ElectriCities Appoints T. Graham Edwards as New CEO
6/3/2009 11:50:00 AM
The Board of Directors of ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc. announced today that it has appointed T. Graham Edwards of the Isle of Palms, South Carolina as its new Chief Executive Officer. Edwards will begin his new position on June 22, 2009.
In his new role, Edwards will be responsible for leading ElectriCities, including North Carolina’s two municipal power agencies: North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency serving 32 communities in the eastern part of the state, and North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 serving 19 communities in the piedmont and the western part of the state. The two power agencies serve more than 500,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers with annual revenues of $1.2 billion.
Edwards recently retired after serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) in Carmel, Indiana from 2006 to 2009. He also served as MISO’s Chairman in 2005, and as a member of the Board of Directors since 2001. MISO provides open electric transmission access in 14 Midwest states as well as the providence of Manitoba, Canada. MISO is a non-profit organization with 25 transmission owners, 94,000 miles of transmission lines, 700 employees and annual transactions of more than $42.0 billion.
Edwards began his career in the public power utility industry with the South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper), serving in various capacities over a period of more than 23 years, including serving as Santee Cooper’s President and Chief Executive Officer from 1993 until 2000. He also served as Chairman and as a member of Santee Cooper’s Board of Directors. Earlier, he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and in other senior level positions with Santee Cooper.
Santee Cooper, with annual revenues of $1.2 billion, serves South Carolina’s rural electric cooperatives and two municipally-owned utilities with electricity from co-owned nuclear and coal generating facilities.
In addition to his accomplishments at Santee Cooper, Mr. Edwards also served for two years as the first Chairman of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance, the economic development business organization for Charleston and surrounding coastal counties.
“ElectriCities is extremely fortunate to have reached agreement with a man of Graham Edwards’ caliber; he is uniquely qualified to lead the ElectriCities organization in these challenging times,” said Strib Boynton, Chairman of the ElectriCities Board of Directors, speaking on behalf of the Board. “Rate competitiveness is important to our 51 member communities. Graham brings ElectriCities a wealth of proven generation, transmission and competitive rate utility experience. He is well recognized as a proven leader in the public power business.”
“Graham has been extremely successful in every endeavor he has undertaken, including developing effective integrated generation and transmission strategies that have produced competitive electric rates for members,” said Boynton. “He possesses the leadership characteristics that have allowed him to rise to the top executive positions of each organization with which he has been affiliated. We are extremely pleased to have Graham join our team and look forward to operating under his leadership.”
“I am thrilled about the opportunity afforded me to lead the ElectriCities organization,” Edwards said of his appointment. “There are many challenges facing the electric utility industry today, and I am excited about the opportunity and look forward to working with the ElectriCities’ Board of Directors, its staff, the Commissioners of the two power agencies, and the communities that ElectriCities serves.”
Mr. Edwards is a 1976 MBA graduate of The Citadel, and a 1975 BS graduate of Francis Marion University.
