherry Quirk, TVA’s General Counsel.
Fountain previously served as Duke Energy’s senior vice president, legal, chief ethics and compliance officer and corporate secretary. In that role, he oversaw communication with the company’s board of directors to ensure they remain apprised of corporate governance and compliance matters.
He also served as Duke Energy’s North Carolina president. He coordinated the company’s response to hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018.
While serving in a former role as vice president of Progress Energy’s legal department, Fountain oversaw all regulatory approvals associated with Progress’ merger with Duke Energy in 2012.
